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What is the Alexander Technique?
I recently came across a comment that went something along the lines of “AT helped me end my migraines” – HOORAY! – I thought, but also, what was AT, and was it something that could help me? Turns out it stands for Alexander Technique, and as Philipa Batty writes in…
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Will this upset the Mindfulness Police?
When I first started practicing mindfulness, it was practice in the sense of a “learning experiment” rather than a “regular habit”. I relied heavily on YouTube videos that appeared in my google searches, and made selections of what to try based on the shortest duration of the video rather than…
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Everything is under control… maybe
In the past I’ve talked a tough game about “progress over perfection” and how I understand the difference between “the circle of control and the circle of influence” (here) – but the reality is, I remain a mid-level control freak… OK, eye-roll… upper-middle-level control freak. I like to know what’s…
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Life in the ecotone
I say this a lot, but I’ll say it again: I spend as much time (or more) in blog-land reading compared to writing. There is SO MUCH to learn about life, and I especially enjoy the material that falls outside typical migraine-me subjects. BUT I ALSO like it when I…
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Sage, coach, cheerleader or filter-less friend…?
What am I to you? It probably doesn’t matter, but I have been thinking a lot about which kinds of people I prefer to take advice from, and equally importantly, which kind of person YOU might prefer to listen to. Each ‘label’ represents a slightly different approach to sharing wisdom. …
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Darwinian migraine madness
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is often summarized down to a key concept: “survival of the fittest”. Given this fact, I have often wondered why – given how much migraine reduces functionality – why has migraine not been “bred out” of humanity…? Surely when our ancient ancestors needed to pack…
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Green light therapy for migraines
A while ago, I was listening to a podcast about migraines when the pain patient said something like, “if I won the lottery, I would build a green light therapy room in my home.” What, I wondered, is green light therapy? According to Time.com, people with chronic pain can be…
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Glimmers versus triggers
You’ll hear a lot on this website about chronic pain triggers: “dehydration triggered my migraine last week, and stress triggered my pain-brain yesterday”, and so on and on. Sometimes the potential triggers can be super-quirky, but potentially still very real, and might include your pillow, drafts, or even nightmares. This…
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Lessons learnt from Icarus
When I was young, I was an enormous fan of Greek Myths and Legends. I was in awe of Zeus on Mt Olympus looking down on humanity, and adored the idea of Apollo, the sun-god riding a gilded chariot across the skies. Soon, single words were enough to conjure up…
The Mindful Migraine 