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Learning from cake mix
My husband sent me a link to a psychology website a while back. I confess I was confused. The title was “A Creativity Lesson from Betty Crocker”. Ummmm… OK. Was this some sort of hint that I needed to get back into the kitchen more? Was he finally making the…
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Did going gray increase my migraine pain?
The author Dr Howard Schubiner has a book called “Unlearn your pain” which I’ll try to summarize soon. Until then, I want to mention a specific concept that he raises in the book – “predictive coding” – which is when you start to see and feel the things you expect…
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Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and migraines
My migraines seem to be the result of a combination of stress and hormones, linked to a mobile assemblage of environmental issues such as humidity, excessive noise or dehydration. For some unlucky people however, migraines (and other headaches) are the result of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). According to the…
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Are you a crybaby?
Just after the 2024 Olympics, I read an article in a publication called ‘The Atlantic’ which was titled The Crybaby Olympics by Christopher Beam. I now can’t open it without a subscription, but I took a copy of the article’s tagline: “Sports have always had sore losers. But based on…
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Like mother like daughter
I’ve been thinking a lot about the habits that we learn from our parents – and those that we pass onto our kids. The list that comes up in my mind is a mixed bag of wonderful memories, routines and rituals… as well as a handful of dubious practices. [This…
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Winning at The Wheel of Fortune
A while ago I mentioned in passing that I had been the carry-over champion of a game show. This is that story… and apologies in advance; it isn’t going to do anything for your chronic pain – other than make you laugh – it’s just a strange little glimpse into…
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Conditioning and pain
Ever heard of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936)? He was a physiologist who did experiments with dogs. Put simply, he would ring a bell each time he served the puppies their dinner. After repeating the routine often enough, he could ring a bell, and the dogs would salivate even if there…
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Nothing is inconsequential… including you
While I was busy living my life over the last 50 years, I generally assumed that the little things were essentially inconsequential… “Don’t sweat the small stuff” and all that jazz. Scraped your knee? Meh… it will heal. Arrive late to a meeting by a few minutes? Accidents happen. Did…
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Wash that pain right out of your head
When I was younger, I used to be a complete sucker for a musical on TV. “The Sound of Music”, “West Side Story”, and “Greece” all come to mind, as well as “The King and I”. As a teenager, I then went through a stage (pun intended) where I loved…
The Mindful Migraine 