Recently, I have been practicing a breathing exercise that I invented (or if not that - because it's rare to truly invent anything these days - then, I can promise I genuinely have never heard anyone else talk of it). When I'm lying in bed and trying to calm myself down, completely, utterly, so that my mind and body are both blissfully still, I breathe my way through the alphabet.

When you have chronic migraine, your brain doesn't always brain the way it's supposed to. Brain-fog is real. For me there are some days I feel as if I have lost several IQ points. Other days, the effect of migraine-overwhelm is more subtle... I don't have complete confusion, I just... lose words. I might be in a conversation with a friend and say, "I like your...

On this blog, I tend to write the way I think. Sometimes straightforward, sometimes in a slightly jumbled way that zigzags cross-country as it were, traipsing into the occasional dead-end or cul-de-sac... ending abruptly or circling back on myself. I try to tidy it up as best I can before I hit "publish", but I don't overwork it too much. I kind of like that it sounds as if we were chatting...

Funny story. My teenage daughter decided to make a cake-in-a-mug. We don't own the ready-to-go mixes, she just decided that she would start from scratch, presumably with a recipe she found online. The first I knew of her culinary adventures was when she stuck her head around the corner of my office door and said, "ummmmm." As a parent, you probably know that when your children say "um" it can go any number of ways: …

When discussing your migraines with the doctor, it is fairly standard to refer to your triggers at some point in the consultation. "Flashing lights definitely cause migraines," you might say, and "I'm pretty certain fatigue, stress and dehydration are not good for me either". And as you think back over the last few migraine attacks (or check your Trigger Tracker…

What a cliche! And yet... where there's smoke there's fire... or is there? Today's post is a little bit long (it went places I wasn't expecting) and it is also potentially a little bit tricky as it initially treads into an area many people might consider taboo for public conversation. When I was growing up the list of no-no subjects included sex, money, politics and religion...

I'm feeling a little grumpy today. The story starts with me going onto the computer to look at flowers. It's springtime here in Australia, and in preparation, I recently planted a gazillion seeds only for the vast majority of them to wash away and drown after we received a months' worth of rain in three days - and - since I refuse to be defeated, I went online to consider what other flowers I might try for round two.

There's a phrase in Australia (and presumably everywhere that English is spoken) which is a play on words; hungry + angry = hangry. It defines the feeling of being grumpy and irritable because it has been a long time since you've eaten. I for one, am guilty of experiencing mood swings when my blood-sugar drops (although I generally tend towards being sad and lethargic more often than sparky).

As someone who has had a lot of migraines, I can tell you that there is a sliding scale of functionality that is attached to a life lived with pain. On some days, the pain is manageable or nearly missing, so you can do most things, even perform something as risky as driving a car... just not too far, or too fast.

The other day I watched the movie "Three Thousand Years of Longing" (2022) because the title caught my attention. Without giving too much away, it spins around the ancient story of a djinn (or genie) who offers up three wishes. Visually impressive, filled with wonder and weirdness, there was something deeply gratifying about the premise that the lady who releases the magic (a character named Alithea (which means 'truth')) is an introvert researcher, someone who writes about writing, a self-proclaimed "narratologist".

Not long after a famous billionaire bought Twitter and renamed it X, there was a sudden exodus of many members who fled to a chat-app called Bluesky. I ended up with a foot in both camps, but rarely use either. The first app mentioned is filled with negativity these days, and the second place, whilst nicer to be in, can still be very time-consuming.

The more you search certain subjects on your computer, the more the computer-Universe sends you links to related content. That's how I came across a reference to an essay published online late last year: "A Head Is a Territory of Light - Seeking answers about my migraines" by Tan Tuck Ming, on YaleReview.org (here). The essay is long(ish), but manageable in length and oh so beautifully crafted, so I highly recommend you read it in full at the link above.

Every now and then I venture onto social media to see what the world thinks about global issues. Once upon a time, the platforms seemed to provide a more honest sneak-peek behind the curtains of mainstream media and the way they chose to frame the news. Now, in all honesty, I'm not convinced these platforms are unfiltered (or honest). My news "feed" sends me a steady stream of what IT wants me to consume...

On my healing journey I have often turned to metaphors in an attempt to articulate what I think and feel about my situation. I've spoken of the "tidal" (rather than linear) nature of healing, and the "rising tide of advocacy", both of which affirm the fluid nature of the wellness-illness spectrum I reside in. In other posts I have referred to healing "paths" and spoken of my journey as sometimes straight, sometimes curving...

"Doomscrolling while weasels dance" was the title of a post I wrote a while ago (here). It described how news is presented to us in a way which is both addictive and terrifying. The result is that we become trapped in a doom-spiral of wanting to read the news... and being saddened by what we read. One of my blogging friends, Richard (from…

Some time ago I met a doctor online who mentioned that she handed out cards to her patients... only they weren't business cards... they were the same size, but on them were affirmations of healing, with messages such as "you deserve to heal". What a lovely thought! Imagine leaving the doctor's office and whether you've received good news or bad, your head is spinning...

In Australia, we have a petrol station chain which is especially popular for the fast-food dispensers located near the pay counter. I can't tell you how many (carless) teenagers go in and out of the petrol station in Summertime to get what we call "slushies" - a cup full of semi-frozen ice mixed with cordial syrup. I have no doubt almost every country in the world has some similar version.

A little while ago, I wrote about a lingering pain I labelled "my migraine's scar howl". One of my lovely readers, the fabulous blogger Sue Dreamwalker, replied to the post with encouragement and kindness - and a reference to shadow work. I've never heard the phrase before, but it piqued my interest... and what I discovered felt helpful enough to share with all of you.

No doubt you've heard of FOMO - the Fear Of Missing Out. We all get jealous of what other people get up to from time to time; we see other people going to exotic locations on the television and wish we had the time / money / energy to go there too... we overhear people talking in the shopping line about a restaurant that just opened up and how wonderful the food was (and how long the reservation wait-list is)...

As a migraine person, I often end up chatting to other migraine people about potential triggers that might set off a bad migraine attack. "My migraines," I say, "are primarily caused by stress, fluctuating hormones and dramatic weather changes... plus I used to find poor sleep and dehydration were problematic, but I seem to be on top of those triggers now".

OK, so today’s post includes a little adventure into four anecdotes from philosophy before applying the ideas to concepts of health and wellbeing. It's a bit of a mind-stretch, so I won't be sad if your pain-brain choses to give it a miss and you come visit me another day... * First up: Schrödinger's Cat – a philosophical thought experiment – and it’s not very pleasant if you’re a cat-lover, so apologies in advance – but remember, no cats were harmed in real life.

One of my favorite places in Blog-land is brand new blogs; they are filled with such good intent and a contagious enthusiasm. A recent newbie I came across is "Simon Says Blog – Personal growth, personal weirdness…" After some email chit-chat (I'm here if you need me) I invited him to write a guest post on mindfulness. Here's Simon's fabulous reply:

Today's blog post is a book review for Thích Nhất Hạnh's book "No Mud, No Lotus" which is a practical self-help guide published over 10 years ago in 2014. Before I started to read it, I knew nothing about the book or the author, other than I had heard the title and liked it - so reading it was a bit of a learning curve for me...

For those of you who don't get migraines, the above title probably seems a bit random... or else, overly dramatic. For those of you that DO get migraines (poor you) - you know what I mean. I was recently out blog-roving when I came across a post by Jennifer on her Zebra Unicorn blog (share some blog love and read the whole post here: …

When you're trying to rid yourself of chronic pain, it is not unusual to find yourself hoping, wishing, manifesting, praying... "I'll try anything" is a pretty standard thought that runs through your head. "Whatever it takes" is another thought - and sometimes those 'whatevers' can get a little crazy. I'm sure we all have a story of the most outlandish thing we did to try to rid ourselves of our chronic pain...