Migraine Awareness Tip #4

June is migraine awareness month. To raise awareness in my own community I've decided to send 7 tips, one each day for one week to do my part in raising awareness within us.

I am not going to cover medication and technical stuff this week. I will just share some tips that work for me for surviving chronic migraines.

We are so lucky to have people out there advocating for us, on our behalf, so we can spend more time becoming more aware of our own migraine triggers and find better ways to alleviate our pain.

Holly's Helpful Tips for Migraine Awareness

Tell me if this sounds like you! You get a long nasty migraine attack, and it takes a day or more for your brain fog to clear. Then you realize your “To Do” list has gotten longer with each passing day you were MIA or OOC! Aussie’s like to shorten everything so this means - missing in action or out of commission.

So you pack a week into one day. Does this sound familiar? If it does, then I suggest taking an appreciation break on your migraine free days.

This means to just stop what you are doing and look up at the clouds, if you are at work just look out the window. In your mind recite what you are grateful for today. Today my house is warm and dry, today my children are happy and healthy, today I am pain free, today I am at work, today I can breathe with ease.

You know, those things you don’t have when you do have a migraine. Today I can chew and it doesn’t hurt. Today I can eat my food with joy and pleasure (no vomiting in sight!). Taking a little 3 to 5 minute break a few times a day will help you be more present through the day.

The experts even recommend taking a 5 to 10 minute break every hour. Kind of like taking a day dream break but with more body awareness. Tuning into your breath is a great way to get present.

If you get daily migraines, then I suggest finding a place in your body that does not hurt. My left ear is pain free. Learn to be grateful for the peace filled pain free moments in between the migraines. Don’t rush through and miss the small wonders that surround you in the mad push to get caught up.

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” ~Lin Yutang

I can highly recommend reading Cynthia Perkin's Mindfulness Over Migraines e-book that explains the science behind mindfulness and why it helps migraines. And she explains the method step by step that she uses to eliminate her migraines in 15 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly ... eliminate in 15 minutes.

Timing is everything.

Remember that your contribution will help others too! We are not in this alone, even though it feels like it most of the time. Our stories and input can help each other. For example, I heard about Naramig from a Shiatsu patient of mine, not my doctor or any of the specialists I had seen! Two years after triptans came on the market. Two years of needless suffering.

This is a safe place to share your challenges and tell your story to people who truly understand what you are going through. Feel free to share your art to inspire us all in our time of need and find solutions with new treatment ideas specific to migraine disease. Get some professional health advice from others that walk this path. Just click on the links underlined above if you would like more details.

We Love to Hear From You

Please click here if you have anything you want to share with us this month in our Facebook comments box.

I don't know where I would be without my ice packs. It's the second thing I grab after my early warning symptoms tell me to take my medications. I can spend up to 10 days straight in migraine, so I need to take action fast!

Want to build your own migraine tool kit ? Here are eleven steps on exactly how to do it yourself with all the forms you need to print out. And step by step instructions to navigate your way through effective chronic pain management.

Did you know that I offer telephone counseling around the world via Skype video or via telephone?

That's right, from the privacy and comfort of your own home you can get professional counseling from me. I am not sure if you know this about me, I have a Masters Degree in Counseling and Applied Psychotherapy (MCAP). I have been counseling people for over 16 years. I would love to be of service where I can.

I have an online booking system to make it easy to schedule a session over different time zones. So, you can contact me anytime on-line, book in 24/7, and we will talk as soon as possible.

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And before I forget!