mindfulness

I first heard 'Migraine' word in 1993 during Vipassana camp. The founder, Goenka, was chronic migraine patient. He got rid of migraine through vipassana. That's why he gave up his business and started vipassana courses all over world. Many other people report that intensity of migraine can be reduced through meditation. Allthough diff people may apply diff meditation methods.

Abhi,
Have you used meditation to deal with the pain of your Migraines? It is something that I am constantly working on. It is definitely not easily mastered overnight, but it can be a very helpful tool.

Kerrie wrote a great blog post about this topic recently:

https://migraine.com/blog/common-misconceptions-about-mindfulness-and-meditation/

Thanks for the link Katie, it was good to read 😀

I find it really hard to believe that mindfulness will help with the pain of migraines - I am a scientist and so I suppose I believe that pain is a physical symptom - a consequence of a reaction somewhere in the body - and so, I find it hard to come to terms with the idea that being mindful of the present will help deal with the pain of migraine.

I know that is has worked and there are plenty of success stories out there, and I worry that I am putting up a mental block simply because I cannot accept/understand how mindfulness works to help with migraine pain.

For example, if I do the mindfulness exercises at the same time everyday i.e. before I go to bed, regardless of whether or not I have a migraine, how does this lead to a reduction in the number of migraines, a lesser pain for the migraines, or a better ability to cope?

Again, I'd like to stress that I'm not being sceptical; I am not doubtful that it works - I just think until I know how or what results I'm looking for with the mindfulness practices, I will always struggle -- all my doctor told me when he referred me is that it was an alternative therapy.

I've been on the course for a month now and have done all the exercises/homework, but I really don't feel like it's helping, but then again, I don't really know what I'm looking for.

We always get told when doing the practices to have no expectations, we're not looking to use it as a form of relaxation or an aid to sleep - although this may happen. We are just supposed to be keeping notes of any sensations/thoughts that we have during the practices. But I fail to see how this helps.

I did this practice once, when I had a full-blown migraine, and I was surprised to see how severe the head pain was when I fully focused on it - it had me in tears!!

So, now I suppose there is an element of fear too, because I barely cope with the pain as it is, and don't want to make it worse by focusing on it...

Hi, my name is Nicole, I stumbled upon a migraine article, which lead me to reading and reading and then signed up to this great sight..I have been poking around reading these different forums. Because we are all so different and have different migraines, I’d just like to offer up what I have discovered in hopes that it can help someone else the way it helped me. Here is a little bit about my story:
I had/have migraines very bad started at age 29 am now almost 38, I have ocular aura migraines and a lot of the time mimmick stroke symptoms. I’ve ended up in the hospital, the ER etc..I have seen a couple neurologist, stopped seeing one of them because I was not satisfied at all. I see a neurologist now who specializes in migraines, in Boston at Mass General hospital. Prior to him, I was put on Topomax which to me, (just my personal opinion) is the worst medicine out there and surprised it is still on the shelves after reading the forums of god awful side effects of that medicine-it is scary. I stopped taking it and at that point was on a personal mission..I thought to myself there are so many natural ways of healing and helping one’s body, vitamins etc…it’s done all over the world..I was so sick of doctors saying hey try this medication, no ok try this medication, oh the insurance company came and dropped off this medication, try these samples..and that is when I realized, this country is so run by and pushed by medication, we are run by pharmaceutical companies, so much money is made by drug companies…I thought why isn’t anyone researching natural remedies. So I did and I did a lot of research. Bottom line is, I stumbled upon ButterBur
( PA FREE ), by a company called Petadolex, I have been taking it for 2 years now and my headaches have been cut by 70%. I take 75 mg 2 times a day along with CoQ10 combined with Fish Oil, ( I get it at a vitamin store, they all carry them) take that 2 times a day as well. I also take a Super B complex vitamin once a day. In my case, this has been by far better than any prescription drug, it has helped me more than anything I have tried, and I am not putting all of that medication in my body. I urge others to try it. ButterBur has been used in so many countries for almost a century, and so many other countries push it for migraines, just not our country. I truly hope this helps someone, again it is just my personal story, and what changed my life for the better, it has totally changed my migraine life.