The king of the castle (a short story)

Today's short story gets a bit graphic (even a bit gory). I write these Migraine Gothic stories as a way of wrestling with the horror of head pain... rest assured, however, it's pure fiction... but if your nervous system is feeling fragile, save yourself some stress and give it a miss. * * * The Castle had recently been heritage listed, which was the local council's way of preventing any further changes to a house that was over…

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/27/the-king-of-the-castle-a-short-story/

“The body keeps the score”

I had heard A LOT about the book "The Body Keeps the Score" (2014) by Bessel van der Kolk, long before I picked it up. Perhaps it was all the hype around its potential life-changing ability that made my expectations VERY high... but I'm going to be potentially controversial and say I was really disappointed, and more than a little concerned, by this very long book.

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/25/the-body-keeps-the-score/

Rewilding your gut flora

I’m definitely no trend-setter, and most of the time I’m not even a trend-follower. I’ve always tended to be my own person, even if it means I’m a bit of a misfit that ends up as a societal wallflower… so be it… that’s where you meet other interesting wallflowers, hanging out on the periphery. There are, however, two trends which keep creeping into my peripheral vision, clambering for my attention.

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/23/rewilding-your-gut-flora/

“Yoshuku – the Japanese art of manifesting”

I'm still heavily invested in my "let's manifest a nicer world" tangent, as part of my New Year’s Revelation for 2026 (there's personal progress updates (and pictures) at the end of this post). As such, I was interested to discover a Japanese perspective on manifesting. Straight away, I felt a slight disconnect (because I have lived my whole life with 'Western' philosophies) BUT I was also instantly enamored by an approach…

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/20/yoshuku-the-japanese-art-of-manifesting/

Red brain / Green brain

In the book "Mindfulness on the run" (2016), the author Dr Chantal Hofstee notes that the way our thoughts and emotions interact is complex. And yet, the 'bottom line' of all the discussions about layers of the conscious and sub-conscious is simple: "your brain feels safe or unsafe" (page 13). She calls the safe brain state 'green' and the unsafe brain state 'red'.

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/18/red-brain-green-brain/

I think I have Telephonophobia

"Telephonophobia" or "phone anxiety" has always been an issue for me. I remember as a Project Manager being VERY aware that if the phone on my desk was ringing, it was NOT going to be good news. No one called up to say "hey girl, love ya work" - instead - it tended to be calls more like: "um, so, the site manager did something really stupid and fell off...

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/16/i-think-i-have-telephonophobia/

Alpha-theta waves for healing

In our brains, there is a lot going on. I'm no neurologist, so I can't even begin to fathom it all, let alone try to explain any of it to you... that said... there is something that has been floating around in my mind to write about for some time now: brain waves. About a year ago, I did a review of a book called “The neuroscience of mindfulness” by Australian scientist Stan Rodski (2019).

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/13/alpha-theta-waves-for-healing/

Transcendental-mantra-meditation

When I was 19 years old, I went backpacking through India and Nepal with the intention of making it to the Annapurna base camp (read more here about how I ALMOST made it). One of the gifts that I brought home from that journey was an increased awareness of how wonderful the world is, and the second gift, was an interest in yoga and meditation.

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/11/transcendental-mantra-meditation/

Be the CEO of your own body

At the beginning of the year, I mentioned the Australian fashion designer Camilla Franks as one of my role models who was going to mentor me (in my imagination). Camilla and I are very different - she lives the colorful and glamorous life of a socialite / traveler, and she is an entrepreneur who always looks gorgeous and effortlessly confident. Oh, and she appeared in the TV series "The White Lotus" and spent time with Oprah Winfrey (see…

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/09/be-the-ceo-of-your-own-body/

Dialing down the ‘hurry up’

My mind is not minding the way it used to. I'm sad to say that I think it has fallen victim to a problem that is sweeping the globe (which I delusionally thought I was immune to): a decreasing attention span. My revelation came the other day when I was watching a production of Agatha Christie's "Seven Dials" based on her 1929 novel.

http://themindfulmigraine.blog/2026/03/06/dialing-down-the-hurry-up/