by Debra Arko Novotny | Dec 17, 2014 | Acupuncture
Headaches are terrible, but migraines can mean you cannot work, enjoy family, or do regular things. I remember when I had migraines, it meant carrying around prescription injections and missing many memories, as I lay in bed sick.
I’ve been migraine free for ten years this month. I changed many things in my life starting with reducing my migraine triggers.
It is easy to avoid most triggers. Health coaching can give you your life back empowering you and help you develop the best lifestyle possible. Acupuncture helps eliminate headaches, but it is important you know the triggers. This article reveals the top migraine triggers.
Certain foods, things in the environment, even weather changes activate migraines. Emotional upset or stress spark off headaches. So does neck tension from long hours at a desk for instance.
Preventing exposure to these factors could help migraine patients manage their conditions and reduce the frequency of headaches.
The Most Common Migraine Trigger – Stress
The most common trigger is stress. It creeps into our life through work, family, or worry about the past. Most migraine suffers are attuned emotionally to their world. This can lead to anxiety, and sadness both release particular brain chemicals that cause headaches. Learning meditation, mindfulness, and gentle physical activity can prevent migraines. All three help me. I meditate daily, use a mindfulness app on my smart phone to take breaks through my day, and do Yoga.
Your Environment
Perfume, scented candles and body lotion fill the world around you. Public places like church or movie theaters make it difficult to avoid ‘highly-scented’ people thinking everyone wants to smell their favorite fragrance. I once told a lady who sat down next to me that her perfume was too strong. I still had migraines and when she sat everyone within a few rows turned to see where the heavy wafting smell was coming from – it was her. Letting her know took courage and honesty as I said, “I’m a migraine suffer and your perfume is so strong. I am getting nauseated and may vomit.” She got up and moved.
As she and her husband moved away I heard him and their daughter both say, “we’ve told you it’s too much maybe now you’ll listen to us.” Usually you’re not the first person to ‘share this information’ perhaps you’ll be the one that helps them rethink how they use beauty products.
For Women – The Period
I see women weekly suffering from hormonal migraines. They happen at ovulation and during menses. Many patients come in telling me they spend 3-5 days twice monthly in bed with abdomen and head pain.
This was me in my teens. Many a date with that special boy came and went without me. It helped me realize which boys really liked me enough to put up with the inconvenience and which we’re mature enough at the young age of 17 to be around girls with migraines. Over 89% of all migraine agonizers are women.
The Mystery Trigger
Every headache experience is a mystery. Was it the pasta you ate or the chocolate? Could it be the automatic air freshener in the restaurant bathroom? Perhaps it was the combination of all of these. Each person is unique you have your own bio-individuality. Causes of your migraines are different from the next person. Seasonal changes produce a new set of migraine triggers making mystery of why in spring gluten bothers you but it does not in winter.
Keeping a diary can help you navigate along with health coaching. I want to touch on chronic pain and autoimmune disease.
These both can make you more susceptible to head pain.
My Favorite – The Food Trigger
Headaches happen when we eat food that doesn’t agree with our body. Some things in food are never okay for anyone and the leading cause of inflammation, stomach problems, and migraines.
This article is not about the pathway of pain, and the large part inflammation plays in headaches. It is my hope you will crowd-out the triggers or chose to explore health coaching to rid you of migraines altogether.
Some foods to consider crowding out are ripened cheeses, chocolate, marinated foods as pickles, foods with nitrates such as bacon. For some reason, many people have problems with sour cream, and nuts.
Interestingly, caffeine can ease migraines or create them including alcohol especially red wine and beer.
Some healers believe sweet or citrus fruits are problems. My suggestion remember you are unique and go with your ‘gut’ literally! If your digestion does not like what you eat, neither will your head.
Tracking Down Your Triggers
Acupuncture will help you lessen the frequency of migraines even the level of pain. Along with lifestyle changes, a life free of head pain is yours. Working with a health mentor to track down your triggers adds to your success.
Other migraine articles http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20306955,00.html
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/migraine_headache/article_em.htm
http://www.everydayhealth.com/headache-migraine/headache-migraine-articles.aspx
Images are copy-righted with rights through: Google Free for reuse, Fotolia, Dreamstime, and BigStock
by Debra Arko Novotny | Dec 5, 2014 | Health, Nutrition
The Mental Equivalent by Emmett Fox. This single book inspires millions to change their mindset around illness, careers, relationships, even money. Even effects our goals like weight loss.
Anais Nin a mid-20th-century author wrote: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” Anais was telling us to have the courage to envision a greater life, a bigger realm of success for ourselves. This is true with our health and losing weight.
Life And The Mental Equivalent
When we talk about our success in our life, think about what Mr. Fox said. “You must not under any pretense allow your mind to dwell on any thought that is not positive, constructive, optimistic, kind.” Our very success in all the primary areas of life depends on controlling your mind and thoughts. So how do we do this creatively and magnificently in our lives? How do we add it to our health and wellness?
This is where working with a health coach comes in. Our approach is a whole life approach, not just health.
Believing bigger for yourself is mental equivalence. It is the ability to change how you manifest your reality in life. Most people have past experiences that taught them to think of themselves as ‘less-than’ instead of ‘more than’. It’s easy to tell yourself that you are overweight because your family trait is such. When we let go of stereo-types instead embody the Mental Equivalent of our weight loss goal it’s easier to achieve success.
Weight loss And Our Genes
We know genetics play a smaller role than once thought, and how you eat, and think mean more. The lack of physical activity like walking can make a huge difference for many. Empowering my clients to see themselves for the joy they really are is a big part of health coaching.
You may have heard how money was tight or that you were not good enough at some time in your past. This can play out in our careers, our relationships, and our personal self-image too.The Mental Equivalent of what we want plays a role in everything we think and believe.
Using Mental Equivalent In The Primary Foods Of Daily Living
Primary foods are not what we place in our mouths but the things that make life worth living and enjoying. You cannot buy or sell this special nourishment. These life sources feed our hearts and our souls, giving us the life we want and deserve. One of these nourishment’s is our relationships with others.
Using Mental Equivalent for Success in Relationships
When you think of love, do you believe in small love that keeps you safe and means you have someone to sleep next to at night? Or do you desire and set your mind on a course with a significant love that fills your heart full and makes you smile? The level of a loving relationship in your life is the size of your Mental Equivalent.
When we think of physical problems, telling yourself that knee pain is to be expected at your age, is not positive, constructive, optimistic, or being kind to yourself.
These 3 steps will help you move more into creating success with a Mental Equivalent in your life.
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The First Step Is To Be Patient With Yourself
Be ready to pull yourself gently back when you realize a thought is not positive, constructive, optimistic, kind.
“Mary” a health coaching client, sounded angry on her bi-monthly call. I asked her what was wrong; I could almost feel the heat of anger through the phone. “My mother is at it again. Telling me, I will always be fat because she is! Doesn’t she understand how much this hurts.” Her voice trailed off.
My job wasn’t to tell Mary to ignore your mother, or have a snappy comeback. It was to ask her how she felt when this happened. What thought she had before calling her parents home.
She went into a lethargy of how she knew this was what her mother would say. Mary didn’t want to talk to her but felt compelled to do it anyway even though she knew exactly what would happen.
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Be Present With A Beneficial And Constructive Image Of What You Want
This prep-story was a mental equivalence, just like Ernest Holmes suggest we do. It manifested just as she asked and planned. Now she was adding to this desire by continuing the destructive memory over and over.
As hard as it can be to pull back. If you find yourself not creating a positive mental image then don’t make a phone call. It may be weeks before you return a call. You may have to send an email and simply tell the person you love them but right now you’re working on a big project and will call them soon. That project is your well-being.
Sometimes we’re ready to make that interaction. It can be with a boss or co-worker. You may have little time to think about this. Using Mental Equivalence or ME, can go something like this.
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Be Optimistic About Your Ability to Use Mental Equivalent For Your Higher Good 
Write out in your journal all the positive things you want to take place. My boss smiles at me. She tells me she likes something I am wearing or doing. She blesses me with her mentoring on something I want to improve. She brings light into our interaction and I bring light too.
Don’t expect your boss to criticize you or correct you. See it as mentoring from this person.
Now that it is written it’s more powerful. Say it many times daily and as you go to meet with this person. If you don’t have time to do this just keep seeing in your minds’ eye the image a encouraging time and saying thoughts of kindness, positivity, and blessing for the meeting.
Bonus. Be Kind Without Attachment To The Outcome
It takes practice and sometimes you don’t know the entire result. Remember the other person is envisioning what they want and it could be thoughtless on their part for a successful outcome.
If this happens you have placed your energy at a higher frequency and you’ll not be attached to the outcome. The last thing you want to do is leave this encounter and say to yourself, “I knew it wouldn’t go well!” That means you didn’t actually hold a place for a higher outcome and you got exactly the mental equivalence expect, you just didn’t admit it to yourself.
Mary knew she would likely struggle with being Twiggy but a sexy big-size model was something she could accomplish. Using pictures from magazines, she had formed a perfect mental equivalent of success for herself before she phoned home again.
This time when her mom asked how dieting was going Mary had a quick reply, “I see myself looking beautiful each day mom, how’s dad doing?”
Sometimes using a mental equivalent of success also means stopping the flow of other people’s negativity to realize success. Over time, Mary chose to end calls with her parents if the tone turned destructive. Over time, her mother learned not to bring the topic up if she wanted to a relationship with her daughter.
A Mental Equivalent Of Success
You are always successful at creating your reality. Why not practice creating success in your life? For me, this came in the way of building an image in my mind, placing in on paper in my journal around my health coaching practice and acupuncture center. It is a reality because I see this in my mind’s eye daily and give thanks for the blessing of this.
A mental equivalent of success is working in you right now. Do you like what you’re creating? If not, practice. Think of it this way. You want to be better at golf or piano, or cooking. Would you practice or just wish it to be so and continue thinking about how ‘poor’ you play or bad you cook?
Ernest Holmes said, “We should never lose sight of the fact that we are each given the individual right to use the law [cause & effect], and that we cannot escape from using it.”
I chose to use Mental Equivalency in my life to create a loving relationship with my husband and children. To be financially successful as I help millions of people with their health and wellness. I accept Mental Equivalent into my life in a positive way to prosper and live a deeper spiritual path. For more mindful living visit my other website Debra Arko.
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