MIGRAINE PREVENTION --

Only You Can Stop
Your Headaches

SETTING AN INTENTION COMES FIRST.

People in our culture are so conditioned to getting everything fast -- fast food, fast computers, get rich quick schemes, instant gratification, super fast travel. You may think migraine prevention should be equally fast. Worse, you may think that, not only will you find a quick solution, but one that will let you continue to live the way you've been living, without making any changes.

The bad news? There is no good, lasting, or healthy 'fast fix.' You have to make some simple changes in what you put into your body, and how you react to situations. The good news? EVERY BIT of the changes you make is worth it, because it helps you to live every day, every minute without pain.

Read this article for the reasons to change how you live and to build up your motivation. Setting an intention is the most important step at the beginning of any endeavor.

Try Something New. (Get Out Of The Rut.)

Crazy has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting the outcome to change.

For years you've ignored the very mention of migraine prevention. You have treated your body as if its only purpose is to process whatever you put into it -- food whose only real benefit is that it gratifies your taste buds or stops your hunger pains. Whether what you put in your mouth is actually nutritious, whether your body even recognizes it as food -- or sees it as a foreign substance -- you haven't cared. After all, it's your body's responsibility, right? That's what it does, that's why it's here.

And even though this way of life has led to problems in your body -- like migraines -- all you want is to be able to continue to do the same things you've been doing, for the rest of your life.

But It Looks/Tasts So Good. (But It Is Still Just A Habit.)

Whatever most seduces your eyes and your taste buds -- whether some gourmet meal, a table full of desserts, or a cheeseburger-with-everything -- you have to remember that there was a time when you managed to live without your 'favorite food.'

The kinds of things you eat, the ways you eat them -- all of this is habit. And habits can be hard to break.

As Mark Twain said -- "Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time."

But if you don't start coaxing your bad habits downstairs, they will never leave -- and neither will the PAIN. Replace your bad habits with the habit of migraine prevention. You can get used to it as well.

You Have To Listen. (Your Body Is Trying To Tell You Something.)

When a migraine hits, people are surprised, shocked, indignant, hurt, outraged, confused, disillusioned, depressed... the list goes on. Yes, migraines are horrible. The pain is real, terrible and destructive. But your body is telling you something: Stop hurting me! NOW is the time for migraine prevention!

How else does your body communicate with you? As long as you keep functioning, as long as you don't hurt, you do whatever you want, you use your body however you want. Pain is the only thing that gets your attention. There's no email from your body, no writing on your bathroom mirror when you wake up in the morning, no mystical message tattooed across your forehead.

Think of your body as a dog. The dog has one word -- 'woof'-- to get your attention. The burden is on you to figure out what the woof means in each circumstance.

Your Body Has One Word That It Uses, Too. (That One Word Is Pain.)

Your body hurts. That's the vocabulary it uses to get your attention. What does it want from you? It doesn't want you to tell it, in effect, to 'shut up.' It doesn't want you to give it something that will turn off the warning light, or muffle the noise from the alarm. Your body wants you to figure out what you're doing wrong, and change it.

...But I Have Tried... (You Have To Do More.)

Your body isn't like a 9-5 job. You know: You go in every day. You work for 8 hours. If something doesn't get done, well, that's somebody else's worry. You've put in your hours.

Your health isn't like that. You can't just make a token effort at migraine prevention. If you want the pain to stop, you must keep at it until your body no longer makes migraines. What if you don't want to? What if it's too much work? Or perhaps you don't want the hassle? Well, the sad news is this: No one is going to make you do it. No one cares if you don't. The ball is totally in your court.

Your Fate Is In Your Hands.

Depending on the choices you make, you are your best friend or your worst enemy. No one else comes close. No one else is responsible for you. No one else has the motivation or incentive to take care of you. If you don't keep on a crusade to help yourself, you will feel as badly, or worse, in five or ten years time as you do now. And you're not going to find someone to 'cure' you, either. Not with a magic pill or a magic wand. Nothing external to you cures you. Your body heals itself. You just help it by giving it what it needs and not getting in the way. THAT constitutes migraine prevention.

Find The Doorway And Go Through It.

You have to take the lead if you want to get better. A balanced body doesn't make a migraine, and you are the only one who can balance your own body. But if you don't MAKE THE EFFORT to become balanced -- if you either reject it without trying it, or think it makes sense but takes too much work-- you shortchange yourself. It's as if you're in a burning building and someone is shouting 'The door is over here!' If you don't actually walk over to the door and go through it, you are going to be toast. It is no one's job but yours to make sure you go through that door.

How Much Do You Want To Be Well?

Or an equivalent question: How much are you willing to do to be well? Maybe you know that 'X' is related to your migraines. X could be something you eat or drink, or it could be a way that you always respond to situations (like becoming very angry or stressed). How many times do you hear someone say something like this: 'I really wish I could stop eating X.' Wish? What chance does migraine prevention have if the pleasure of indulging in something is more important than the pain and damage of the resulting migraine?

Tough Talk?

No. Tough is living with migraines.

Pain is like the disciplinarian you had in school. It tells you that you have to change your ways. You can't negotiate with the pain, you can't lie to it. And it isn't going to go away if you just ignore it.

But -- if you make a real effort -- pain will be the best and most honest measure of how successful your migraine prevention plan is.

Start With A Strong Intention, To Ensure You Reach Your Goals. Remember That A Balanced Body Does Not Make Migraines.