The Mind-Body Connection Provides Insights for Solving Migraine Mysteries

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Do you feel like you’ve tried everything to control your headaches or migraine attacks? Are you reluctant to try a new therapy because you’re afraid it won’t work? Why is it important to be open to new possibilities?

In “Feeling Stuck? How to Invoke the Mind of a Headache Warrior,” excerpted from The Headache Healer’s Handbook and published on MigraineAgain, I discuss resetting your viewpoint to beginner’s mind in order to become your own headache detective if you’ve been struggling with pain — and cite stories and research that point to the power of placebo in healing.

The process of discovering your own mind-body (body-mind) connection is universally valuable; you don’t have to be afflicted with headaches or migraine to benefit from or experience it.

Read the article here.

A Migraine Sufferer’s Turnaround

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“Before I worked with Jan, I was suffering constantly from headaches and was    desperate to find relief.”

When I first met Sarah, I noticed right away that she seemed to be using herself up as she gave Reiki sessions. We were both body-mind practitioners volunteering our services at a wellness event in town. She looked weak and light as a feather, as if I could blow her over with one puff of breath. Her hands were tense, and the energy work she was giving to the clients seemed to stay stuck inside her hands instead of flowing out through her fingers. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked exhausted. As we talked briefly, she shared with me that she had daily migraines, and I told her I could help.

Sarah booked a session with me for the following week, declaring from the beginning that she was ready for a change. She was open to the coaching for her migraines and started making the recommended dietary shifts right away. She also dove right in to exploring and releasing, in session and in her daily life, her past trauma. She quickly began to re-inhabit areas of her body that she’d previously vacated and was able to create a new shape of vitality, energetic flow, and good health. As a result, her skin plumped up, her body filled out, the color in her face brightened, and the dark circles under her eyes disappeared.

She had a breakthrough when she realized that for most of her life she actually hadn’t been eating a sufficient amount of food. In a short period of time, only six sessions, Sarah had embraced a new outlook and mood. I salute her courage to work on herself and her commitment to delve head-on into her traumatic history. It made all the difference.

“Within a few short sessions, Jan helped me gain control of my symptoms, become more aware of the underlying causes, and empowered me with practical and simple “tools” and techniques to feel better. As a result, my headaches have been dramatically reduced, and, overall, it has made a huge difference in my life. Thank you, Jan!” —Sarah, New York, NY

Can You See the Sailing Ships?

There is a story that the native peoples of the Americas were guarding their shores from foreign intruders. However, despite their vigilance, the sailors from the old world made it to shore and began trading with the natives, who they later conquered. How was it that the natives, so keen to the elements and their land, did not see their future conquerors approaching? It is said that they could not see the sailing ships anchored in the bay because they had no concept of a sailing ship. The truth of this story as told in The Secret has been questioned, based on various captains’ logs that recount the native people’s use of large paddle boats: a boat is a boat, so they would have seen it.

When something’s right in front of our noses, of course we can see it. Or can we? Until last week, I didn’t know that my computer of four years had a photo share function under the export menu. I use my MAC everyday, yet have no idea how it works or how to fix it. I cannot see what a MAC Genius can see. Even if we cast our attention on the same object at the same time, I can’t necessarily tell what’s there because I don’t know what I’m looking at or what to look for.

After assessing people somatically for years, I can see how someone is shaped and how that shape creates and is created by the person’s reality. Continue reading