Touching my forehead to yours – quietly breathing – silently letting you know you're not alone, I see you and...you've got this.

I used to get those – ocular migraines – always beginning with a visual 'aura'; like a forever shifting, stretching, growing and spinning psychedelic snowflake that obliterated part of my field of vision. Sometimes it would be more like a rippling snake, or the slicing off of my peripheral vision. That was always followed by the most horrific headache – like elephants trampling my brain. All I could do was try to sleep in a dark room for what typically lasted about 8 hours. Then I'd vomit...every time. As such, I've never understood when people are up and moving around while claiming to have a migraine!

They started when I was 13. By age 15, I was having them a few times a month. For reasons unknown, they completely stopped after I had my spinal fusion surgery at age 19. Then, in 2013, I started getting the visual aura while on a trip to Montana. The fella I was dating then happened to be a PT. He laid me on a couch and did some traction on my neck. As he worked his magic, I watched the aura slip slowly off into my periphery, then slide entirely out of view. While I felt out-of-sorts and off-balance for the rest of that day, the headache never came. Same thing happened a couple more time that year – each time, he managed to spare me the pain. Thankfully, I haven't come that close in the last 5+ years. Hopefully that remains true moving forward.

Anyway – I do believe stress is a factor. It is, most certainly, a sign that you need to be a bit more gentle with yourself. I know that's easier said than done. Fingers crossed that this was just a fluke, one-time thing.

Sending fluttery hummingbird hugs... xo, z