New Year, New You: Ways to Fill Your Cup in the New Year
By: Brooklyn A. Bradley, BS; Medically edited by Dr. Deena Kuruvilla, MD
Pexels 2024 [1]
As we enter the new year, many of us are thinking about ways to improve our lives – whether it is in the form of a new year’s resolution or an overall intention for the year. For migraine patients, the start of the new year is a perfect opportunity to focus on ways to nurture both your body and mind. Migraine can often impact your energy levels, emotions, overall well-being, and quality of life, so it is important to think about these aspects as the new year approaches. By embracing self-care practices and small lifestyle adjustments, you can set yourself up for a year filled with balance, improved quality of life, and peace. In today’s blog post, we will be discussing several ways you can fill your cup in 2025 – nourishing your body and mind, and managing your migraine in a more holistic manner.
A great way to fill your cup in the new year is to take time to nourish your mind. Mindfulness and meditation can be beneficial for migraine. Mindfulness and meditation are complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) modalities, which approximately 50% of adults with migraine and severe headaches report utilizing [2]. Overall, mindfulness is considered the human ability to attend intentionally to sensory experiences, events, perceptions, cognitions, and/or emotions. A recent study investigating the mechanisms of mindfulness and its impact on migraine found that participants who learned mindfulness techniques through mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) experienced altered pain perception, altered response to migraine attacks and disease, and improved overall well-being [3]. Overall, mindfulness and meditation practices can be beneficial as they can help reduce stress, which is a common trigger of migraine. By incorporating daily mindfulness practices into your routine, you can learn to stay present and focused in the new year and improve your quality of life. To start, you can take 5 to 10 minutes per day of deep breathing or setting an intention for the day, and use this time to relax areas in your body that may be tense. Over time, you can tailor these mindfulness sessions to best suit your needs and recognize what areas of meditation that you would like to focus on.
When managing migraine, rest is another essential component to overall well-being and healing. Changes in sleep-wakefulness patterns, such as sleep deprivation, and disorders such as poor sleep quality-duration are common migraine triggers [4]. Migraine attacks often occur during times when the body is stressed, sleep deprived, or overworked. In the new year, it is important to make sleep a priority and create a sleep routine that aligns with your goals of health and healing. It is recommended to get 7 or more hours of sleep per night to promote optimal health among adults ages 18 to 60 years [5]. A good bedtime routine should start with a calm environment and avoiding screen time close to when you plan on going to bed. Further, you can incorporate activities that promote relaxation, such as meditation, reading, and stretching.
Lastly, creating a calming environment can support migraine relief as we enter the new year. Your physical environment can play a role in how you feel, especially if your environment contains triggers. In 2025, you can make your home or workspace a calming area by choosing dim lighting, soft music, and minimizing noise to create a soothing environment. In addition, you can make your workspace or home area migraine-friendly by reducing triggers. For example, if you are sensitive to light, you can purchase curtains to block out bright light. In addition, essential oils like lavender or peppermint can also help with creating a calming environment.
There are many ways that you can choose to fill your cup as we enter 2025, and even though some of these changes may be small, they can help you manage your migraine more effectively. Whether it is practicing mindfulness, setting up a bedtime routine, or creating a calming environment, every step you take towards self-care and improving your quality of life can potentially reduce the frequency or intensity of your migraine. As you prioritize yourself in the new year, remember to take care of both your body and your mind. At the Westport Headache Institute, we hope you have a year of healing, balance, and tranquility!
References:
- Kaboompics.com (2024) New Years Eve Decorations, https://www.pexels.com/photo/new-years-eve-decorations-5716282/
- Wells RE, Seng EK, Edwards RR, Victorson DE, Pierce CR, Rosenberg L, Napadow V, Schuman-Olivier Z (2020) Mindfulness in Migraine. A narrative review. Expert Rev Neurother 20:207–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/14737175.2020.1715212
- Estave P, Margol C, Beeghly S, Anderson R, Shakir M, Coffield A, Byrnes J, O’Connell N, Seng E, Gardiner P, Wells RE (2023) Mechanisms of Mindfulness in Patients with Migraine: Results of a Qualitative Study. Headache 63:390–409. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.14481
- Saçmacı H, Tanik N, İnan LE (2022) Current Perspectives on the Impact of Chronic Migraine on Sleep Quality: A Literature Review. Nat Sci Sleep 14:1783–1800. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S335949
- Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, Bliwise DL, Buxton OM, Buysse D, Dinges DF, Gangwisch J, Grandner MA, Kushida C, Malhotra RK, Martin JL, Patel SR, Quan SF, Tasali E (2015) Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep 38:843–844. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716