I have not had a full blown migraine in months but have had mild ones which I was able to mitigate easily enough using my exercises, stretching protocol and massages. The good thing is my recovery is a lot quicker. I do have to manage things very carefully as I practice archery and attend at least 1 - 2 sessions a week. This loads my shoulders and neck and previously I used to struggle with full blown migraines after the sessions especially the long weekend ones. My draw weight is almost 38lbs and repeatedly doing this between 2 hours on a weekday and up to 4 hours on a Sunday used to add significant tension into my neck and shoulders. Although I still have some neck tension I dont have post training migraines. I still train in the gym on a weekly basis and do significant mobility and strength training to ensure I have the right muscle functionality which ensures correct posture and neck and shoulder function. I will still do massage my neck, jaw and throat areas when I feel tension increases and this is to counter issues before it becomes migraine related. My go to mobility exercises include muscle contraction and mobility and this has become my staple routine. I am working on other aspects which includes learning more about nerve related reset methods but have had some other areas which I have had to prioritise which has put those plans on hold. Overall my comfort level is 95% better than what it was with the full blown daily migraines I was experiencing but it has taken at least 2 years of training, treatments and experimentation to get where I am today.

I have been quite for a number of months and this was extended due to Xmas festivities. During this hiatus I had a break from my normal gym routine which brought about some changes both good and bad. The bad was that as I was not doing the same amount of mobility and training my body went through a forced rebalancing period. I had some tension increase and reverted to my jaw neck and shoulder morning routines to improve mobility and comfort. I had some mild migraines but could easily mitigate them with my scalp, temple and neck massage which is very effective. This meant I could ease off on my morning jaw and neck mobility routine which I something I relied on daily for the last 6 months. My TMJ returned which was unexpected. Mine tends to be tension in the jaw and joint on the right hand side and I noticed a slight misalignment but this was not enough to cause concern. It took me about a week of neck and jaw massages and I maintained my jaw mobility routine while I was having the TMJ issues. Once the TMJ issues were resolved I naturally stopped doing my morning mobility routine. Part of that meant I could refocus on morning meditation which is something i have been lacking but that was due to me working to resolve neck and jaw tension issues from the migraines. I am now in the fortunate situation that I have not had a major migraine in over 3 months. Even with archery practice I rarely have migraines at the end of the sessions which makes a big difference. I have maintained my shoulder strength and mobility routine. This focus on strengthening these areas are two fold. It ensures my shoulders are capable of dealing with a 3 - 4 hour archery session drawing a 37lb bow and firing arrows consecutively and the mobility ensures I can use my back and scapula to draw, hold and release the bow without fatiguing. My next goal is to build out the stress modules for the course I have created and this is one of the reasons I have been so quite. I am planning on publishing my migraine book and I am in the process of finishing a second one about vagus nerve regulation. These topics do coincide and I have been doing a lot of research into vagus nerve regulation and how meditation and various other treatments fit into stress release.

Over the last 2 weeks I have made more incremental progress with shoulder and scapula mobility. This is very important, especially as I practice archery. Correct shoulder alignment is crucial in archery, as it significantly improves your accuracy. It also means being able to have a repeatable draw, anchor and arrow release using your skeletal frame to carry the draw weight from a bow. As part of my daily routine, I do neck, jaw and shoulder mobility exercises. This is done before I go to the gym for my strength training. What has changed recently? Neck mobility and comfort levels. The biggest problem has been deep-set tension in my neck and shoulders. Being consistent has allowed me to be more mobile in general, and the tension has shifted from a general sense to more isolated areas. This means when I do add more intensity to my training, I am not experiencing the same level of tension in these areas, and my recovery periods are shorter. With each passing week I can focus on specific areas which need more attention and each improvement means less discomfort.