Migraine is the portal.

Women’s lived experience is one of the roots.

The human experience is the wider territory.

Everyone who finds themselves in this work is welcome.

When it comes to niching down there is all the advice and the statistics out there to show you’ve got to do it.

There are also loads of us moving away from niching down, because we’re choosing not to. A big hoorah for these people. I love that people are recognising that this is the way forward for them.

I believe greatly that there is a frequency to our work and an energy that readers will connect with. And that there may not be a need to niche - especially if that doesn’t feel in alignment or isn’t the direction you want to take.

For me… I’ve been stuck in the messy middle with it all. For years!

I spent yeeeeears thinking the question was “What should I niche down to?”
Eventually I realised the question was “What am I actually here to say?”

Last week I wrote a piece asking the question To Niche or Not to Niche? This is the second part to that.

In the months before what happened in 2020 happened, I stuck international best seller on my vision board.

Ever since getting clear on my vision, without the need to push and force, I’ve found myself aligning with not “just one more” qualification, but with what it takes to become an author who can write a book.

Not one that is guaranteed the outcome as such, but one that holds the possibility of writing a book that becomes an international bestselling title.

In 2021 I attended the formerly called Hay House Online Writers Workshop. It was free to attend and we were in our 3^rd (UK) lockdown. It was also my 41st birthday and felt like the biggest gift to myself given our world’s predicament and also the personal one I had of coming out the other side of a massive health relapse.

During the four nights, each one starting at 9pm (US daytime), I learnt a wealth of information and received incredible guidance from the world’s greats. The decades long CEO of Hay House, Reid Tracy. And Kelly Notaras, author of How To Write the Book You Were Born To.

When it came to their expertise on drafting a title and hook for the book, they spoke to how a title needs to be sufficiently distinctive, emotionally resonant and commercially strong. Unique. Magnetic. Scalable.

And then came the big niche convo.

World leading publishing advice and guidance is that you need to niche down. In the eyes of a global publisher it is seen as essential. Critical to any potential success the book might have.

There is good reason publishers tell you to niche. It makes commercial sense.

It’s just that commercial clarity and human truth don’t always translate to the same thing. Not straight away.

Now it is worth noting that just because those in the industry recommend this rule and that, it doesn’t mean we have to follow them all.

I’ve known this the whole way.

I’ve listened to loads of guidance and advice. I’ve implemented some of it, may be even much it. At times, I’ve overridden it too.

Not one of the chapters in my book (now available for pre-order), Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. follows any standard formatting.

They’re structured differently with double-barrelled titles and an epigraph for each chapter. They’re much shorter than traditional book chapters.

One recommendation I was uncertain about…

Earlier this year, the action guide and memoir grew beyond the word count recommended for the type of book I was writing.

Unsure which way to turn, I figured I might as well keep on going.

The outcome?

I am now left with not only one book but two!

Did not see that coming.

Back to the niche

It was very much obvious to me that the word migraine needed to be in the title.

And over the years I have played around with titles like Migraine Migration and Migraine & Me.

In the end, the publishers settled on simply, Migraine.

I had to learn when to trust their expertise. (Tricky at times.)

Root. Reclaim. Rise. is what’s known as the hook.

This part hasn’t soooo much been the challenge.

The book is about migraine.

The story is about how chronic migraine changed my life.

It shares with you what I did to reclaim it and what happens when you take back the reins for your own life, your health and your healing.

What started out as an action guide and memoir written through the lens of disabling and life collapsing chronic illness opens up the space to question the way we live, heal and relate.

Though it’s taken me a long time to put something so big and impactful into a few lines, the real challenge for me has been on here. Substack.

The home where it looks like everyone knows what they are doing and I am the only one who doesn’t.

Anyone relate?

Leave a comment

This is one of my stories trying to lead the way in any case.

Of course, mentally I know it’s not true. Writers are open on here in ways they aren’t on other platforms.

But try telling that to my brain when it’s firing off all sorts of bring me down signals.

Who am I writing for here?

There’s an aspect of this that has been my greatest difficulty.

I know who I’m writing for. The person I shared with you in specific detail in part one of this piece, Migraine: To Niche or Not to Niche?

But when it comes to who I am uniquely here to serve, how do I invite them in?

Is migraine the invitation?

Chronic illness?

Invisible illness?

Disability?

Chronic pain?

Something else entirely?

Even though I’ve outrightly been saying this space is for those of us living with migraine and chronic pain for a long while now, I move through times where I don’t mention it, forget to state it and move away from it for a while.

I wasn’t including the word migraine in titles or subtitles until recently.

Then there’s been the whole woman/women conundrum.

I identify as a woman and the person I am speaking to is the version of me who now finds themselves where I once was. Does that mean I am only for women?

Are my spaces women only spaces?

What about people who identify as non-binary?

I know migraine affects three times as many women than it does men but it still affects men.

What about the fact that migraine is increasing in men and adolescents? Migraine affecting an even number of boys and girls until they move through adolescents.

Questions and insights I’ve been in a tussle with for YEARS.

Continually returning to the same questions. The same doubt. The same wonderings. The same musings. Over and over again.

Whirring and swirling around my head.

Migraine and the nitty gritty of it

In 2018 and as the journey of exploration, migraine specific research and making small changes began, I broke the chronic pain cycle.

Beyond this breakthrough I discovered I was still very much chronically fatigued and still severely ill with two migraine attacks every month, lasting over a week each.

Breaking the chronic pain cycle freed up just enough space for me to realise that I had become fascinated with the complexity of migraine.

Though I still couldn’t do much, especially through the eyes of function and what is societally deemed as productive, worthy and valuable.

However, on my side, the journey of research and making small changes continued.

Research I began out of desperation.

Only to discover, it further developed out of interest.

The belief system propping it all up was

Reading, researching and exploring lit up my inner child.

A childhood favourite of mine that had fallen by the wayside for a life lived on caffeine fuelled long days in the office and nights out partying hard instead.

Because this side of it came fairly straight forward and naturally to me, I didn’t account for the magnitude of knowledge I was accumulating.

I didn’t dare believe that I was venturing into the depths and layers of complexity that few had taken an interest in before.

For so long I thought I was only doing what anyone else in my frightful situation would be doing.

That was until I began trialling some of my creations on people living with migraine (like this month’s 3 day circle journey, The Sacred Return) and was being interviewed on podcasts where the research I’ve learned was naturally filtering through into conversation.

Sharing this knowledge is what lights me up some of the most out of everything I do.

I am no longer just someone with lived experience and who has recovered against all odds.

I am someone with lived experience who understands the complexity of what the Migraine World Summit shares is the world’s most common, as well as complex, neurological disease. The most disabling in women under 50.

Taking all of this knowledge, insight and lived experience combined, I have been able to translate complex ideas into practical understanding.

In doing so, I’ve been able to open the door to the conversation on the wider perspective of chronic ill health and the common denominators frequently seen but rarely spoken to.

Looking into what this insight might be showing us and possible directions we can take from here.

I wasn’t consciously aware of it at the time, but I had been noting insights in my life from 2016 (in my journal).

In addition to the one above, the further I got into research the more I became aware that we do not know what true health is. What it looks like, what it means. How it shows up in our lives.

Medically, I haven’t come across any research into the lives of those who have recovered. If you have and I am missing something let me know.

Leave a comment

It seems we have comparatively less attention on the lived process of recovery, remission, restoration and what happens after someone improves.

So in this regard, I’m clear on being here for those of us who are living with migraine and chronic pain.

It might be the case that you find yourself here with migraine only being one of a collection or cocktail of diagnoses. Or have found yourself with symptoms that overlap with migraine, with or without diagnosis. Perhaps you are here because you know someone living with migraine.

It has been through the writing of my book that I have come to see migraine is the doorway.

By design, the developmental arc is universal.

All this time, I thought I was rebuilding my health. Looking back now, I can see I was rebuilding my relationship with life itself.

Seeing my work as much bigger than migraine is one reason why I’ve been sat in constant debate between what to niche on here.

But what if migraine was never the destination?

What if it was the doorway?

An entry point for a much wider exploration of:

• Grief

• Fear

• Identity

• Boundaries

• Rest

• Self-trust

• Purpose

• Joy

• The relationship with your body

Ultimately, a different relationship with yourself.

The story begins with migraine, but it isn’t where the story has to end.

As last month’s podcast guest of Your Migraine Story Matters, states

Early last week I read an article by , This is still a good life, as she sits in contemplation with the meaning of one.

A few days before I’d been able to more clearly define my part as a woman and the part that women’s experience plays in all this.

Historically, women haven’t been part of the research.

Our voices haven’t been heard.

Our experience dismissed.

Our ideas gaslighted.

Complexity ignored.

On this basis I’ve found a desire to want to broaden the audience, whilst also recognising the need to speak uniquely to the person I am here to serve.

I have finally been able to acknowledge that this space is for anyone living with migraine who wants to understand the bigger story their body is telling them.

This work is rooted in my lived experience as a woman and centres women’s experiences, while remaining open to anyone who recognises themselves in these stories, questions and practices. Know that if you see yourself in any of what I share, there is room for you here.

Subscribe now

In this context then, migraine is the portal.

Women’s lived experience is one of the roots.

The human experience is the wider territory.

Everyone who finds themselves in this work is welcome.

Hello, my name is Amber and this is one aspect of my migraine story and the journey I’ve been on trying to deliver this to you.

Built on the belief that we matter. Our health matters.

This is what I’ve been trying to share with you all along.

Please introduce yourself in the comments.

I’d love to hear what brought you here.

Leave a comment

An Invitation to Gather

As always, if something in this piece speaks to where you are right now, know that you don’t have to navigate this alone.

There are a number of ways to gather here… ways to listen, reflect, write, talk, learn, and simply be.

Here are a few of the ways we meet together:

1. If you want to talk

💬 Let’s Talk About… LIVE
Come and gather in real time as we explore the themes, stories and questions emerging from this work.

A place to listen, reflect, ask questions and be part of the conversation.

Currently reading a chapter from my upcoming book, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. live each week.

Join us this coming Tuesday at 4pm BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST for The Root Cause of Migraine.

RSVP here.

2. If you want community

🤍 Free To Be Me

A space where you pay what you can, come exactly as you are, without needing to fix, perform or become anything else first.

Free To Be Me is a breathwork and embodiment journey of gentle seated movement guiding you through a different theme each time.

After a 2 month (UK) summer break, we return on the third Friday of this month:

Friday 18th September.

Reserve your space for either:

10am BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST

4pm BST / 11am EDT / 8am PDT

3. If you want to walk deeper into the work

📖 Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

This action guide memoir and integrative healing companion brings together the story, framework and practices that have been unfolding through this work…

an invitation into the journey of understanding my story in depth, the reclamation of my voice and discovering what becomes possible when you begin to lead from within.

Pre-order the book (more countries to be added soon):

🇬🇧 UK

🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇩🇰 Denmark

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

Singapore

Dear Reader,

There are many ways to gather here.

These are just a few. You don’t need to choose them all.
Just find the doorway that feels right for you.

Imagine it a lot like a tree.

With the roots deep and many.

Unseen. Underground.

Some twisted and tangled.

Ready to be untethered. Unearthed.

I learned through reading this to you that this chapter is not only a deep one but a big one.

This being the case, this one chapter has been unexpectedly split into two. This being part one with part two to follow.

It all started for me from the belief that if we can get to the root cause of illness then we can pave a pathway to wellness.

This belief (as well as any others I have) may or may not align with your own.

I’m not here to convince you of anything, nor to persuade you.

The purpose of this chapter (and in alignment with the whole of Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle) is to open the door to a conversation.

There is so much we don’t know. So much we are yet to understand.

This is one way I have found to bring together what I do know, what I have researched and what I have learned, as well as what I have experienced and lived through. Much of it may relate. Aspects of it may not.

For the purpose of this chapter, I share with you that starting point and the journey of exploration this took me on.

Including (as is the case for many of us), not seeing myself on any kind of journey at all for a long while.

In this chapter we speak to the mind-body connection and early adopting pioneers of this framework. Something which quickly became a reference point and area of interest in my own journey - whilst acknowledging this is not the whole picture.

And also what this is not about.

This is not about blame.

This is not about failure.

We also discuss trauma and the nervous system, speaking to what it is understood as and means.

Bridging symbolic language, clinical perspective and neuroscience.

Moving toward understanding patterns behind migraine as well as the medical roots which in part, correlate what I learned through mind-body frameworks.

Working with all of this as information and intelligence.

Encouraging plenty of pause moments and gentle check ins.

The beauty of this work is that as well as being entirely invitational, we get to move with it at our own pace.

We can pause, look away, return (or not) at any time of our choosing.

Unlike previous weeks, we did not lose connection until an hour in. So the ending may be abrupt and mid flow towards the end of sharing the common denominators often found not just in migraine but in a wide and varied range of complex and chronic illnesses.

I’ll return in live to complete the remaining parts of this chapter in circle style format again - whether next Tuesday or before. I haven’t quite figured it out yet and I’m letting that be ok for now.

If you do venture in to this recording with me, I’d love to hear how it is received by you.

Perhaps you’d like to share your own beliefs, connections made, experiences garnered.

All are welcome here.

As I shared in one of the promotional notes earlier this week,

Get more from Amber Horrox 🗝️Warrior Within in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

An Invitation to Gather

As always, if something in this piece speaks to where you are right now, know that you don’t have to navigate this alone.

There are a number of ways to gather here… ways to listen, reflect, write, talk, learn, and simply be.

Here are a few of them:

1. If you want community - returning THIS FRIDAY

🌿 The Wellness Maidens
A gentle monthly gathering for connection, conversation and community.

After a 2 month (UK) summer break, we return on the first Friday of September (4th).

This offering is delivered free from financial barrier and is my gift to you.

Reserve your space for either:

10am BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST

4pm BST / 11am EDT / 8am PDT

2. If you want to talk - NEXT TUESDAY

💬 Let’s Talk About… LIVE
Come and gather in real time as we explore the themes, stories and questions emerging from this work.

A place to listen, reflect, ask questions and be part of the conversation.

Currently reading a chapter from my upcoming book, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. live each week.

Join us next Tuesday at 4pm BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST for The Patterns That Once Protected You. (if not the remaining part of The Root Cause)

RSVP here.

3. If you want to walk deeper into the work - PRE-ORDER

📖 Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

This action guide memoir and integrative healing companion brings together the story, framework and practices that have been unfolding through this work…

an invitation into the journey of understanding my story in depth, the reclamation of my voice and discovering what becomes possible when you begin to lead from within.

Pre-order the book (more countries to be added soon):

🇬🇧 UK

🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇩🇰 Denmark

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

🇸🇬 Singapore

Dear Reader,

There are many ways to gather here.

These are just a few. You don’t need to choose them all.
Just find the doorway that feels right for you.

Oh, my dear, but you are.

I am sorry no one told you so,

back when you were young,

leaving you second-guessing,

working out the hidden secret rules yourself.

The made-up,

the make-believe,

leaving you thinking

you were not a poetry writer,

just as there are hidden rules

for the elitist,

the able,

the less able.

There are for reciprocity too.

We play a game,

pretend it’s all hidden,

but really,

it’s hidden in plain sight.

It’s you,

it’s me,

it’s what we do

with what we have

that counts.

Meet Me In The Struggle series.

Poem one: Meet Me In The Struggle

Poem two: What About Me?

Poem three - What Does It Feel Like To Be Seen?

An Invitation to Gather

As always, if something in this piece speaks to where you are right now, know that you don’t have to navigate this alone.

There are a number of ways to gather here… ways to listen, reflect, write, talk, learn, and simply be.

Here are a few of them with the return of The Wellness Maidens extending it’s invite to you first:

1. If you want community

🌿 The Wellness Maidens
A gentle monthly gathering for connection, conversation and community.

After a 2 month (UK) summer break, we return on the first Friday of September (4th).

This offering is delivered free from financial barrier and is my gift to you.

Reserve your space for either:

10am BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST

4pm BST / 11am EDT / 8am PDT

2. If you want to talk

💬 Let’s Talk About… LIVE
Come and gather in real time as we explore the themes, stories and questions emerging from this work.

A place to listen, reflect, ask questions and be part of the conversation.

Currently reading a chapter from my upcoming book, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. live each week.

Join us this coming Tuesday at 4pm BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST for The Root Cause of Migraine.

RSVP here.

3. If you want to walk deeper into the work

📖 Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

This action guide memoir and integrative healing companion brings together the story, framework and practices that have been unfolding through this work…

an invitation into the journey of understanding my story in depth, the reclamation of my voice and discovering what becomes possible when you begin to lead from within.

Pre-order the book (more countries to be added soon):

🇬🇧 UK

🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇩🇰 Denmark

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

🇸🇬 Singapore

Dear Reader,

There are many ways to gather here.

These are just a few. You don’t need to choose them all.
Just find the doorway that feels right for you.

I spent years thinking I needed to choose to be specific enough to be found and expansive enough to be true.

Now I realise we can be specific about the doorway/entry point and expansive about where it can lead.

Though I’ve been journaling for ten years (on the advice of my counsellor and me desperate to cling on to life), I began writing in a public way six years ago.

Showing up on Instagram and Facebook with the ‘knowing’ that I am here to write a book.

Writing about body image, feeling like I’m going explode, puking into a bin and admitting my deepest vulnerabilities online and in public, for anyone who made it through the latest algorithm to see.

Physically shaking and feeling sick as I published.

Reminding myself well someone’s got to talk about this, ‘might as well be me.

Beneath that feeling proud of what I was knocking out.

It’s only now I type this that I remember how much I loved writing…how much I loved reading my own writing…and how proud I was of the crescendo on each post I sent off out into the ether.

I haven’t received any formal education in writing beyond GCSE (a UK secondary school qualification). I don’t have a writing background. No career in writing. And no degree, certainly no masters or PhD.

I worried for a long time that this would bother other people. That at some point, I would be ousted for not excelling in a longer list of qualifications than those I already have. That somehow, my credentials as they stand weren’t ‘enough’.

Though I’m not a fan of the label, I guess this now is more commonly known as imposter syndrome.

The reason I’m not a fan is because syndrome means no known cause. To me, the root cause of imposter syndrome is the ‘not enough’ wound or belief. You can find it at the bottom of any “what if…?” pile.

It’s only recently I reflect on my ancestry and can see that my ancestors wouldn’t be holding me to task over only being GCSE qualified. They lived in times where it was illegal for a woman to be educated, to work or - even when she could - was only permitted to carry out certain jobs that men deemed fit. You know, like saving the world and picking up the pieces of what’s left after the decision had been made to destroy it with war.

They wouldn’t be scrutinising what was behind the scenes. They’d be cheering me on for finding my voice and living out the choices that simply were not possible for them or were seriously hindered.

2 years in to writing publicly

Then came along Substack.

My posts had been growing longer and were becoming increasingly challenging to fit within the character scale permitted on other social platforms.

I’d been asked to write a blog and the first blog I ever wrote titled Pain and Progress was published in Healers Magazine (I understand this is no longer in existence so I moved a copy to here.)

The second blog I ever wrote in my life answered a question I was commonly asked at the collapse of it all in 2018, “what do you do all day?”.

A question asked on the back of having no job and no kids.

It took me four years to be able to answer that question with grace.

I am so proud of what I initially titled Going Against the Grain then later retitled What Does A Day In The Life of The Deeply Healing Look Like?

It was my first piece on here and once I hit publish and for the first time as an outed writer, I saw what everyone else was doing.

Introductions on here were being made.

I followed suit with my third article, Best Introduce Myself.

The inner critic began to grow really loud at this point.

Everyone else knows what they are doing.

You are the only one who doesn’t know what she is doing.

From the caravan I had moved into by this point, I continued to write from a soul-led and inspired place

I kept doing what I was doing.

Afterall, I was here to write to write a book.

I knew what I was doing.

But I drowned out that inner knowing in favour of seeing everyone climb the leader-boards, as if instantaneously overnight. Or it felt like ‘everyone’ in any case.

I’m four years and four months in to writing here.

My subscriber count is 644.

It’s only been very recently that I’ve been picturing you all in a field.

Nearly 650 people in a field. That’s a lot!

Over 200 of you read some, part or all of my articles every time I send one out.

Genuine, deep connections have been forged and made.

The one thing I want the most on here.

The metric that has the most meaning. To me in any case.

As well as falling into the comparison trap fast and frequently on here over the years, the theme and subject of whether to niche has been a big one…

Write a book they say

Ok, how?

Share your story they say,

Ok who to?

Speak your truth they say

Oh yeah, what about the fear that engulfs me!?!

Get clear on who you are uniquely here to serve

Well, she’s me. The version of me that I was in 2018.

The version of me that needed support, specifically of the emotional kind.

The version of me who needed to be around other people who instantly got it. Without the need to explain herself.

The version of me that had woken up to the truth that she mattered, her health mattered. In fact, there were a lot of truths she was waking up to and not everyone around her was able to support that.

She was beginning to listen to that quiet inner whisper… surely, there must be another way?

She was ready to take back the reins of her own life, her own health and her own healing. If this line in particular speaks to you, know that I am especially here for you.

This woman is wayyy more intelligent that she is giving herself credit for, her determination relentless. Even when she wanted to give up – and for these years in her life she really did want to give up – she couldn’t.

She is not just physically exhausted and incapacitated, but she’s been emotionally and mentally burnt out for years. Without even realising.

She’s no longer just sick and tired. She’s sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

Now she’s tried everything. She’s done what she’s been told to do. She’s been so good. Put everyone else’s needs first. Listened to everyone else’s opinions and advice. Done alllll the things. Only to find that NO thing is working.

Her body has been screaming for years and now she knows not only does change need to happen she needs to learn how to make it happen in her depleted state.

Without frazzling herself to a crisp.

Without succumbing to what everyone else tells her is or isn’t possible.

Yes, I am clear on who the person is I am uniquely here to serve.

It’s been crystal clear to me for years.

My difficulty wasn’t identifying the person.

It was believing I was allowed to speak to her without simultaneously excluding everyone else.

And perhaps that was the question underneath the question all along.

What if I didn’t need to choose between being specific enough to be found and expansive enough to be true?

What if the answer had been sitting inside the story itself?

An Invitation to Gather

As always, if something in this piece speaks to where you are right now, know that you don’t have to navigate this alone.

There are a number of ways to gather here… ways to listen, reflect, write, talk, learn, and simply be.

Here are a few of them:

1. If you want to talk

💬 Let’s Talk About… LIVE
Come and gather in real time as we explore the themes, stories and questions emerging from this work.

A place to listen, reflect, ask questions and be part of the conversation.

Currently reading a chapter from my upcoming book, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. live each week.

Join us this coming Tuesday at 4pm BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST for The Root Cause of Migraine.

RSVP here.

2. If you want community

🌿 The Wellness Maidens
A gentle monthly gathering for connection, conversation and community.

After a 2 month (UK) summer break, we return on the first Friday of September (4th).

This offering is delivered free from financial barrier and is my gift to you.

Reserve your space for either:

10am BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST

4pm BST / 11am EDT / 8am PDT

3. If you want to walk deeper into the work

📖 Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

This action guide memoir and integrative healing companion brings together the story, framework and practices that have been unfolding through this work…

an invitation into the journey of understanding my story in depth, the reclamation of my voice and discovering what becomes possible when you begin to lead from within.

Pre-order the book (more countries to be added soon):

🇬🇧 UK

🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇩🇰 Denmark

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

Dear Reader,

There are many ways to gather here.

These are just a few. You don’t need to choose them all.
Just find the doorway that feels right for you.

The body remembers what the world forgets.

After the fear that surfaced with last week’s reading on The Intelligence of Malfunction, I was unsure of which way this chapter reading was going to go.

That said, I am really thankful for being able to feel what I was feeling in the present moment and to then be able to give it some space the next day.

It has helped me get clear on the purpose of Pathway One. The side of it that I wasn’t consciously aware of until I received betareader feedback.

In ways I wasn’t before, I have better been able to communicate that with you in the last week and I feel sure some of you can feel that shift.

The purpose of Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle is to unearth what you already know to be true. To bring it up into your conscious awareness.

I’m not here to persuade you of anything you don’t already know.

As much as I fear repercussion and not being believed at times (it used to be a lot), I am learning it is safe for me to express myself. That it is safe to believe what I believe.

That there is room for many differing views, beliefs and opinions. And we can make space for them all.

This body of work is about you finding your own voice and reclaiming your own power from the root.

To follow further will be a set of guiding companions and practices to help you drown out any noise and tune in to your own inner knowing. So that your own voice becomes clearer

For now, each chapter ends with a Gentle Invitation to help you reflect on what is true for you. So that you can better discern for yourself what you think, feel and especially with this chapter, believe.

I begin The Cure Myth from a needs identified approach and explaining what the cure myth is, its cost and how eradication is not the same as healing.

It does also include what this chapter is not.

In part, this chapter is not a rejection of medicine. It is an honest reflection of what it feels like to live inside a system that was not built with the needs of your body in mind.

This is why we begin with our needs and what becomes possible when we do.

It is clear throughout Pathway One that no part of its role is intended to replace medical advice or to diminish the value of qualified healthcare professionals.

The intention is for it to compliment existing care. For it to act as a bridge between what is already in place, the knowledge and understanding we already have with what so many of us have come to find is missing.

The energetic intention for Tuesday’s live reading was for Safety, Reassurance and Connection.

We got as far as opening the space, the Meet Yourself Where You Are meditation and reading of the poem A Pause Before the Why before we lost connection - again.

I continued as I have done every week (good practice for me) and re-recorded the whole thing here.

As you settle into this chapter reading, you might like to light a candle with a similar energetic intention or feel in to one of your own.

I’d love to hear your reflections on The Cure Myth and how the premise of a cure aligns with what you need and know to be true in real time.

Leave a comment

Catch up ones missed

Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle - Seeing Through The Old Paradigm

A live reading, gentle reflection and honest conversation on chapters:

1. A Beginning I didn’t Expect

2. When Awakening Costs You Everything Familiar

3. When Pain Speaks and No-one Listen

4. Choose Your Path (yet to re-record)

5. The Power of Belief (yet to re-record)

6. The Illusion of Function

7. The Intelligence of Malfunction

8. The Cure Myth (this one)

9. The Root Cause of Migraine (next week’s - see invitation below)

   🙏🏼Share what resonates most with someone who needs to hear it. Send it to a friend, share it with your support group, or pass it to the person quietly holding everything together. Let them know they are not alone, and they are not powerless.

   Share

Join us next Tuesday

Next week we will return with a reading of The Root Cause of Migraine.

Tuesday 1st September at 4pm BST.

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

Though my belief was that if we could get to the root cause of illness, we could pave a pathway to wellness, I went on to learn that it wasn’t as simple as it sounded and it didn’t happen the way I expected.

As a result, this one chapter turned into three. On Tuesday, we will delve into the complexity of all that can be found when you begin to explore the roots of invisible illness.

Review the invitation and register your interest here.

Book News

Action guide memoir, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. is now available to pre-order in the following countries:

🇬🇧 UK

🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇩🇰 Denmark

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

🇸🇬 Singapore

For those of you finding yourselves in the deep discomfort - and struggle - of the messy middle.

We don’t have to endure it alone.

Earlier this week I sat with the prompt,

What does it feel like to be seen?

Here are the words that tumbled out:

Warm

Fuzzy

United

There’s a strength to it

Often overlooked

In favour of it

Being seen

As weak

Emasculating even

In favour of pretending

That everything is ok

That we can do this on our own

We’ve been let down before

Not just a few times

The fight

The struggle

It is but our own

Every man out for himself

Survival of the fittest

That’s what we’ve been taught

Isn’t it?

Sure, it feels uncomfortable

Dark and heavy

Painful too

To be witnessed

It’s not always lightness

Brightness

Relief

Perhaps

That’s because

In those moments

We’re already sitting

In the dark

With the heavy

Anxiety inducing

Is how it can also feel

In truth

You won’t know

How feeling seen feels

Until you allow it

Acknowledge it

Recognise it as a need

And show up anyway

Sometimes

Often

That is the hardest part.

Welcome to the Return of The Wellness Maidens

For those slap bang in the messy middle.

The dark.

The painful.

The deeply uncomfortable.

This space has been created for you.

Alongside each weekly live chapter reading, and after a two month (UK) summer break, monthly healing circle, the Wellness Maidens returns.

This year’s new free monthly offering will continue on the first Friday of each month at 10am and 4pm (GMT & BST).

BST*:

10am BST / 11am CEST / 2:30pm IST

4pm BST / 11am EDT / 8am PDT

GMT*:

10am GMT / 11am CET / 3:30pm IST

4pm GMT / 12pm EST / 9am PST

*Times are shown in local time and may vary by one hour around the seasonal clock changes.

Each year I send out the full listings for the year ahead. Here are this year’s remaining dates with the events linked to each timing so that you can register your interest and let me know you’re coming:

• Friday 4^th September

  • 10am BST The Wellness Maidens · Luma

  • 4pm BST reserve here

• Friday 2^nd October

  • 10am BST The Wellness Maidens · Luma

  • 4pm BST reserve here

• Friday 6^th November

  • 10am GMT The Wellness Maidens · Luma

  • 4pm GMT reserve here

• Friday 4^th December

  • 10am GMT The Wellness Maidens · Luma

  • 4pm GMT reserve here

Gather with us?

Come sit, lie, cry with us in circle.

There is room for you here.

To be seen.

To feel seen.

To sit with what hurts.

Need a Little Bit More Insight?

Here’s what a few of you who have attended so far have to say about The Wellness Maidens:

Last, but by no means least:

Book News

Action guide memoir, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. is now available to pre-order in the following countries:

🇬🇧 UK

🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇩🇰 Denmark

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

As I shared in a note this week, I also found out my mum has ordered a copy and I’m not sure how I feel about that!

There are aspects of my story that will shock readers.

It is also emotionally dense in parts.

You are held all the way through the book with many poems interspersed to help reorient the nervous system as well as deliver messages in a succinct way.

It’s just that as I know there are parts that will shock readers, with many resonating deeply, I know it’ll shock/horrify friends and family when they don’t know the extent of what I’ve been living with all this time.

In my usual Amber self, I am concerned for how it will leave them feeling.

How do you feel about family and loved ones reading your story?

Have you got any tips to share on how you emotionally support yourself through potential reactions and responses?

Advice and suggestions greatefully received.

Leave a comment

“Migraine doesn’t mean the end of living your life.

It brings about opportunities like this, which are so important!”

- Karen Martin

Understanding is one of the energetic intentions that has often come through when I have been tuning in to the energy before some of our circles.

Whether with each Tuesday’s Let’s Talk About… live where I read a chapter from my new book, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. or as we gather together for some gentle Healing Through Writing on most Mondays.

The understanding of our lived experience is something I have been big on in my own personal life and then also in the sharing of that insight and understanding with you dear reader.

Whether through my own story but also through the sharing of many others around the globe.

So far I’ve met with migraineurs in Finland, Canada, Australia, America and the UK.

Today, we meet with Karen who moved to Cumbria in England. One of the world’s greatest wonders.

She attributes

• moving to this region of the country,

• feeling less stressed,

• with nature being more easily accessible, and

• alongside having more freedom and ability to do what she needs, as well as

• having her community and people around her,

to less debilitating and severe attacks over time.

They are still pretty frequent and accepting her migraine health as chronic has been a journey in and of its own for Karen.

More about the conversation

Refreshed.
Energised.
Enthused. is how I left this conversation with Karen Martin

The energy and spirit Karen brings to the migraine community and its advocacy…

Not only in raising awareness, but also much needed insight, hope and understanding.

I’ve been excited to share our honest conversation around Karen’s life long journey with migraine and (mostly unheard of) early diagnosis in childhood.

The journey of accepting that this disease is chronic.

And one in which a life of support, acceptance and community surrounds.

In this episode of Your Migraine Story Matters, Karen shares:

How she got here.
What she encourages.
And the thread of possibility that she weaves into the sharing of a life long story with a disabling and debilitating illness that runs throughout her entire family.

I was tired upon meeting to record this at 5pm the other week…

…and left feeling refreshed, energised and enthused 🤩

In the search for insight, hope and understanding, please always remember:

Leave a comment

Connect with Karen

Karen was the first person to RSVP when the invitations to join each Tuesday’s live reading of all the chapters in Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle (book: Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.) went out on Linked In.

Karen has since been inspired to join us over here on Substack and has been sharing differing aspects of her story in written form.

Connect with Karen either on Linked In or on here, author of Life with Migraine.

Pre-order Migraine: Root. Reclaim, Rise

Pre-orders make a massive difference to the visibility and success of a book.

If you’ve got your eye on a copy, your order would be much appreciated.

For free UK delivery and 10% deducted, order through Guardian Books here.

Your support and cheer leading means the world. Pre-order or no pre-order.

Dear reader,

What if there is no cure because there is nothing wrong with who you are?

What if the task isn’t to fix the brain but to free it?

Last night and as we do every Tuesday at 4pm BST, we met in circle style format.

We opened the circle by lighting three candles.

Each candle representative of an energetic intention for the space.

In this week’s case:

Time.

Space.

Energy.

Together, we arrived more deeply with a Meet Yourself Where You Are meditation.

I began the reading by sharing with you the poem I wrote last week, just as I was slap bang in the messy middle, appropriately titled The Messy Middle.

Moving on to the reading of the chapter starting with when pain is taken as proof, and how, contrary to how we may think and feel, YOU are not the exception.

Like me, you are not the only person who lives life thinking every one else has a copy and you’re the only one who doesn’t have the manual.

As much as I believed it to be true for a long time, I wasn’t the only one struggling. I was far from the only one who didn’t have it all figured out.

I also wasn’t the only one missing out on life,. And not just only life, but on education, insight and understanding too.

Then…bam!

Connection went again. And I’ve had to re-record the live with a Zoom recording.

After first initially feeling frustrated, it was something to lean in to the possibility that perhaps getting this far in the live version was enough?

Perhaps each person there received what was needed in that moment?

For me, it was just enough in the sharing of what is such a pivotal point in the book to witness fear surfacing.

Gifting me the space to process some of it before re-recording it today.

I speak to that in a future post that I started writing earlier as part of feeling into it and the processing of it.

For now, I’ll leave you with this week’s live reading about what happens when your body is misunderstood, how to interpret adaptation and how none of it - ever - was/is your fault.

Catch up ones missed

Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle - Seeing Through The Old Paradigm

A live reading, gentle reflection and honest conversation on chapters:

1. A Beginning I didn’t Expect

2. When Awakening Costs You Everything Familiar

3. When Pain Speaks and No-one Listen

4. Choose Your Path (yet to re-record)

5. The Power of Belief (yet to re-record)

6. The Illusion of Function

7. The Intelligence of Malfunction (this one)

8. The Cure Myth (25th - see below)

Join us next Tuesday

Next week we will return with a reading of The Cure Myth.

Tuesday 25th August at 4pm BST.

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

We’ll take a deeper look at the intelligence of your body and review, together, how eradication is not the same as healing.

Review the invitation and register your interest here.

Pre-order Migraine: Root. Reclaim, Rise

Pre-orders make a massive difference to the visibility and success of a book.

If you’ve got your eye on a copy, your order would be much appreciated.

For free UK delivery and 10% deducted, order through Guardian Books here.

Your support and cheer leading means the world. Pre-order or no pre-order

“I wasn’t failing to cope.

I was being asked to listen.”

Chapter 4 of Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle.

My newly available for pre-order book, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

We meet live every Tuesday on here at 4pm BST.

This recording is a re-record from the other week.

In this live reading, the themes we review are:

Learning to Doubt Myself

Hormones, Silence, and the Normalisation of Suffering

When Prevention Became Punishment

Carrying It Alone

The Things I Knew and Ignored

Collapse

When The Whisper Begins

The Moment the Story Cracked

What I Needed Was Care

Listen from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Gather a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply allow the words to wash over you like a bedtime story.

Catch up ones missed

Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle - Seeing Through The Old Paradigm

A live reading, gentle reflection and honest conversation on chapters:

1. A Beginning I didn’t Expect

2. When Awakening Costs You Everything Familiar

3. When Pain Speaks and No-one Listen (this one)

4. Choose Your Path (yet to re-record)

5. The Power of Belief (yet to re-record)

6. The Illusion of Function

7. The Intelligence of Malfunction (18th - see below)

Join us tomorrow

On Tuesday this week, we will return with the second part of the chapter following on from The Illusion of Function:

The Intelligence of Malfunction.

Tuesday 18th August at 4pm BST.

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This chapter brings with it with a reminder: Your body is not broken.

You do not need fixing.

There is nothing to worry about. Nothing is wrong.

Your body is communicating. There is an intelligence to malfunction. And together, we’ll explore that.

Review the invitation and register your interest here.

Pre-order Migraine: Root. Reclaim, Rise

Pre-orders make a massive difference to the visibility and success of a book.

If you’ve got your eye on a copy, your order would be much appreciated.

For free UK delivery and 10% deducted, order through Guardian Books here.

Your support and cheer leading means the world. Pre-order or no pre-order

.

It’s the first time I’ve been able to show up on here from that place.

The deep. The dark. The discomfort. The heavy.

It’s been painful and its hurt.

Building up for a while I guess.

Only I’m no stranger to it.

I’ve been here many times before.

Not just for the odd week at a time as I might find myself on occasion nowadays. But for weeks, months, years on the regular.

When I shared with you the poem Meet Me In The Struggle the other week, the struggle, the discomfort and the noise we all experience landed with many of us deeply.

As did honouring ourselves, our needs and listening to our bodies.

As my new writer friend on here spoke of it, “basking in discomfort”.

and I spoke of wriggling through our struggle like a worm.

All conversations didn’t skirt around how difficult this phase in our lives is. Only to possibility and how many of us have been feeling it.

Monday this week began with my drive to perform. To carry on. And do.

Thinking I need to show up in ways valued, acknowledged and recognised by others.

Momentarily, I didn’t want to be seen as someone who needed a lot of space to rest and process.

Once upon a time I waited until I felt suicidal before expressing the need I had to speak to someone, and how I was feeling - desperate.

On Monday, I witnessed patterns of productivity, perfectionism and people pleasing in ways I never have before.

I came out in yet another cluster of cold-sores - only one week after the last one.

I intuitively knew I needed a good old journaling session. Even though I waited a full day before honouring that need.

And that’s where today’s poem comes in. But what about me?

What about me?

What about me?

What about me?

I am here.

I am in need.

Of time.

Of care.

Of love.

Of attention.

All seen as weakness.

Even by me.

Surely I don’t need this much hand-holding,

this much space,

time to myself,

when the world is in full bloom.

Only it stays in full bloom

all year long.

There is no stop,

no pause button,

yet it is needed,

I think we can all agree.

I need space,

I need time,

to feel what I’m feeling,

discombobulated,

to come back to myself,

to centre,

to balance,

away from the performance,

the doing,

the being seen as producing,

trying to keep up.

It’s making me feel ill.

Big blistering cold sores two weeks running,

after such a big cluster only two months ago.

Trying to get my attention,

share with me an aspect of my story,

revealing itself so I can see it,

witness it,

for the first time

or the last,

who knows.

I can only be me,

in the here and now,

this present moment.

It’s all I have.

There’s a voice inside there somewhere,

whispering to me,

guiding me,

a connection,

ready and waiting to be made,

showing me,

teaching me,

what to do,

where, when, how,

if only I take the time to listen.

The time,

the space,

the energy

we may not have had at times gone by in the past,

we do now.

Chronic illness.
Burnout.
Struggle.
Endurance.

Somehow,
they made this possible for me.

What has your struggle
made possible for you?

Leave a comment

I’d loved hearing from you last time and would love to connect with you in the comments once more.

And for you to join us once more on Tuesday for the new week’s Let’s Talk About…live.

A Further Invitation

On Tuesday we will return with the second part of the chapter following on from The Illusion of Function:

The Intelligence of Malfunction.

Tuesday 18th August at 4pm BST.

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This chapter brings with it with a reminder: Your body is not broken.

You do not need fixing.

There is nothing to worry about. Nothing is wrong.

Your body is communicating. There is an intelligence to malfunction. And together, we’ll explore that.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (18th August) here.

Pre-order The Book

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here

5% discount here - free UK delivery when you spend over £30.

10% discount here - free UK delivery with this order. Recommended

Amazon UK

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Your support, your orders, your cheerleading, means the world to me.

Thank you.

Amber💛

“Maybe you too, have been praised for strength

when what you really needed was to be believed.”

- The Illusion of Function

Today, I read a Substack note that unexpectedly turned into a poem before the chapter on The Illusion of Function: What Happens When We Mistake Survival for Strength.

It’s the fourth week in a row where there have been connection issues. Today’s was so significant I think I was the only one there in the end.

I’ve been able to re-record tonight’s reading but I still have the others from previous week’s to do. (Dismissed, Choose Your Path and The Power of Belief.)

Yesterday, I got caught up in a lot of old story patterns coming up for my attention:

I’m behind.

I need to get on and do.

There’s no time for me to rest.

I need to get this right.

I was putting pressure on myself and it didn’t end well. I’ve been unwell overnight and most of today.

I did today what I needed to do yesterday which was journal. Take up space and be seen for needing rest. Allow myself to be instead of attaching worth and value to what I produce.

It’s been uncomfortable, painful and discombobulating.

I voiced it - on here and to close connections.

I listened.

In the end I wrote a few poems including the one I share on this video and one I hope to share with you later in the week. A part 2 on Meet Me In The Struggle is coming.

I know that one landed and it made me feel far less alone when some of you responded to my note and in the original live today to share you were finding yourselves very much in the messy middle too.

So may this chapter reading meet you right where you are and may it be a reminder that no matter what season you are find yourself in, no matter how messy it gets and hopeless it feels, you, my friend, are not alone.

At the end of each chapter reading we explore the gentle invitation that accompanies each one. As well as the three prompts in the reading, there were a further three prompts to complete them:

1. What sensations arise when you imagine not needing to appear ok?

2. Where have you mistaken coping for healing?

3. What does functioning cost you energetically, emotionally, spiritually?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Any reflections, insights or questions you may have on this chapter reading or your experience of performing function.

Leave a comment

Next week we will return with the second part of this chapter, The Intelligence of Malfunction.

You can register your interest on the live which will be in your inbox or reserve your place here.

Tuesday 18th August at 4pm BST.

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

Next week’s chapter comes with a reminder: Your body is not broken.

You do not need fixing.

There is nothing to worry about. Nothing is wrong.

Your body is communicating. There is an intelligence to malfunction. And together, we’ll explore that.

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (18th August) here.

Pre-order The Book

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here

5% discount here - free UK delivery when you spend over £30.

10% discount here - free UK delivery with this order. Recommended

Amazon UK

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

You support, your orders, your cheerleading, means the world to me.

Thank you.

Amber💛

A poem from me to you.

From within the eye of the struggle.

Recently I’ve been struggling.

Unlike times past, I no longer stay in the struggle.

I lean into the discomfort.

Ask myself:

What lies beneath the struggle?

Too much?

Not enough?

Time pressures.

Deadlines.

Responsibilities.

A cold sore eruption,

Sitting with suppressed anger.

Underneath the niceness,

I’ve been festering.

Where can I make a change?

To appointments.

To commitments.

I’m not bailing out.

I’m making space for myself.

For the niggles.

The needs.

The whispers.

Beneath the struggle.

The roles played.

They are no more.

I’m human.

And I’m standing in my power.

To make space.

To create change.

I am here.

I am powerful.

There will be no re recordings.

There will be no podcast shared tomorrow.

I am not behind.

I am making space for all that’s surfacing.

I am making space for all parts of me.

I am enough.

And I’m honouring what I can do.

Not what I can’t.

Mini update

I am aware that last week’s live reading cut out after 20 minutes recording and that I need to re-record Let’s Talk About…When Pain Speaks and No-one Listens.

The same needs to happen for Tuesday’s Let’s Talk About…Choosing Your Path. Boy, that was an emotional one!

I also planned to share ’s episode of Your Migraine Story Matters podcast tomorrow.

I have a publisher deadline for my manuscript tomorrow and a week (kinda) off next week for my fella’s 50th. So - on top of this cold-sore cluster and really feeling it - I’m making some changes to accommodate life’s chaos.

Karen is new to Substack so why not give her a warm welcome? Say hello. Subscribe. Send her some well wishes.

I can’t wait to share our honest conversation with you. It’s a wholesome one and left me feeling renewed.

An Invitation

This coming Tuesday’s Let’s Talk About… live will be on The Power of Belief and how the stories we tell ourselves shape our healing.

As the role our beliefs play in our health have been of particular interest to me on this journey of exploration, this was one of my favourite chapters to write.

Some were extremely challenging to write (the one on finances the hardest).

Tapping into my beliefs and delving into where some of them came from, alongside where the idea of possibility arose was quite a lot of fun.

It’s a chapter I kept returning to, deepening and expanding upon.

I cannot wait to share this one with you on Tuesday 4th August.

Register your interest here.

Or RSVP here where you will receive a 24 hour and one hour reminder beforehand.

Show up as you are, always, and we’ll take it from there.

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

The book continues to be available for pre-order and has now become available on 3 further sites:

5% discount here - free UK delivery when you spend over £30.

10% discount here - free UK delivery with this order. Recommended

Amazon UK

Fingers crossed for the international options coming soon.

You support, your orders, your cheerleading, means the world to me.

Thank you.

Amber

You matter.

Your health matters.

In the same way I tune in to the energy of the space before we meet online in circle, is the same way I tune in to what you need to know from me.

Well, those of you who are ready to take back the reins of creation for your own life and health and healing in any case.

And specifically, in this instance, for those of you who might have an interest in Tuesday’s live reading: Choose Your Path.

How to move forward in a way that feels aligned is what came through after being guided to sit with the quiet and hear what was trying to come through earlier this week.

It’s a relatively new practice this year, after having my eye on creating a ‘how to’ series of some sorts for a long time.

These are great questions to sit with and reflect on in the first instance.

On Tuesday’s Let’s Talk About… live, I’ll be reading the fourth chapter in my upcoming book, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.:

We’ll begin by lighting candles to open the space with the energetic intentions gleaned when I tune in to the energy from those of us gathering beforehand.

Together, we’ll settle in with an arrival meditation to help drown out the noise of the day and meet ourselves where we are.

Before a reading of a poem I wrote that precedes the chapter in the book.

Each chapter in Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle comes with a gentle invitation at the end which we explore through guided mediation together.

Sharing your insights, reflections and experiences is encouraged yet optional.

I saw someone speak to our need for a paradigm shift on here one day this week. And I’m wondering how many of us would agree with that?

Leave a comment

This entire pathway is one that helps you to first, see through the old paradigm.

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. is a book that will help you create new paradigm shifts in the way we view health, healthcare, diet and malfunction.

As well as our way of being, seeing and believing.

It’ll help you align with more of what you want and less of what you don’t.

And it starts by

Let’s take that courageous first step together?

Register your interest here.

Or RSVP here where you will receive a 24 hour and one hour reminder beforehand.

Show up as you are, always, and we’ll take it from there.

I wasn’t failing to cope.

I was being asked to listen.

This week ten of us sat in circle together to explore the third chapter of Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. and it’s helped me realise why so many beta-readers fed back that they were able to get clear on what mattered to them most and help them identify what their needs were - an intention I consciously held for the book but not one I envisaged would come to light so early on.

Here are the aspects of the story we sat in gentle reflection with:

• The First Night My Body Spoke

• Learning to Doubt Myself

• Hormones, Silence, and the Normalisation of Suffering

• When Prevention Became Punishment

• Carrying It Alone

• The Things I Knew and Ignored

• Collapse

• The Moment the Story Cracked

• What I Needed

  Warrior Within: Root. Reclaim. Rise. is a space for women who live with migraine and chronic pain who are ready to reclaim their voice and rise from the root. A space of depth. Of truth. Of powerful remembering. There is room for you here.

  ---

Join me for candle lighting, an arrival meditation, a two-part reading (including the poem below) and space for gentle reflection in the form of an additional guided meditation at the end.

I see you

I see you in all your humanness

I see you in all your wholeness

I see parts of you longing to be heard

To be seen

To be witnessed

And understood

I see you

I hear you

I witness you

I understand you

I believe you

We do not need validation from an outside source

We do not need recognition from another

I am here

I am with you

You are not alone

I’d love to hear how you found this bed time story type reading, what came through for you and anything else you’d like to share or ask.

Leave a comment

Thank you , , and as well as everyone else for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Get more from Amber Horrox 🗝️Warrior Within in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

An Invitation

Over the continued weeks, I’d love you to join me as we journey through the opening chapters of Migraine here on Substack.

Each Let’s Talk About… Live will combine:

🕯️ A candle lighting

🌿 An arrival meditation

📖 A live chapter reading

✨ A gentle guided meditation

💜 Insight sharing

💭 Questions and reflections

Think of it as less of a book reading and more of a circle.

A space to arrive exactly as you are.

There’s nothing to prepare.

The invitation, as always, is simply to come as you are.

You do not have to attend every one.

Simply choose the ones you have availability and capacity for and/or which speak to you most deeply.

Unlike my other circle offerings where we are all live on camera and sharing too personally to record, these will be available on replay.

Our Fourth Gathering

Let’s Talk About… Choosing Your Path

Together, we’ll explore the quiet courage it takes to choose a different path, even when you can’t see where it will yet lead.

🗓 Tuesday 28th July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer

4pm BST

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (28th July) here.

Pre-order The Book

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Any questions - please ask

So far I’ve been asked a number of questions such as “will I enjoy this book?” and “is it too scientific?”. The latest is “are you going to have it on audio book?” (The answer is yes, but more likely next year).

I am loving all the questions so far!

They help me understand what you are looking for in a book and how I can tailor promotion of it.

Creating content around enquiries made helps me inform other potential readers who may be sat there thinking the same question.

Keep them coming!

There is no question too daft.

Leave a comment

You can read the first round of Questions and Answers here:

:

38 articles had somehow become 6.

6 pieces that quietly transformed an action guide into the book I’d been trying to write all along.

Looking back, I realise something else was happening too.

I wasn’t simply editing a manuscript.

I was becoming the person capable of writing it.

After 3 years of leaving draft one of Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. dormant and inputting 38 blogs into Chat GTP, I was left with 6 pieces to integrate into it.

What had become more of an action guide than the journal I initially intended was now interspersed with memoir style writing. Each piece seemed to arrive exactly where it had always belonged. Even down to the last piece I was left with at the end. When I went back to the beginning, I had written a note to say that it might be helpful to insert a chapter before the section on finding your voice.

For the next few months, I continued working on the newly improved draft. Feeling confident. Enjoying it.

There was still one chapter I kept circling around.

Finances.

Not because I didn’t think it mattered.

Quite the opposite.

Because it mattered so much.

Chronic illness changes far more than our bodies.

It changes work.

Identity.

Independence.

Choice.

Money.

Yet somehow, this remains one of the quietest conversations we have.

I can see why, over two decades into the 21st century, we’re only just starting to venture near this topic. It’s been one of the hardest chapters in the book to write.

That, and it comes from the privilege of having the choice and a voice to be able to speak from to begin with. A choice and a voice that my ancestors did not have and still many around the world do not.

During the five-month period I updated and completed this draft, there were several weeks where I couldn’t return to it. Well, not without pushing and forcing in any case.

Whenever fear, worry and self-doubt begin to creep in, I find myself returning to the same place.

Trust.

Again and again, it has become my compass.

Not certainty.

Trust.

Taking action from trust creates a very different life from taking action through fear.

It leaves space.

Space to think.

Space to create.

Space to rest.

And for many years, space to simply be unwell without believing I was falling behind.

As the publishers sent through another version of the cover, something clicked into place.

Arriving like a lightening bolt.

For the first time, I allowed myself to imagine that this book might travel much further than I had ever dared to believe.

Five years earlier, I’d placed an international best selling book on my vision board.

Until that moment, it felt like grounded hope.

Suddenly, it felt like possibility.

If this book was ever going to travel beyond migraine, it it couldn’t simply tell my story.

It needed to illuminate something all of us recognise.

The fear,

The loss.

The awakening.

The courage.

The becoming.

Along the way, I’ve heard from other people that “you can’t make money as an author” and “you can’t write an international best seller”.

Only I’d learned from global publishers, Hay House, how to write a book (for free), put all of what they taught me into action, surrounded myself with other writers and had been working on my self-belief for nearly three years at this stage in the journey.

I’d also learned to ask for help and found creative ways to bring support in.

All whilst I continued to prioritise my health above everything.

I knew that to write an international best-selling book then the book had to be universal in appeal. And to be universal in appeal it had to follow the outline of a classic hero’s journey.

Looking back, I realised I’d been living the hero’s journey long before I’d ever studied it.

There was an ordinary life.

A call I never wanted.

Refusal.

Mentors.

Impossible challenges.

Crossing thresholds that couldn’t be uncrossed.

Moments I genuinely believed I wouldn’t survive.

And slowly, almost imperceptibly…

I became.

In my case, in the before days I was hardworking, career driven, independent, found it easy to make friends, loved to party, ate a lot, drank a lot – did everything to excess. To others I looked like I had it all – a swanky apartment in the city, an invitation to every party, boyfriends who adored me. I presented as someone who was fit and healthy, people even said high energy and the most positive person they had ever met.

Deep down I knew that wasn’t the case. I was numbed out, mentally struggling, physically suffering.

Ignoring all the signs.

Pretending I had no needs.

Believing I had to do everything alone.

That I was unlovable.

Wasn’t worthy.

I masked.

I performed.

I silently endured.

There was breakdown, near suicide, learning to speak out and express my needs in the most dire set of circumstances.

Just when I thought I’d hit rock bottom and things couldn’t get any worse, along came the complete collapse of my life which I’ve written a lot about here. What happened, what I did, how people responded, who helped me and where my life is now.

After spending a childhood wishing I’d never been born and suffering so much from my teens onwards leaving me wishing I was dead, I now live a life where I have more energy and zest for it than I’ve ever known.

Today I know a version of myself I never imagined could exist.

And perhaps that’s the greatest gift writing this book has given me.

I experience safety in my body that I didn’t know as a child.

Or even before that.

I no longer live from fear.

I live from trust.

From balance.

From freedom.

These are words I never thought I’d write.

Balanced is the last word anyone would have ever used to describe me.

Now its one of my deepest values.

After growing up believing I was good for nothing, and shutting down my dreams before even letting them see the light of day, I now believe it is safe to do something you love – and you can earn money from it.

Today, I believe it is safe to dream.

Safe to create meaningful work.

Safe to love what you do.

Safe to earn from it.

Safe to become more of yourself than you’ve ever done before.

Whether your dream is an international best-selling book…

opening a small business…

changing careers…

or simply living with greater peace…

the invitation is still the same.

To become the person capable of holding the life you long for.

We just need to make sure its desire talking…

not the fear.

Fear still visits.

It always will.

I’m just no longer willing to let it make my decisions.

So I’ll leave you with a question.

Who is the person your dream is asking you to become?

And if your dream happens to be writing a book…

What is the vision you hold most dear for your book?

Leave a comment

An Invitation

Over the coming weeks, I’d love you to join me as we journey through the opening chapters of Migraine here on Substack.

Each Let’s Talk About… Live will combine:

🕯️ A candle lighting

🌿 An arrival meditation

📖 A live chapter reading

✨ A gentle guided meditation

💜 Insight sharing

💭 Questions and reflections

Think of it as less of a book reading and more of a circle.

A space to arrive exactly as you are.

There’s nothing to prepare.

The invitation, as always, is simply to come as you are.

You do not have to attend every one.

Simply choose the ones you have availability and capacity for and/or which speak to you most deeply.

Unlike my other circle offerings where we are all live on camera and sharing too personally to record, these will be available on replay.

Our third gathering

Let’s Talk About… When Pain Speaks and No-one Listens

Together, we’ll explore what happens when pain is dismissed by others, and what it takes to finally begin listening to ourselves.

🗓 Tuesday 21st July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer

4pm BST

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (21st July) here.

Pre-order The Book

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Any questions - please ask

So far I’ve been asked a number of questions such as “will I enjoy this book?” and “is it too scientific?”. The latest is “are you going to have it on audio book?” (The answer is yes, but more likely next year).

I am loving all the questions so far!

They help me understand what you are looking for in a book and how I can tailor promotion of it.

Creating content around enquiries made helps me inform other potential readers who may be sat there thinking the same question.

Keep them coming!

There is no question too daft.

Leave a comment

You can read the first round of Questions and Answers here:

Those who managed to get on couldn’t clearly hear me and eventually dropped off. There were more of you who couldn’t get on at all.

I continued until the end - hopeful that the recording might at least be clear.

It wasn’t!

The win for me was that I didn’t panic and I continued on.

I completed the end, sensing that I was the only one there.

This morning,. I rerecorded the entire thing.

I didn’t feel great this morning so that likely shows.

However, I did leave feeling much better.

Which, to me, also shows the power and the magic of circle.

And what happens when you make space for yourself.

Even when its hard.

Join me for candle lighting, an arrival meditation, a two-part reading and space for gentle reflection in the form of an additional guided meditation at the end.

Together, we explore what happens when we finally begin listening to our bodies, recognise our needs and discover that healing often begins with awareness.

I share with you a recent personal example of the discomfort that this can sometimes bring. The resistance that shows up. The distractions that preoccupy us instead. How we can make space for all of it. And what happens when we do.

I’d love to hear how you found this bed time story type reading, what came through for you and anything else you’d like to share or ask.

Leave a comment

An Invitation

Over the coming weeks, I’d love you to join me as we journey through the opening chapters of Migraine here on Substack.

Each Let’s Talk About… Live will combine:

🕯️ A candle lighting

🌿 An arrival meditation

📖 A live chapter reading

✨ A gentle guided meditation

💜 Insight sharing

💭 Questions and reflections

Think of it as less of a book reading and more of a circle.

A space to arrive exactly as you are.

There’s nothing to prepare.

The invitation, as always, is simply to come as you are.

You do not have to attend every one.

Simply choose the ones you have availability and capacity for and/or which speak to you most deeply.

Unlike my other circle offerings where we are all live on camera and sharing too personally to record, these will be available on replay.

Our third gathering

Let’s Talk About… When Pain Speaks and No-one Listens

Together, we’ll explore what happens when pain is dismissed by others, and what it takes to finally begin listening to ourselves.

🗓 Tuesday 21st July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer

4pm BST

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (21st July) here.

Pre-order The Book

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Any questions - please ask

So far I’ve been asked a number of questions such as “will I enjoy this book?” and “is it too scientific?”. The latest is “are you going to have it on audio book?” (The answer is yes, but more likely next year).

I am loving all the questions so far!

They help me understand what you are looking for in a book and how I can tailor promotion of it.

Creating content around enquiries made helps me inform other potential readers who may be sat there thinking the same question.

Keep them coming!

There is no question too daft.

Leave a comment

You can read the first round of Questions and Answers here:

As they make for informative content, I’ve been answering them in notes and will continue to do so.

I’ve been thinking that if one person is asking, a dozen or so more may be thinking the same thing!

So I figured I’d put the full stash so far in one article.

As they continue to pour in, I’ll keep adding them so it becomes a living companion alongside the book itself.

The questions you’ve asked so far with my response below - feel free to flick through and see which ones stand out most to you:

Will Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. be available to order outside the UK?

Yes.

The journey has begun.

At the moment, the book is available to pre-order through Waterstones and The Great British Bookshop here in the UK.

I’m currently awaiting confirmation of additional retailer links so that readers around the world will be able to order it too.

As soon as those become available, I’ll share them here.

Thank you for your patience, your encouragement, and for cheering this book on from wherever you are in the world. It means more than you know.

“Will I enjoy it?”

Here’s trusting so.

I’ve written it to feel like you’re sitting across from someone who truly understands what living with migraine is like.

There are stories woven with grounded insight, embodied practices, reflections, gentle prompts, and moments that invite you to pause.

My aim isn’t just to inform you. It’s to help you feel seen and to leave you with rebellious hope.

One of the most consistent pieces of feedback from beta readers is that the book takes you on an emotional journey. It helps you find clarity about what you need, what matters most, and what healing can look like for you.

And one piece of feedback from my publisher has stayed with me:

“It doesn’t feel like you’re being spoken down to or told what to do.”

That meant a great deal.

Because living with migraine often comes with enough people telling you what you should be doing already.

I wanted this book to feel different.

Like a companion.

Like someone walking alongside you.

If that’s how it feels when you read it, then I’ve written the book true to intention.

“It’s not too scientific, is it?”

No.

The science is there, but it’s translated into everyday language.

I wanted to bridge the gap between research and real life, so you’ll understand why things matter without feeling like you’re reading a textbook.

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. is grounded in evidence while making space for the very human experience of living with migraine.

It’s a book that invites curiosity rather than overwhelm.

A book that helps you understand your body without making you feel as though you need a medical degree to do so.

“Will your book help me write my book?”

The short answer?

Yes.

Perhaps not in the way you expect.

The first of two books now available for pre-order, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise., is about stabilising, regulating, and returning to yourself.

Because before we can author a book…

We first have to author ourselves.

To create safety.

To find our voice.

To trust our intuition.

To remember who we are beneath the coping, masking, and surviving.

That’s where writing begins.

The second of the two (coming next year), Migraine: The Art of Self Authorship, picks up the baton.

It’s about the creative process.

The inner landscape of becoming an author.

The courage to be seen.

And how writing can become a pathway for healing, transformation, and change.

In many ways, they were always meant to be companions.

One helps you come home to yourself.

The other helps you write from that place. 💜

What is your writing process? What helped you develop a writing practice?

Now that I’m being vocal about my second book being available for pre-order in a way that I wasn’t with my first, I’m being asked more and more about my writing process.

First things first…

I’ve found books have their own timeline.

I started my second book nearly five years ago and wrote the entire first draft (albeit a small one) in one weekend, convinced it would be published the following year.

Then I had an insight that triggered me so deeply I couldn’t touch it again for three years🤪

Only to discover that I was still living the book ending this time last year and I couldn’t have completed it before now.

And the three year gap made space for this platform to take root and grow.

One thing I’ve learnt is that creating an environment to develop a writing practice matters far more than chasing word counts.

For me, that means a view of nature💚

An energetically cleansed space.

A notebook with me wherever I go📝

I’ve also learnt to give myself permission.

My breaks have been long, frequent, and many.

Writing has never responded well to force. Neither does my body.

I’m deeply soul-led in the way I write. Inspiration arrives in waves, and I follow it. (The moment I say the word flow, I usually watch people’s eyes glaze over 😂 But really, learning to write in flow state is what I’m speaking to here.)

Creating Healing Through Writing, and joining a writing group with Suzy Walker at Heart Leap, has probably been the most valuable thing I’ve done.

Every Monday at 10am BST and 4pm, we gather for some gentle Healing Through Writing and I guide you to find your own inner flow state and write from a soul-led place.

Additionally, I jump into Heart Leap with a host of aspiring authors a couple of times a week.

Networking with other authors is a big part of my creative practice.

It can be lonely being a writer! But it needn’t be.

12 Chapters club has been really helpful for getting clear on my book’s priorities and even a new book idea!

None of this made me write the book any faster but it for sure has helped me cross the finish line…twice now.

In fact, I’m yet to see anyone reach publication sooner by pushing harder. More often, they end up burnt out and miss the very life they’re trying to write about.

The greatest gift to joining other writers has been the support.

Being surrounded by people who understand.

Sometimes I arrive needing encouragement.

Sometimes I want to understand more about the book writing and publishing process.

Sometimes I just need a gentle pause in my working day.

The other day I joined with no intention other than to breathe for an hour…

…and left having written four poems that are now going into my action guide and memoir, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson of all.

Trust the timing✨

Trust the process💫

And don’t be too surprised if, like me, you discover you’ve got a whole series of books waiting to be written…

…just not in the order you expected💜

“Will Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. be available as an audiobook?”

The short answer is: I surely hope so.

Right now, my focus is on bringing the paperback into the world as well as I possibly can.

An audiobook is something I’d absolutely love to create and plan to start recording chapter by chapter.

I’ll just need time to do that - it’s a big book!

For now, if you’d like to hear the book in my own voice, I’ll continue reading a chapter live each Tuesday at 4pm BST / 5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT.

It feels like a lovely way to experience the book together while the next chapter of its journey unfolds.

All my latest articles will continue to have invites to RSVP to for the coming weeks and months.

From here you will receive a 24 hour reminder and one hour notification before we start.

Our 2nd gathering

Let’s Talk About… When Awakening Costs You Everything Familiar

Together, we’ll explore the unexpected beginnings that change us, the moments we never planned for, and how struggle can quietly become the beginning of something new.

🗓 Tuesday 14th July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer

4pm BST

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (14th July) here.

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Any questions - please ask

I am loving all the questions so far!

They help me understand what you are looking for in a book and how I can tailor promotion of it.

Creating content around enquiries made helps me inform other potential readers who may be sat there thinking the same question.

Keep them coming!

There is no question too daft.

Leave a comment

Embracing the discomfort, the blips and stumbling of words.

Receiving the compliments, the company and the support.

A Beginning I Didn’t Expect has surfaced true in many ways.

I didn’t expect the beginning of my book to start with my life as it is now.

And I didn’t expect to introduce you to the beginning of my book by reading a chapter out loud, live on here!!

It’s funny that even though my days are the way they are now - so big, so full, so much presence - I don’t approach them any differently to the way I did the year my life collapsed (8 years ago last month).

The prospect of showing up live to share a reading with you pushed me right out of my comfort zone and slap bang in the middle of the zone of discomfort!

And one of the guiding companions that has been of support to be me from that fateful season in my life has been to learn to be with discomfort.

We’ll be talking more about these guiding companions as we move together through Pathway One: Awakening Through Struggle and Seeing Through The Old Paradigm.

But for now, I share with you live in last night’s video the opening quote I wrote in the book, the author’s note and first chapter:

Before and after which we settled in with a lovely arrival meditation and ended with a gentle invitation in both meditation and reflection together.

Thanks so much to , , , and many others for tuning into our live!

The biggest win for me - aside from braving it to do this in the first place and being able to lean in to your support in ways I haven’t been able to in the past - is that even though there were many blips, such as:

• The camera not working straight away ;)

• Stumbling on my words

• Not feeling certain parts flowed as I might have liked

• Missing a page of reading !!!

I didn’t come away from it with incessant thoughts around “I should have said this. I should have done that".”

And for me, that’s been the first time in my life…!

After we’d finished, one of the listeners messaged a picture of her dog, Purdy.

The listener had been sat with her three dogs and they didn’t move the entire live.

She said it was like they were being read a bedtime story.

Ending the message

Gratitude, feeling proud and achievement. An embodied combination I’ll take with me into the rest of the week.

I’d love to welcome you again next week.

If you are returning, book here or continue reading more about it below.

An invitation

Over the coming weeks, I’d love you to join me as we journey through the opening chapters of Migraine here on Substack.

Each Let’s Talk About… Live will begin with me sharing a chapter read aloud, followed by a grounded space for reflection and conversation.

There’s nothing to prepare.

The invitation, as always, is simply to come as you are.

Our second gathering

Let’s Talk About… When Awakening Costs You Everything Familiar

Together, we’ll explore the unexpected beginnings that change us, the moments we never planned for, and how struggle can quietly become the beginning of something new.

🗓 Tuesday 14th July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer

4pm BST

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (14th July) here.

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Any questions - please ask

So far I’ve been asked a number of questions such as “will I enjoy this book?” and “is it too scientific?”. The latest is “are you going to have it on audio book?” (The answer is yes, but more likely next year).

I am loving all the questions so far!

They help me understand what you are looking for in a book and how I can tailor promotion of it.

Creating content around enquiries made helps me inform other potential readers who may be sat there thinking the same question.

Keep them coming!

There is no question too daft.

Leave a comment

I’ll be sharing all the questions received so far in my next article ahead of our next live together next Tuesday.

Get more from Amber Horrox 🗝️Warrior Within in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

In 2023, I wrote a year-by-year account of the things no one tells you about writing a memoir. Mainly what’s involved and just how long it can take.

The following year, I wrote a month-by-month account of the journey as it continued to unfold. This time, I reflected on the practice, the power of the pause, and the importance of learning to celebrate yourself along the way.

Looking back now, I realise those three things have become foundational, not only to birthing books into the world, but to creating anything of meaning.

Last week, this series evolved from The Journey of Writing A Memoir to the journey of Becoming An Author.

Two years have now passed since I published my first book, an ebook born from the need to write the trauma out of my body. In the space that followed, the initial book I set out to write continued to emerge.

And today, Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. is available for pre-order.

If you’ve been on this road trip with me for a while, you’ll know this book has evolved tremendously.

Whether you’ve been here for a long time or a short time:

Over the years the title has changed.

The type of book has changed.

And many times over, so did I.

In my last instalment, Becoming An Author: Learning to be Seen I shared how it had become clear that the memoir I first imagined was asking to become something different. A practical guide. A “how to” book.

That sent me unravelling, I can tell you.

Since then, I’ve written about how to unravel without falling apart and even how to unravel in a sandstorm.

As it turns out, I’ve had to learn both.

In the depths of disability.

In the complexity of chronic illness.

And in the slow, often frustrating process of unscrambling the migraine brain1.

Looking back, I approached the collapse of my health in much the same way I approached business.

Only to discover I was approaching book writing in a very similar way.

Which, when I think about it, really comes down to moving forward strategically.

And this:

For me, it always begins with creating a vision.

Getting clear on:

• what I want

• what I need

• my strengths

• my interests

Years earlier, I would have approached all of this by simply working harder.

I’d already worked myself to the point of exhaustion then continuing the pattern of working harder, breakdown then continuing on still, chronic illness.

The driver was fear. Worry. Anxiety.

Feeling like I had a lot to lose. Like I needed to prove myself. Like everything was my fault and my responsibility.

This time, I chose a different way.

I had learned to let go of fear, worry and doubt.

Not all of it (some of it can serve us), but a substantial amount.

Instead of believing I had to do it all on my own, I brought in guiding companions.

Some of the ones I speak to in upcoming book, Migraine:

• I learnt to meet myself where I was.

• To do what I could, when I could.

• To begin with what I had, rather than waiting for what I didn’t.

• And to remain open.

Especially when I didn’t have all the answers.

Below I’ll also be speaking to guidance in the form of:

• Human guidance.

• Professional guidance.

• Creative guidance.

• Spiritual guidance.

• Technological guidance.

  ✨This is your invitation to reconnect to the truth of who you are. Beneath the pain, beneath the pressure, beneath the roles you’ve carried.

What threads every part of this journey together is my love of complexity.

I often notice patterns that others don’t.

I naturally look at things from a different angle.

Only recently have I found the language to articulate that.

Today, it was my original intention for this article to be a simple two-year update.

Instead, it appears to be becoming a much longer series that is a continuation of one I accidentally started the other year.

Perhaps that’s because there has been far more unfolding than I ever anticipated when I first began sharing this journey with you.

So let’s begin where part two ends and where one of the bigger shifts started.

September 2024

Around the same time my first book was published, following a writing competition win, the feedback arrived from the Hay House Writers Workshop on the book proposal I had submitted in May.

Whilst the proposal itself was praised…

…the structure wasn’t.

Then came the sentence that would quietly change everything.

Unlike my first Hay House submission the previous year (submitted in a blur of exhaustion with no cover letter because I’d simply run out of capacity), this time I included one.

In that letter, I described the vision for the book that has now become Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

Their response spurred me on.

And perhaps most importantly:

October 2024

There was one thing I knew with certainty.

I never wanted readers to feel overwhelmed by this book.

That wasn’t my intention.

So I became clear on a different set of intentions.

I wanted the chapters to feel succinct.

I wanted to enjoy writing.

I wanted to help readers discover what truly mattered to them.

To recognise their needs.

To understand what meaningful health could look and feel like for them.

I wanted to weave together lived experience, research, evidence, guidance and support.

I wanted readers to feel seen.

Accompanied.

As though we were walking this path together.

Around this same time, I unexpectedly found myself attending a free class for authors on using AI.

It wasn’t fear-based.

It wasn’t political.

It was simply practical.

A tool that could support authors in everything from titles and book blurbs to editing, structure and chapter development.

The session was led by the same book coach I mentioned in Tuesday’s article, Eleanor Baguley.

Dear reader,

I am one of the biggest technophobes you’ll ever meet.

But I was struggling.

The original two outlines for Migraine had been dismantled.

Although, in true life fashion (as it has come to be), neither were wasted.

One became the foundation for three-day circle journey, The Warrior’s Path.

The other for what came next.

It helped that Hay House had confirmed some guidance I’d already received but was having a difficult time with.

The book now needed to become a practical guide.

Only I had no roadmap of how to create that.

No clear direction.

No idea how to move from thirty-eight disconnected articles to the cohesive book I knew wanted to exist.

So, with very few options left before me, I downloaded the ChatGPT app.

My first task?

Uploading thirty-eight Substack articles.

One by one.

At that point, I knew almost nothing about prompting AI.

I wasn’t looking for it to write my book.

I simply hoped it might help me organise an overwhelming body of work into something more coherent.

Something unexpected happened.

Entirely unprompted, it consistently highlighted six particular pieces.

Not with summaries.

With genuine enthusiasm.

I remember thinking,

“Perhaps I should begin there.”

It felt like such a tiny place to start.

But I also remember saying to myself,

“I have nothing to lose, and no clearer direction than this.”

Looking back now, I realise I wasn’t searching for something to write the book for me.

I was searching for companions to help me write the book that was already inside me.

Around the same time, after developing a wonderful relationship with the publisher I’d won the writing competition with and who I’d felt drawn to from the moment a friend introduced me to their work, I arranged a Zoom call to discuss the journal that they then told me was more of an action guide.

The one I’d written three years earlier and had been unable to revisit after uncovering an insight that deeply triggered me.

An insight that, had I recognised it years earlier, might have shortened my own suffering.

Painful as that realisation was, I knew it was something my readers needed to understand.

During that conversation, I was reminded just how unusual my relationship with Hay House had been.

Receiving thoughtful feedback on a proposal is incredibly rare.

To me, it felt like the answer to a prayer.

Years earlier, I wouldn’t have known how to ask for support.

In truth, I often didn’t even know what support I needed.

Nowadays I did.

I had learned to identify what I needed. Find my voice to be able to express it. Then ask confidently for it.

Amongst other things in the journey of writing a memoir, I quietly asked for spiritual guidance.

After learning that some people intentionally call upon guides for particular areas of life, I found myself asking for one thing.

Help writing a book.

Whether that resonates with you or not isn’t wholly relevant. Either way of looking at things is honoured.

It was this though, that was part of my journey.

As was accepting that, unconsciously, I wanted someone, something or some being else to do the work for me.

And when I had exhausted many of the options I knew and had begun exploring, remaining open became an act of trust.

Then something extraordinary happened.

During that conversation with Partnership Publishing, an idea arrived.

What if those six articles AI had highlighted became the backbone of the journal/action guide I’d already written?

Afterwards, when I laid them alongside each other, they aligned almost seamlessly.

Beginning.

Middle.

End.

That was the moment everything started taking shape.

Not because AI wrote the book.

Not because any one person had all the answers.

But because I had finally stopped believing I needed to carry the whole process alone.

Looking back now, I can see this wasn’t simply the journey of writing a memoir.

It was the journey of learning how to create differently.

Not through striving.

Not through carrying everything alone.

But through vision.

Guidance.

Curiosity.

Strategy.

Support.

Perhaps that’s one of the biggest things no one tells you about writing a book.

It doesn’t simply ask you to tell your story.

If you let it…

It asks you to become the person capable of writing it.

Next time, I’ll continue the story from here, sharing what happened as the framework I didn’t know would become part of Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise. finally began to fall into place.

An invitation

Over the coming weeks, I’d love you to join me as we journey through the opening chapters of Migraine here on Substack.

Each Let’s Talk About… Live will begin with me sharing a chapter read aloud, followed by a grounded space for reflection and conversation.

There’s nothing to prepare.

The invitation, as always, is simply to come as you are.

Our first gathering

Let’s Talk About… A Beginning I Didn’t Expect

Together, we’ll explore the unexpected beginnings that change us, the moments we never planned for, and how struggle can quietly become the beginning of something new.

🗓 Tuesday 7th July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer

4pm BST

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (7th July) here.

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.

Further links to order overseas will follow.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Any questions - please ask

So far I’ve been asked a number of questions such as “will I enjoy this book?” and “is it too scientific?”.

I am loving them!

They help me understand what you are looking for in a book and how I can tailor promotion of it.

Creating content around enquiries made helps me inform other potential readers who may be sat there thinking the same question.

Keep them coming!

There is no question too daft.

Leave a comment

We continue to be experiencing a heatwave in England and temperatures are not what we are used to, but it looks like we will have to find ways to adapt!

And showing up as I am is one way I’ve had to learn to adapt.

My book went live for pre-order today and I’m wiped out (at the time of the live and writing this) and , well, she is pregnant, autistic and sweltering so can you imagine the combination!?!

Together, we did a lovely settling in meditation before we went live and, after finding our ground and visualising a cool spray of water by a waterfall, we were ready to talk about what Perceived Importance VS Actual Headspace means to us.

One of the things I love about not having a conversation mapped out is that it is free to take the many twists and turns that ours did today.

There is so much GOLD in here, particularly as the conversation builds.

Talking about the unseen aspects of autism, the valuable attributes of intuition and perception, working with flow and some ideas about how to get there.

One of them being writing:

• Recording your achievements in a notebook.

• Writing only for you and not for anyone else.

Sarah is writing a book and joins us in Healing Through Writing most weeks, where she as she puts it, she “writes and goes”!

Literally.

Peruse her page at Infinite Ability, .

“Write and Go” - a professional way to unscramble your brain!

(And the fastest way I know to creating content for book writing!)

Key takeaways and further areas explored including where to start:

• Trust in yourself and, in turn, others.

• Bring in the boundaries when it comes to finding your people.

We’re not here suggesting any of this is easy.

But we are able to demonstrate with lived experience and story sharing, that when you give your energy to what truly matters, we can learn to drop some of the mental load and live more intentionally, with way more clarity, presence and purpose.

And from there, ease, it does become possible.

It certainly makes the world a lot more colourful.

And to say I felt completely wiped out before we began, I left the conversation feeling renewed and energised.

How did you feel during or at the end of the conversation?

Leave a comment

Connect With Sarah

You can find Sarah on

• Linked In

• Here on Substack

• Her website (blog and business)

Her preferred method of connection is conversation. So why not send her a message?

Starting Next Week - 7th July

Over the (UK) summer months, Let’s Talk About… will become a live reading, gentle reflection and conversation.

Starting with the first chapter of my book that is now available for pre-order:

Let’s Talk About… A Beginning I Didn’t Expect

Together, we’ll explore the unexpected beginnings that change us, the moments we never planned for, and how struggle can quietly become the beginning of something new.

🗓 Tuesday 7th July - and every Tuesday over (UK) summer

4pm BST

5pm CEST | 8:30pm IST | 11am EDT | 8am PDT

This is a free gathering.

A circle of people coming together.

A ceremonial space.

A gentle ritual of reflection in community.

A sanctuary to pause.

A haven to belong.

There will be no camera.

You’ll be able to see me. I won’t be able to see you.

Sharing in the comments is always an invitation, never an expectation.

Join us from your bed, your sofa, your favourite chair, or wherever you feel most comfortable.

Bring a cup of tea, a notebook or journal if you wish, or simply come to listen.

Come exactly as you are.

You are warmly invited.

Reserve your space for next Tuesday (7th July) here.

You’ll receive a 24 hour and one hour reminder with link to the event.

If you’d like to follow the journey beyond these lives, you can also pre-order the book here:

Migraine: Root. Reclaim. Rise.

So far you can pre-order it through Waterstones here and The Great British Bookshop here.

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you’ve only just found this space, thank you for walking alongside me.

Everyone who pre-orders the book will also be invited to an online Activation Ceremony on Tuesday 13th October 2026.

Simply email your order confirmation to amberhorrox@yahoo.co.uk once received.

Get more from Amber Horrox 🗝️Warrior Within in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app