How Yoga Can Help With Headache?!
Written By: Fatima Lathan
It's Tuesday.
Your head is throbbing as if it has a pulse, and you’re burnt out from dealing with everything that is “back to school.” Between work, meeting the teachers and shopping for school supplies “you” has been last on your “to-do list.” Due to the back to school rush, your eating and sleeping schedules have been terrible, and the tension headache is reminding you of it with each blink you take.
You feel it getting more intense and reach for your… yoga mat?
Researchers have found that people who do yoga and take medicine for migraines have fewer migraines than people who only take the drug. A lot of things can cause intense headaches. Stress, lack of sleep, dehydration, hormone imbalances, and food choices all play a part in how often and frequent your problems will occur. So being that stress is one of the most significant factors, doesn’t it make sense to do something that will help relieve stress.
More than 45 million Americans suffer from chronic headaches to the point that they are unable to complete daily activities. Between climbing the corporate ladder, starting families and trying to juggle student loans and mortgages, Americans are sleeping less and experiencing more headaches. Many people who suffer from headaches have found that yoga helps reduce the number of problems they encounter.
At one point migraines were believed to be caused due to constriction of arteries in the brain, and tension-based headaches were the result of strained muscles in the scalp and neck. Many researchers now believe that an imbalance in the brain's neurotransmitters, the chemicals that act as messengers between cells in the brain and the nervous system, lies at the heart of both types.
Despite having no formal scientific studies exist in America that links yoga with headache relief, it's been suggested that progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and focusing on the breath—activities at the heart of most yoga practices—can bring about a state of deep rest in the body. Almost 40 years ago, Herbert Benson, M.D, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the founder, in 1988, of the Mind-Body Medical Institute in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, stressed that yoga changes the physical and emotional responses to the body.
Yoga aids in relieving tension headaches by relaxing muscles in your head, back, and neck, boosting circulation to your brain and upper body, and improving your posture.
Here are three simple yoga stretches you can do at home or in your office:
Extended side angle
Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet hip-width apart.
Plant your feet firmly on the floor.
Lift your arms beside your head,
Grab your left wrist with your right hand.
On an exhalation, gently stretch to the right, pulling your left arm and wrist with your right hand.
Press your weight down to the left buttock.
Hold for 10 seconds, breathing evenly.
Return to center and repeat on the opposite side.
Gomukhasana Arms
Stand with the feet firmly planted on the floor hip-width apart.
Lift your right arm into the air beside your right ear.
Bend your right elbow.
Reach your right hand behind back, palm faces your back and place it down between your shoulder blades.
Bring your left arm behind your back and climb it up to clasp your right hand.
If you have tight shoulders, use a yoga belt or tie between your hands.
Hold for 10 seconds, breathing evenly.
Release and repeat on the opposite side.
Eagle Pose
Wrap your arms around your torso, right arm under left, hugging yourself.
Bring your hands up; your left elbow rests in your right angle.
Rotate your hands; palms face each other.
Relax your eyes, jaw, and shoulder blades.
Hold for 10 seconds, breathing evenly.
Release and repeat with your left arm under the right.
We hope you found this helpful!