Hectic headaches

Hectic schedules in our everyday lives are the main cause of headaches. The stress of the ‘go, go, go’ mentality brings upon tension in the body specifically in the neck, shoulders, and upper back. According to Ravenstarshealingroom Blog, “90 percent of headaches are tension headaches which come from muscle tension and contraction.”

If you are struggling with frequent headaches, one of these influences might be the culprit.

• Ventilation – breathing too much or too little
• Fatigue – not enough sleep
• Dehydration – not drinking enough water
• Prescriptions – side-effects
• Coffee – stimulant
• Smoking/Second-hand smoke
• Diet – allergies to food, hypoglycemic (low blood sugar)
• Constipation
• Allergies – external environmental pollutants
• Posture – hunching over a computer
• Tension – overwork, worrying, anxiety, stress
• Emotional – depression
• Medical diagnosis – Neurovascular

As stated above, the physical body can be affected by external stimuli which can generate headaches. Now let’s move to the internal stimuli or the energetic bodies that play a role in headaches.

We not only have a physical body but energetic bodies that are beyond the physical that go inward. Think of a Russian doll that has many shells to get to the final inner doll. We, as human beings have the same ‘shells’ – the ‘physical body’ being the last outwardly shell and the ‘soul body’ being the most inner shell. In yoga, we call these bodies koshas. In Sanskrit, kosha means sheath or covering.

If we look at illnesses from a metaphysical ‘yogic’ point of view, the illness begins with our inner ‘soul body’ and move outwardly to the ‘physical body’. Headaches form physical pain in the head. This area of the head is where our ‘intuition sits’ or as one might call it our ‘inner voice’ or one’s ‘soul body’.  Headaches are a spiritual manifestation of not listening to our ‘inner voice’ and in doing so this causes confusion. One’s inner order is out of order spiritually that manifests itself physically. This leads to nervousness, next tension, and finally manifests itself as a headache physically.

One needs to ask themselves what is causing my headaches and really listen to the answers that come from within, your ‘inner voice’. The questions that one might ask are the following:

“Am I fulfilling plans I have made?”

“Am I overloaded with responsibilities and an inability to integrate it in my life”

“Am I fearful or resistant to change or fulfilling that plan?

“Do I have demands on me that I cannot live up to?

“Do I feel incompetent to finish the task at hand?

“Do I not feel loved unconditionally?

“Am I expressing myself too much or not enough?”

Headaches manifests inwardly from the soul body (inner voice) to the physical body by not listening and avoiding one’s ‘gut’ intuition. In other words, there is a disconnection between the head and the heart.

This in turn might look like this in one’s life with headaches stated by THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF YOUR BODY: The Essential Guide to Health and Wellness ~ Inna Segal

“Control, pressure, seriousness, perfectionism. Over-committing yourself. Great need for love and approval. Ignoring your own needs. Putting other people before yourself. Extreme worry, guilt and anxiety. Conflict with self and other people. Self-punishment. Feeling angry and annoyed with others. Saying, ‘You are giving me a headache.’”

Once one begins to follow their ‘inner voice’ linked to one’s intuition – changing one’s inwardly ‘soul’ shell – the outwardly ‘physical’ shell will follow; hence, the headaches will soon disappear over time.

Let’s look what we can do right NOW to have relief from headaches.

First, the easiest and the one thing we take for granted is our breath. Slowing down our breath creates space in the body and the mind. As we slow the breath, we stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system, also known as “rest-and-digest” or as I like to call it, “the calming system”. The PNS slows heart rate which results lowering blood pressure via the vagus nerve; hence, lowers tension in body – e.g., the head, neck, upper back.

Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Place your hand on your belly. As you inhale, allow the belly to fill like a balloon with a count of 1-2-3. On your exhale, allow the belly to deflate on a count of 1-2-3. Do this 5 times or more, and you will feel an instant relief in the body and relaxation. To add to the breath, you can add a healing word, on the inhale in your mind hear ‘release’ and on the exhale hear ‘pain’ – ‘release pain’ would be repeated with the inhale and exhale. You may choose any 2 words you prefer.

Next, we will focus on 3 trigger points on the trapezius and suboccipital muscles, the bridge posture in yoga, and the 3 acupoints (Traditional Chinese Medicine) specifically to give relief for headaches shown in Diagram 1 thru 4.

You will need a tennis ball or racquet ball or something similar.

Diagram 1 – the X’s represent the trigger points you will place the tennis ball. If you are able to lay down on floor and get back up safely, this will provide more pressure to relieve pain. If you are not able to lay on floor, then stand against a wall and place tennis ball on the trigger points.

Diagram 2 – the 2 upper X’s are the suboccipital muscle trigger points. Place tennis ball here as well. These triggers points will be tender if you are holding tension in the upper neck area.

Diagram 3 – The yoga bridge posture against the wall. This posture presses on all trigger points by releasing the neck, shoulder, and upper back muscles. This posture is only for those who can physically lay on floor and safely get up without help. You can roll a small towel and place at the nape of your neck for comfort, as well as, roll a thick towel/rectangle cushion and place under the hip/lower back area for comfort. For added relief of muscle tension, you may add the tennis ball at the trigger points in Diagram 1 and 2.

Diagram 4 – These are the 3 acupoints that you need to apply pressure to help relieve headaches. Please do not worry about the identification of the points. That would be a whole other article just on meridian lines alone.

And let’s not forget essential oils – lavender, peppermint, and rosemary are wonderful to use as aromatherapy and or applying directly to the body with a carrier oil such as jojoba oil and/or coconut oil.

I hope you find this article helpful if you suffer from headaches.

I will leave you with one final quote to ponder.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Everything in your life begins with your thoughts.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns that you suffer from that would be of benefit to others in the next segment in the Standard at candicearowland@aol.com.

Please consult your health professional before basing any health decisions on the information presented in this article; before following any of my advice or recommendations.

 

Candice Rowland, 300 E-RYT
Personable and passionate teacher of yoga dedicated to sharing the yoga tradition and lifestyle with eager students. She enhanced her studies by becoming certified in Deep Relaxation Yoga Therapy to work with cancer and cardiac patients. She focuses her studies and talks on metaphysical healing.