Today is your child’s birthday. You decorated the house, prepared delicious food, and anticipating a great evening by showcasing your hospitality skills. Your family is excited along with you to have a fun day. Suddenly you grimace, and the reason behind this unpleasant mood is the uninvited pain that is pounding your head. One of the best and natural solutions during these circumstances to tackle this pain is Yoga for headache. How to relieve a headache? Some specific poses of yoga target to treat such problems and relieve you from the pain.
Headaches are one of the most common human nervous system problems found across the world. More than 15% of American adults suffer from severe headaches or migraines, and the occurrence of headaches(1) in women is more than double of that in men.
A journal of Physical Therapy Science based on a study states that practicing yoga can alleviate primary symptoms of headache.
Stress and tightness of muscles and unhealthy lifestyles are some of the main reasons for getting headaches. People who suffer from constant migraines have variable chances of having bad sitting postures that include the un-coordinated balance between the parts of our body.
These issues become barriers in performing various chores in day-to-day life. If you are unable to get rid of the pain quickly, yoga for a headache(2) can help you out in dealing with these abnormalities.
Yoga creates an environment with positive vibes and energy which contributes a lot in relaxing the headache. You can rest your mind by performing the yoga postures, most of which include breathing exercises. Not only it manages your physical health and well-being, but it also helps you cope up with other problems such as tension, anxiety, and depression.
Yoga provides peace which automatically deals with the other factors. It helps the body to lower its blood pressure as well as the heart rate. Yoga, if performed after a tensed event, enables you to cope up with the disbalances of mechanisms going within it.
Following yoga for headaches can result in the best possible way in the case of migraines(3) as migraines are more painful than the usual problems. Being one of the most popular ways to reach a cure for headaches, Yoga generates positive energy inside the mind and body, enabling the process of calming down and most importantly, reducing the pain. What is good for headache? If this is the next question running on your mind, read on the below yoga poses list to find out how to use them too.
[ Also Read: Natural Treatments to get rid of Headache ]
The following are the six beneficial yoga poses for a head aching problem(4) that will surely cure your headaches through practice –
You can perform this pose by standing straight at first. Raise your hands above your head and stretch your sternum as high as you can and bend down exhaling slowly. Try to bend completely down and touch your feet through your hands. The asana is also known as padangusthasana and can serve you great benefits. It provides a calmness to your brain, stretches the calves and hamstrings, gives relief from insomnia and constant headaches, helps in stimulating the kidneys and liver, and gives strength to the thighs.
It is one of the simplest poses to attain among all the asanas in yoga. Mostly, it occurs at the end of the yoga session as it helps in setting the heart rate back to normal after practicing of various asanas. For this pose, you must lie down straight on the floor with your limbs spread in their respective directions.
Lie down in this posture for a few minutes with usual paces of breathing. The asana helps in providing relief from stress and anxiety, decreases fatigue and insomnia, decreases the blood pressure, and gives relaxation to the body.
This posture forms when a person lies down straight on the ground and bends knees to place the feet parallel to the hips. Place your hands on either side of your body and try to lift your abdomen in the air. Once you raise the waist area, cross the fingers of both of your hands below your back.
It is beneficial for your spine, neck, and chest. This pose helps in reducing anxiety and stress from your mind. It also helps in improving the digestive system, relieves menstrual discomfort and offers therapy for sinusitis, asthma, and high blood pressure.
[Also Read: Acupressure to cure Headache]
You can perform this asana by leaning down in a prone position. Place your palms on the ground and apply the weight of your body on them for some time. Then, push your hips up in the air with your feet parallel to each of your palm. Bend your head towards the ground. It helps in getting relief from stress and depression.
Moreover, it helps in preventing osteoporosis and acts as a therapy for hypertension, flat feet, and asthma. It supports the improvement of digestion and energizes the whole body by stretching specific muscles.
In the fire log pose, the performer must sit down on the mat. Place the right foot over the left thigh and the left foot below the right leg. Now, cross the fingers by joining both of your hands and place the elbows on each of your right knee and right foot. It is a beneficial pose for giving relief from headache and stress.
It helps in stretching the hip and thigh areas and provides better support to back stretching. Generally, it is not useful for the ones who suffer from lower back or knee injury.
You can perform this posture by sitting with legs straight on your yoga mat. Place the legs straight touching each other horizontally. Now, try to bend your back forwards without bending your legs. Try to touch your feet with the help of your hands without changing any position. The end position is also known as Pashchimottasana.
It helps in stretching the hamstrings, spine, and shoulders, provides calmness from anxiety and stress, provides relief from menstrual discomfort, helps in stimulation of ovaries, uterus, liver, and kidneys and decreases obesity.
[Also Read: How to get rid of cluster headaches]
Some types of yoga postures(5) are not suitable to be performed for individuals who suffer from certain disorders. Going against and following these techniques can surely damage tissues, affect the blood pressure, blood clots and severe osteoporosis. For example – it is not advisable to perform the Sitting Forward Bend asana for the patients of asthma or any severe back injury.
If you are looking for some sessions of yoga, then consult a doctor and then ask for his advice. Yoga has the least side effects than many other therapeutic methods present for the same problem.
Yoga for headache is an effective method to cure headache, migraines, and cases of depression. It does not promise to eradicate the whole issue, but it ensures to maks it easier for the individual to deal with it. Practicing the six yoga poses for the headache you can keep control over your troubling pain and can ultimately win any of the activity from your routine work. So, get on your yoga mat when you’re suffering from a headache to get instant relief.