Battling Headaches with Yoga

My friend recently told me about how he takes 5-6 Advils a day for his headaches. I was in total disbelief. It actually made me sad to think that someone has to go through this on a daily basis. So it really inspired me to figure out a way to help people cure headaches and migraines through natural remedies, such as yoga.

I personally don’t believe in taking any over the counter drugs, supplement pills, protein shakes, etc. I truly believe that you can get all the nutrients, vitamins, proteins, etc through natural foods and relieve pain through natural remedies. Once you get dependent on any drugs, your body gets immune to it, which means, the longer you take them, the more you’re going to have to take for it to actually work. To me, that can’t be safe, and it’s definitely not healthy.

I don’t get a lot of headaches, so this was all new to me. But what I’ve learned through lots of research was that majority of headaches are usually tension related – the tension in your neck and shoulders. Which makes total sense. We carry most our tension in our shoulders and neck area, by constantly hunching over our computers and phones.

Yoga helps to release tension, knots, and stress in your body, by constantly opening, lengthening, and strengthening every muscles, tendons, and ligaments throughout your body. Yoga helps you to improve circulation. The majority of your life, gravity is pulling you down towards the earth, your body flow is pooling towards your feet. So it’s good to get that blood flow going up towards your brain. Anytime your improving circulation, that improves stress and pain. Yoga also gives you an opportunity to slow down, relax and breathe with intention and awareness, and through mindfulness, you pay more attention to your body, thoughts, and feelings in the present moment.

If you constantly have headaches and migraines, it might be a good idea to open up your shoulders, neck, back and get your blood circulations moving. Here is a list of simple yoga posture you can do easily at home:

• Cat/ Cow Pose: Helps to relieve tension in spine, shoulders, and neck, boosts circulation in the upper body.
• Seated/ Standing Forward Folds: Helps to get blood and fresh oxygen into the brain and upper back.
• Childs Pose: Loosens up the muscles up the back, and when there’s a release, there is a rush of blood throughout the body. It helps to open up your shoulders, neck, and hips.
• Seated Spinal Twists: Stimulates the digestive system and energizes the spine. And any lower back twists relieves tension.
• Bridge Pose: Stretches the neck, chest, spine, and hips. Strengthens the back, glutes, and hamstrings. Improves circulations of blood.
• Eagle Pose: Relieves upper body tension, especially in shoulders. When we twist arms, there’s a flexibility. Helps bring fresh blood into glutes, legs, arms. Stimulates digestive system.
• Standing Straddle Bend: Anytime we are inverted, we are bringing fresh oxygen-rich blood to flow into our brains. Opens up hamstrings, legs, and spine.
• Savasana: Quiets the mind and completely relaxes the mind and body.
• Breath: A calming yogic breathing can release tension in the body and bring more oxygen into the brain.
• Mermaid Pose: Opens up your shoulders, thighs, quads, hips flexors, back, and chest. Releases backaches and sciatica.