Yoga, A Wonderful Remedy for Headache

When a person has a headache, several areas of the head can hurt, including a network of nerves that extends over the scalp and certain nerves in the face, mouth, and throat. The muscles of the head and the blood vessels found along the surface and at the base of the brain are also sensitive to pain because they contain delicate nerve fibers. The bones of the skull and tissues of the brain itself never hurt because they lack pain-sensitive nerve fibers. The ends of these pain-sensitive nerves, called nociceptors, can be stimulated by stress, muscular tension, dilated blood vessels, and others which trigger headache

Simple Yoga techniques can serve as an alternative or supplement to other remedies for dealing with headaches, as both prevention and treatment. A regular routine of Yoga exercises, breathing techniques, and relaxation/meditation can help prevent chronic headaches or reduce their severity. Exercises that stretch your muscles can release the tension that often causes headaches. Exercises that increase overall circulation and promote strength and balance are also helpful as they promote physical and mental balance and can strengthen your immune system. Yoga also helps to increase self-awareness, enabling you to address physical symptoms before they become severe.

Eka Pada Sirsasana (headstand)

Eka means one. Pada is the leg. This variation of Sirsasana is done by lowering one leg to the floor in front of the head, holding the other leg up vertically.

Sequence:

After staying according to your capacity in Salamba Sirsasana, exhale and move the right leg down to the floor in front of the head

While the right leg is being lowered and is resting on the floor, the left leg should be held up vertically as in Sirsasana

In the beginning, the neck feels tremendous strain. The left is also dragged down forwards. To overcome this, keep the leg rigid at the knees and stretch the muscles at the back of the thighs of both the legs. Also tighten the muscles of the lower median portion of the abdomen

The knees and toes of the both legs should be in a line and should not tilt sideways

Stay in the pose from 10 to 20 seconds with deep breathing. Exhale and lift the right leg up to Sirsasana

After staying in Sirsansana for some time, lower the left leg to the floor and after keeping it on the floor for the same length of time, exhale and go back to Sirsasana

While lowering and raising the legs, keep them straight and do not bend at the knees. If the knees are bent one loses the head balance

This is a difficult pose, so it may not be possible to touch the floor in the beginning. Gradually as the legs become more elastic and the back gets stronger, the legs will touch and then rest on the floor without loss of the head balance. This asana strengthens the neck and also the abdominal walls. The abdominal organs are contracted and made to function well. Inverted postures, or those where the head is lowered briefly, increase oxygen to the brain and can reduce headache-causing strain.