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Keywords: Headaches (May 2002)

ORIGINAL QUESTION:

From Jackie Doumanian, Fresno, CA, grad. 1993:

Hello - I have a student who complains of getting headaches with every yoga class.  We've ruled out sinus congestion, dehydration, low blood pressure, and holding her breath.  She does kick boxing and doesn't get headaches with that. She develops headaches during every class and when she does the postures at home.  I'm stumped.  Any suggestions?  I received my Ananda Yoga Teacher certification in January 1993.  Thank you!


ANSWERS :

From Gyandev:

A couple thoughts come to mind: (1) specific postures, and (2) attitude/energy usage. (Of course, there are always spinal misalignments, high blood pressure, or other physical possibilities, but some others below are addressing that.)

First, since there's something she's doing in asanas that she isn't doing while kick boxing (or vice versa), she might benefit by doing some testing at home: do just a few selected postures (e.g., just some forward and backward bends) and see if she still gets the headaches. If so, then she's learned something and can isolate one or more of those postures (or an entire area of postures, such as backward bends). If not, then she knows some "safe" postures and can add a few others for testing, etc.

Second, is this person rather aggressive, high-strung, or stressed out? If so, kick boxing may be providing an outlet for "steam" that she doesn't know how to let off any other way. If she's staying all bottled up during yoga, then I could see how she might be getting headaches. It seems she has a lot of energy, and that's great -- she needs to learn how to use it, not dissipate it, and work with her energy through asana in a more effective way. You say she's not holding her breath, but still she might be helped by breathing more deeply, in a consciously therapeutic way. Full yogic breaths can be great for this, in or out of the asanas. Also, Energization can be a wonderful aid, providing an outlet for pent-up energies. If a person will combine that high energy in the EE's with at least a little bit of awareness, the results can be fabulously positive. (The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy.)

Blessings,

Gyandev


From Karen Barbarick:

Maybe suggest a little peppermint for those areas blocking the flow of energy and help her release it.  She may also have some spine misalignment.  Have you checked her posture and alignment?


From Candace Nigh, San Antonio, TX, grad 1995:

Jackie,

I used to get headaches during meditation.  Sometimes the headaches felt more like pressure.  I think it was a combination of two things ...

  1. massive amounts of energy gathering near the 3rd eye.  
  2. Inadvertently crossing my eyes as I gazed inwards toward the 3rd eye.  My eyes have a tendency to continuously cross and uncross when I focus up close on things -- my optometrist has observed this during eye exams.

Does your student focus her eyes on the 3rd eye during yoga class?

Some things that helped me were to gaze at a point at the height of the 3 rd eye but a couple inches in front of my face.  This helped prevent my eyes from crossing.  Also to help relieve the pressure/discomfort at the 3rd eye ... I visualize energy flowing up and down my spine.  This helps to spread it out so it's not so concentrated at that one point.

I don't think the energy gathering at the 3rd eye is altogether a bad thing -- that's pretty much the goal.  But it was uncomfortable and perhaps could be harmful.  Maybe it is a case of my nerve circuits not being fully developed enough to handle that amount of energy.  Like the example of putting 100-watts of energy in an 80-watt bulb.

Blessings,

Candace Nigh


From Jennifer Nelson, D.C., grad 2001:

Dear Jackie,

Headaches are difficult.

When I first started to practice Yoga, I would get headaches in the frontal area after extreme forward bends like plough pose or shoulder stand.  It would not last long- but it was very strong at the time. It just went away after I continued to practice- more gently, though. If she does shoulder stand, make sure she is using graduated blankets at her shoulders (could start with three folded blankets) so there is plenty of cushioning for her cervical spine.

The headaches may be spinaly related. Perhaps this student has a subluxation which is causing aggravation of spinal nerves. It would be good to see a chiropractor just to get an evaluation of her spinal alignment.

Another thought is that they may be from low blood sugar. Perhaps she holds off on breakfast, or dinner to do the class. Low blood sugar can cause headaches.

Headaches, from an Ayurvedic point of view can be due to too much fire. Inversions can be contraindicated for people with fire out of balance. Does she have light colored straight  hair, lighter colored deep set eyes, or a reddish complexion?  Perhaps inversions are too firey for this student at this time. It would be good to consult a book on Yoga for Ayurvedic types and see which poses would be more cooling (if that is her problem). The sitali breath (breathing though the rolled tongue) may be a good adjunct to this person's yoga practice. Of course, diet and life style practices that are pacifying to ones fiery nature would be good also. I guess a good way to approach this would be to have her only do some postures. Ask her to pay attention to each pose and see when the headache comes on- what type of pose brings on headaches. She could go home and just some simple  forward bends- very specific ones every day. If they are ok, then have her add other  forward bends or some other types of poses, backward bends or twists. This is a good opportunity for her to get in touch with her own body.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Nelson, D.C.


From Patricia Streit, grad. 2000:

Hi Jackie,

I myself had for awhile problems with headaches after Yoga. I discovered that I have an infection in my Jawbone. Dental issues are very tricky and can effect us on a level we never thought possible. In my case the lymphatic drainage from the infection was very poor (blocking stuff up in my head) and occasional I had also sinus trouble with it. I never had a toothache with this problem, so dental issues are not always associated with a big cheek.

Good luck with your Student

Namaste Patricia