Headache Exercises

Relieve Pain Naturally with Gentle Exercises for the Face, Head and Neck

Headache Exercises: Remedies for the Physical Body
While the following headache home remedies are in the physical rather than the energetic realm, I felt that they needed to be mentioned because they can be so helpful, and yet are little known.

• Tension headaches can be caused by tight muscles at the base of the skull, which compress both the blood vessels and the nerves. You can release the tightness by tucking your chin, interlacing your fingers behind the back of your head, and pressing your head back into your hands, which provide resistance. Hold for a count of ten and repeat several times if desired.

  Just massaging the back of your neck where it meets the skull can also help.

• Often when we have a headache, we feel as if our scalp is too tight. Loosen your scalp by placing your palms at the top of your forehead with fingers facing back, touching the scalp on either side. Slide the flesh of your scalp back and forth over your skull with your hands. Repeat ten or more times, moving your fingers to different places as desired.
• Holding your head in a forward position (with the ears lined up in front of the shoulders) can contribute to a headache. To counteract this forward-head tendency that many of us have, try this pleasant "Balloon Head" exercise.

  Sit upright and bring your shoulders comfortably down and back. Imagine that your head is a balloon, and slowly let it rise up and back, until your ears are directly over your shoulders.

  Breathe slowly and deeply for a few moments as you enjoy the sensation of having your head balanced as it is meant to be, rather than having to hold it up with the muscles of your neck.

• Try the facial part of a yoga pose called "The Lion" to help relieve jaw and overall facial tension. Take a deep breath through the nose. Then simultaneously open your mouth wide and stretch your tongue out, curling its tip down toward the chin; open your eyes wide; contract the muscles on the front of your throat; and exhale the breath slowly out through your mouth with a "ha" sound.
• Gently tugging the ear lobes can help to relieve jaw tension. To do it, gently grasp your earlobes with your index fingers barely inside your ears and your thumbs just behind your ears. Gently pull your ears down and out, holding for a count of ten. Only pull as far as is comfortable--this should feel good--, and make the pulling motion smooth, rather than a quick jerk.

I hope the headache exercises above are helpful to you. They often work for me!

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