Thank you for joining me.
Lie down on your back.
You may choose to lie on a yoga mat,
A couch,
Or get comfortable in your bed.
Whatever is available to you will work just fine.
If you're at work or somewhere where you're not able to lie down,
You can proceed while in the sitting position.
While you get more comfortable,
I'm briefly going to explain a little bit more about the causes of migraines and what we can do to alleviate them.
When we understand the physiology behind what's causing our pain and how the interventions can be effective,
Then these interventions tend to work a little bit better.
There are two major factors that can either cause or worsen headaches and migraines.
The first is anxiety or fear.
The second is muscle tension or tightness.
When you have a headache,
Anxiety often accompanies it.
Even if you aren't overtly aware of it,
It is very common to at least have low to moderate level of anxiety while experiencing pain.
Anxiety actually makes you more sensitive to pain.
Brain scans have shown that anxiety can increase perceived pain intensity.
When we have a headache,
We therefore may find ourselves in a feedback loop of fear and anxiety in which one feeds the other until both have reached an intolerable threshold.
In order to alleviate our headache,
We therefore need to reduce our anxiety.
We will do this today by engaging in breath work.
The type of breath work we will be doing engages the parasympathetic nervous system,
Which is the branch of the nervous system that allows us to relax,
Be calm,
And release anxiety.
The other major factor that causes or worsens headaches is muscle tension.
When the muscles are tight,
It becomes more difficult to release pain.
One often neglected area of tension that is directly related to headaches is the pelvic floor.
First of all,
What is the pelvic floor?
If you are not familiar,
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles located in your pelvis.
It stretches much like a hammock from the pubic bone in the front to the tailbone in the back.
The pelvic floor supports the bladder and bowel in men,
The bladder,
Bowel,
And uterus in women.
A lot of us hold pelvic floor tightness chronically without being aware of it.
Over time,
This tightness could lead to back pain and headaches.
Take a moment to come into your body.
Know that despite the pain you feel,
You are completely safe.
You are not in danger.
The pain you are experiencing is normal,
And it will end.
If you are lying down,
Turn your hips out and bring the soles of the feet together.
You want to create a diamond shape with your legs.
Place one hand on the abdomen.
We will begin taking big breaths into our abdomen.
We will inhale slowly for four,
Hold at the top of the inhale,
And exhale for six.
I would recommend that you inhale and exhale through the nose,
But if it is more comfortable for you,
Then you can certainly exhale through the mouth instead.
Let's begin.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Continue this breath pattern counting on your own.
If taking longer breaths feels more natural,
You can certainly adjust the breath count.
I would just encourage you to maintain a longer exhale than inhale by at least two counts.
As you exhale,
Feel yourself sink deeper into the floor.
Allow the earth below you to absorb any stress or tension.
You may become distracted.
That is expected.
Just continue to come back to the breath.
When we take longer exhales than inhales,
It activates the branch of the nervous system that allows for relaxation and calm,
Therefore releasing anxiety.
Use the hand anchored on your abdomen to remind you to keep taking deep breaths into the abdomen.
Continue this breath pattern.
You may now relax your breath and breathe naturally.
Bring attention to your pelvic floor.
Visualize the hammock of muscles that is the pelvic floor.
Just notice how it feels.
Now take a deep breath in,
Expanding your belly with air.
See if you can notice how the pelvic floor drops down towards the feet just a little bit.
When you inhale,
The pelvic floor actually releases or relaxes.
Now as you exhale,
Notice how the pelvic floor comes back up towards your navel,
Returning to the neutral position.
For now,
Just visualize the movement of the pelvic floor as you take deep inhales and exhales.
Now let's move back into the counting.
Inhale 1,
2,
3,
4,
Hold.
Inhale 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Continue to visualize and feel the pelvic floor moving with your inhales and your exhales.
Remember the pelvic floor releases with the inhale and moves back to the neutral position as you exhale.
With your next inhale,
See if you can bring softness to the pelvic floor.
Continue this breath pattern as you continue to visualize the pelvic floor muscles moving and bringing softness to these muscles.
Although this group of muscles is under our direct control,
We are not used to using them.
This makes it much more difficult for us to control.
If this is the case for you,
A visualization can help.
Imagine a rose opening and closing.
Now see your pelvic floor as this rose.
As you inhale,
The hammock which is the pelvic floor opens like the rose.
As you exhale,
It gently closes or returns to the neutral position.
Continue with the same breath count,
Bringing awareness to the pelvic floor,
Bringing softness to the pelvic floor for as long as you need.
The goal is that you will eventually feel a bit of a release,
But this can take multiple sessions.
If it does not happen on your first attempt,
Know that this is normal and that you will be able to achieve a release with continued practice.
When you are ready,
We will move on.
Continuing the same breath pattern.
Imagine a ball of light sitting at the base of your spine.
As you inhale,
The light travels all the way up the spine and comes to rest at the crown of your head.
As this light moves,
It collects any remaining pain and tension.
As you exhale,
The light releases from the crown of the head,
Taking all the stress and pain it has collected with it out of your body and away from you.
Inhale the light travels up the spine.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold the light stays at the crown of the head.
As you exhale,
The light releases from the crown of your head.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And again,
Inhale the light travels up the spine,
Taking all the pain and tension with it.
Exhale the light releases from the crown of the head.
Continue with this breath pattern for as long as you need in order to remove any lingering pain or stress.
Amazing job today.
Know that these techniques are available for you anytime that you need them.
The more that you practice these techniques,
The more your muscle memory will take over and the more effective they will become.
