8 Poses to Cure Your Headaches
'Ease Your Head'

by Lauren Condell
Certified Personal Trainer

 

Child's Pose
Got a pounding headache? This sequence of poses can send it packing.

When a boa constrictor of stress creeps up your shoulders, circles your neck, and encases your skull, you may be more tempted to reach for the jaws of life than your yoga mat. But don’t underestimate the power of a pose to unlock the vice grip of a tension headache; try this sequence of forward bends and reclining poses. The idea, says Northern California yoga teacher Richard Rosen, is to soothe the pulsating brain with internally focused forward bends. At the same time, you’re giving the back of the neck permission to release. “When you get a tension headache, often the third eye at the place where the skull meets the neck is squeezed shut,” he says. Open that eye wide by letting the nape of your neck drift down toward your shoulders and imagining the base of your skull floating up toward your crown.

Head to Knee Pose
Downward Facing Dog Pose
Standing Forward Bend Pose
Reclining Bound Angle Pose
Bridge Pose
Legs Up the Wall Pose
Corpse Pose