A common form of headache, which causes widespread distress throughout the world, is migraine. This is caused by swelling of the arteries of the scalp and inside the skull, probably because of instability of the autonomic nervous system in that area.
Migraine is usually treated by drugs containing a derivative of ergot fungus. However, these drugs are toxic; they frequently don't relieve the attack once it has started, and they have no effect on reducing the tendency for the attacks to recur.
Yoga can be incredibly effective in treating migraine. It has been discovered in many yoga centres, including Satyananda Ashrams, that the combination of shatkarmas (kunjal daily, neti twice daily, shankhaprakshalana every three months), with the daily practice of simple yoga postures (pawanmuktasana part 1), brahmari pranayama, and finishing with yoga nidra, completely eliminates migraine in the majority of sufferers.
Tension headaches are related to migraine but manifest through the somatic nervous system instead of through the autonomic nervous system. In fact, the two types of headache often occur in the same person. These also respond very well to the other practices mentioned above.
As in the case of asthma, a person who begins to feel an attack of migraine coming on need only practise kunjal kriya, and there is an excellent chance that the attack will be averted. Needless to say, recurrent headaches in a person who has not had them before, or headache which becomes continuous, must be investigated medically. But when we are sure that the cause of the headache is migraine or tension, then the yoga techniques are far superior to drugs and should be practised in every case.
1 comment:
Good One I am Yoga teacher myself. You have put it very nicely and in concise manner. I need to resume Neti and Kunjal now.:)
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