3 Reasons You Have a Headache and Natural Solutions

There are lots of varieties of headaches from very mild (still able to function) to severe migraines (only place to be is bed). There are also many causes of headaches from dehydration, vitamin and mineral deficiency to inflammation & illnesses. They are uncomfortable and leave us feeling challenged to carry out our every day tasks. Its easy to want to reach for painkillers to numb the sensation but what if there was a better way to deal and manage the pain? Your body is incredibly intelligent and every single sensation that you experience is a signal and message to your brain. Its important to honor what your body is trying to communicate and explore ways to bring it back to balance. So next time you feel your poor noggin start to pound and are ready to self diagnose on Google, start by ruling out the following causes,

Poor digestion, stress or inadequate food choices may lead to constipation. The stomach and intestines have move nerve cells than the spinal cord. So if you are blocked up this may be the cause behind your headache. Of course its going to feel uncomfortable if we are backed up with stagnant food. The stress of this alone may cause headaches.

Solution: Using healthy food and lifestyle choices, ensure you have a bowel movement daily to keep things moving and flowing harmoniously in the body. Yoga is an excellent way to stimulate and encourage good digestion.

Considering the average Irish person spends 7.3 hours sitting per day, its not uncommon that people have poor posture habits. ‘Text Neck’ syndrome is a term used to describe pain or damage caused from slumping over or looking down at phones/devices too often and for too long. One of the symptoms of this syndrome is chronic headaches.

Solution: Drastically reduce screen time and when using hold your phone up in front of your face. Have an ergonomic assessment at your work desk. Reduce the number of pillows you sleep with at night time to support the natural alignment of your spine. Yoga will teach you correct posture and improve spinal health.

These are probably the most common types of headaches and again, can vary from mild, moderate to severe. Everybody experiences stress differently and it cannot be measured. How you perceive a situation will be different to how I see it. A stress or tension headache could be cause from physical tightness of muscles in the neck and shoulders or the reason could be from a distressed emotional state.

Solution: Use your breath to calm the mind and bring the body into a parasympathetic state. Yoga will help relax the muscles in the body. Start to stretch and breathe at the first sign of pain before it the muscles go into spasm and the headache progresses. Basically, try to nip it in the bud.

Try this yoga video especially to help ease your headache: