Do You Suffer From Migraines?
Are Migraines Or Chronic Headaches Getting The Best Of You?
I know a few friends that really struggle with migraine headaches. It's very debilitating
and costly. But there could be a safer, cheaper, and better way to heal your suffering. Read on as Carly Hamilton from Fulfillment Daily highlights some research about meditation for migraines.
The Challenge: Many US Americans suffer from migraines which means lost work days, missed social activities, etc.
The Science: Research shows that regular meditation practice can reduce migraine frequency, intensity, and prevent them from recurring.
The Solution: Implement a short, daily meditation practice and ditch your Rx for good!
In the US alone, about 14 million people experience chronic headaches that occur at least every other day. Among migraine sufferers, depression, anxiety, and poor sleep are not uncommon.
Cash spent on prescriptions, doctor/specialist visits, and emergency room visits due to migraines can add up to thousands of dollars annually.
Many medications used to treat headaches come with harmful and unpleasant side effects, and can be even more detrimental over the long-term. Headache pain is often debilitating, and therefore diminishes quality of life.
But there’s good news: the ancient practice of meditation is an effective way to treat
chronic pain and stress. And there’s science to back it up:
A study by Herbert Benson (M.D.), Helen P. Klemchuck (A.B.) and John R Graham (M.D.) demonstrates that daily meditation practice can reduce headache pain, and reduce occurrences by at least 37%, with some participants completely eliminating their headaches over the long-term.
According to recent research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, people who practice meditation regularly also have less severe and shorter headaches – about 3 hours less per headache.
How is this so? Meditation yields boundless health benefits.
Here are a couple of key ways meditation can work to prevent and cure migraines:
Brain imaging shows that meditation can be more effective than morphine at reducing pain.
During meditation, activity in an area of the brain critically involved with sending and processing pain cannot be detected through brain scans, suggesting that the “pain center” in the brain shuts down for this period.
Meditation also increases brain activity in areas that shape the experience of pain as messages are relayed from the body to the brain, reducing the sensation of pain.
Meditation fights migraines from the sources: stress and tension.
Since most headaches are caused by tension in the neck, shoulders, jaw, and eyes, as well as stress, relaxing the body and mind regularly is essential to eliminating them for good.
Pain medication only masks the problem, and usually at a high economic cost. Research tells us that meditation is an effective stress-reduction technique. Plus it’s FREE and always will be!
Source: Carly Hamilton - Fulfillment Daily
Here are some free meditations that I love:
15 Minute Super Deep Relaxation
20 Minute Meditation Experience
Here is a paid meditation that I love:
Guided Meditations: Breathe Into Mindfulness & Inner Peace
If you suffer from migraines, regular headaches, or too much stress then give meditation a try.
If you stick with it every day, I promise that it will completely change your life!
Start practicing 5 or 10 minutes every day and just give yourself some space, focus on your breath, and let your thoughts come and go....don't judge, just be.
Of course there are other factors that affect your health and the occurrence of migraines. Nutrition is VERY important, as well as time in nature, and other stress relieving activities like yoga.
And avoid your migraine and stress triggers.
Feel free to share this article if you know anyone who may be suffering from migraines, headaches, or stress.
