Pay attention the next time you get a headache. You probably reduced your breathing quite a bit. You are probably taking more shallow breaths. Maybe your diaphragm is tight.
Headaches remind me of a reflex to fade away, maybe to crawl away and take cover. When you get a headache, the instinct is just to curl up somewhere, shut your energy down and wait it out. However, that very instinct may be what is causing the headache in the first place. The last thing you feel like doing when you have a headache is jump boldly into the world with both feet, but that is what you have to do.
When you feel a headache coming on, start taking deep breaths. Lift your arms above your head, and twist your torso from side to side. Really stretch out your diaphragm and rib muscles. Massage your ribs with your hands. Keep taking deep breaths until you feel yourself go "over the hump" and take satisfying breaths. Don't hyperventilate here, just take steady, deep breaths over time. Maybe every 20 seconds breathe deeply, hold it for a second, then let it out.
Your instinct will be to fade away, hunch over in your posture and go limp. That's the headache reflex. Fight it and break on through to the other side. Sometimes, when I feel a headache coming on, I'll just do some extreme behavior, like jump up and down or run or do some deeeeep stretches. You can break that chain reaction just by forcing your body not to shut down (you might want to be careful if you are in danger of heart disease or stroke). Don't let your body curl in on itself like that. I have fought off many a headache this way, but the sooner you catch it the better chance you have.
Shallow breathing is a precursor to migraine headaches, as a slight imbalance in oxygen in your brain is what starts a migraine. The vessels in your brain expand and contract in order to make up for this deficiency, which causes a roaring headache.
It goes without saying that there are many reasons for headaches, of which shallow breathing and posture habits are only one possible cause. But you may be surprised to find how often your headaches are related to breathing if you start watching out for it (google Pete Egoscue and his books for more info on this--the basic idea that headaches are related to breathing is something I picked up from him).
Tension headaches may be short lived or last several days. Generally, the severity of a tension headache increases significantly with its frequency. The pain is usually throbbing and affects the front, top or sides of the head and is often described as though there were a tight band or vice putting pressure around the head. Often there is associated discomfort in or around the face, ears, neck, shoulders, back, and jaws.
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