1% Thursday: Dissolving Tension

Sometimes a very simple technique can be helpful to just ease 1% of the pain, with certain types of headache.  This is one that you can do just about anytime, anywhere.

Most headaches are susceptible to a "vicous cycle of pain".  The pain causes you to tense up, adding aching muscles to the mix.  A lot of my time during a headache attack is spent getting my body to relax.

There are some great ways to relax while you’re in bed or in a chair at home alone, but what if you’re trying to keep going?  Maybe you’re at work and at the store, and you can only stop for a moment – is there something you can do?

This is a bit of a mental "trick" that you can use to drain tension out of your body – and specifically away from your head and shoulders.

Over about a 3-5 second period, clench one of your fists.  In other words, clench it hard and harder over those seconds.

As you’re doing this, and in the seconds that follow, imagine the tension in the rest of your body draining down into your fist.  All of that tension – specifically in your head and shoulders – will flow down into your fist.

Assuming you’re standing up, don’t flop over – just maintain a good, relaxed, posture.  Let your shoulders fall back, and let your head rest centred over your shoulders.

Wait a few seconds, relaxing your body (again, specifically the part above your fist, which should be down at your side), and continue to tense your fist.

Now your body will feel significantly more relaxed.  Again, over the course of 3-5 seconds, open your fist and let the tension dissapate into the air (again, this is a mental trick – you’re imagining that all the tension is being thrown away from your body, where it disappears like a mist).

This technique won’t cure your pain, but it will stop the vicious cycle of pain for a few minutes.  Repeat it again after a while if you like (not too much, too often – or you’ll just end up with a sore fist!).

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!