Health byte
Meditate away migraine pains:
If you suffer migraine headaches, you're familiar with their severe
pain and the way these headaches make it impossible to cope with your
daily routine. But a review of ways to cope with migraines at Wake
Forest Baptist Medical Centre shows that there's a natural treatment you
can use to fight against the pain.The researchers found that meditation
can soften the pain of migraine and reduce the number of headaches you
suffer. "Stress is a well-known trigger for headaches and research
supports the general benefits of mind/body interventions for migraines,
but there hasn't been much research to evaluate specific standardized
meditation interventions," says researcher Rebecca Erwin Wells, an
assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptis
 The
study examined the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
as a technique to reduce the burden of migraine headaches. During the
study, people went to eight weekly classes to learn how to perform MBSR
techniques. In addition, they practiced MBSR 45 minutes at a time for
five days during the week "We found that the MBSR participants had
trends of fewer migraines that were less severe," Wells says. "Secondary
effects included headaches that were shorter in duration and less
disabling, and participants had increases in mindfulness and
self-efficacy - a sense of personal control over their migraines. In
addition, there were no adverse events and excellent adherence.
Vipassana meditation is also called 'mindfulness meditation', is a
simple yet powerful method developed by Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist
monks. It is a practice of being mindful in the moment of some
particular action. The mindfulness can be directed at the expansion and
relaxation of the abdomen, the sensation of eating a raisin or the act
of washing dishes. It is a versatile technique that can be applied to
almost any action. Traditionally, it is applied to the action of
quieting the mind and being in the moment while breathing.
Here are the basics:
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position that allows your spine and
head to be aligned and held straight.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to ease into the moment
and begin to relax.
Focus your attention on the sensation of your breath.
On inhalation and exhalation, merely observe the sensation you feel
as air passes over the tip of your nose.
When thoughts enter your mind, acknowledge them and let them go. Do
not focus on them.
Observe your breath and acknowledge your thought before a return to
observing your breath.
(For more information visit www.vridhamma.org) |
