Hi,
Welcome to this guided practice for releasing tension headaches.
I'm Dr Kim and I help people heal chronic pain with somatic movement and meditation.
This practice is focused on addressing the emotional causes of headaches.
When you feel a headache forming,
It is often your body signaling that you've been ignoring your inner voice.
Additionally,
Patterns of self-criticism or fear can also manifest physically as tension in the form of a headache.
Knowing this,
It is not so surprising to see that headaches actually affect more women than men.
We'll focus on letting go of these patterns through visualizations,
Affirmations and gentle somatic movement.
For best results,
Repeat this practice daily for one to two weeks and if it resonates with you,
Please consider enrolling in my course on healing headaches here on Insight Timer.
Find a quiet room,
Dim your lights and set up your space so you can be comfortable seated.
Let's begin.
Sit up straight.
Let your hands rest gently on your lap,
Palms facing up.
Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose and slowly out through your mouth.
Feel your shoulders drop away from your ears.
Continue deeply breathing.
Let the space open up between your ears and shoulders.
Feel your neck lengthen upwards.
Before we begin,
Let's take a moment to reflect.
Have you been silencing your true needs or desires?
Are you doubting your own abilities?
Headaches can come from deeply ingrained patterns of self-criticism and fear.
There's no need to judge your answers.
Simply notice what comes to mind.
Now imagine a grey cloud forming above your head.
This cloud holds all your self-critical thoughts,
Doubts and fears.
With every exhale,
Imagine releasing those feelings into the cloud,
Letting it grow bigger and bigger.
As the cloud gathers all of that tension,
See it beginning to rise.
Slowly it lifts higher and higher into the sky.
Watch as it floats further and further away,
Getting smaller and smaller until it disappears entirely into the horizon.
Feel the space and lightness that remains where the cloud once was.
Begin rolling your shoulders backwards in slow,
Circular motions.
Feel the tension in your neck melting away.
With each shoulder roll,
Focus on opening up your chest and heart.
Feel your back muscles nice and strong between your shoulder blades.
Smoothly roll your shoulders,
Making the circles bigger and bigger.
Sit tall.
Gently tilt your right ear towards your right shoulder.
Feel the stretch along the left side of your neck.
Take deep breaths.
Carefully bring your head back to center and repeat on the other side.
Breathe into the stretch through the right side of your neck.
Bring your head back to center and let your shoulders relax downwards.
Feel the openness and ease in your body.
Sitting up straight,
Using your fingertips,
Find your temples.
Move your fingers diagonally backwards and upwards into your hairline.
Start to firmly massage your scalp in small circles.
Explore this area.
Feel the tender spots on your scalp.
Continue taking deep breaths.
Massage out all of the little knots as you repeat the following affirmations in your head.
I choose to put myself first.
I let go of fear and trust in my strength.
I am enough,
Just as I am.
Take one final deep breath in and a long breath out.
Take one final deep breath in and a long slow breath out.
Remove your hands from your head and let them rest in your lap.
Notice how your head feels.
Lighter,
Freer,
And more relaxed.
In one to two weeks,
You'll begin to release stored tension through your head,
Neck,
And shoulders and foster a deeper sense of self-love.
Thank you for showing up today.
I'm Dr.
Kim.
See you tomorrow.
