Headaches and Migranes – The emotional links
Headaches and Migraines – The Emotional Links
Headaches: There is always an emotional connection to a physical symptom.
A headache is about the importance in achieving your goals.
Throughout life, in general we are aware that we need to rest the muscles of our body to allow them to repair and recover. However we often forget to rest the brain and the mind which is also a muscle.
When one becomes invested into processing and developing particular abilities in their life, for example returning to study, becoming more skilled at their craft or becoming a better sibling, we can fester and overthink these concerns in the mind which in turn, doesn’t allow for sufficient rest. This may also be from a lack of communication and bottling all this processing up!
Headaches can progress to migraines, which occur when there is pressure in the blood capillaries.
When one becomes concerned about the possible detrimental ramifications that may result from someone’s thinking and when one is concerned about what may happen as a result, one may experience migraines.
LESSON: Your overthinking can hinder your reality around you. Allow the mind time to rest and process with flow, from a place of trusting in something bigger than you.
MANTRA: I trust in the flow of life, all is well. I let go of control of other people’s thoughts and actions. I empty my mind allowing something bigger than me to process the perfect outcome.
A great tip to help rest the mind daily is to start the day with a meditation. It can also be beneficial to end the day with one. You can find a morning and evening ritual video on my website here, great for emptying the mind before bed ready for yin mode http://3.25.190.41/resources/
This fantastic article by Rebecca Gladding M.D. read here : https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/use-your-mind-change-your-brain/201305/is-your-brain-meditation
She explains how mediation can truly change the brain.
When you are meditating frequently the Lateral prefrontal cortex part of the brain fires, that allows you to look at things from a more rational, logical and balanced perspective.
It is involved in modulating emotional responses (originating from the fear center or other parts of the brain), overriding automatic behaviors/habits and decreasing the brain’s tendency to take things personally.
If you meditate on a regular basis, several positive things happen.
This part of the brain is strengthened which can be translated into your daily life.
If you become stressed or worried throughout the day, you will now have a stronger ‘motor pathway’ to activate this Lateral prefrontal cortex. So your ability to be able to rationalise or problem solve your way through it is maximised, reducing a stress reaction from the limbic system – which is activated at the back part of the brain. Often this stress response elevates cortisol or adrenaline which we understand leads to inflammation. This is not the right environment the body needs to optimise recovery or to thrive.
If you can dedicate 20 minutes a day to mediation, your bodily sensation/fear centers begins to break down taking you out of survival mode. This leads to a sense of trust rather than constant worry that a bodily sensation or momentary feeling of fear means something is wrong with you.
One’s sense of empathy – becomes stronger. This healthy connection enhances your capacity to understand where another person is coming from, especially those who you cannot intuitively understand because you think or perceive things differently from them (i.e., dissimilar others).
The end result is that we are more able to put ourselves in another person’s shoes (especially those not like us), thereby increasing our ability to feel empathy and compassion for everyone.
For me, I gain a sense of peace, allowing moments for my mind to be quiet. It is in these moments that I experience true connection and guidance form a source larger than us. I believe, in a nutshell it changed my life and the course of my health.
Emotional links to disease inspired by research
by: Gregory O. Neville and Inna Segal
Be the light x
