Reduce Headaches and Migraines with Regular Shiatsu Session

Over 10 million people suffer from headaches and migraine once a month.  With headaches most people are able to get relief through medication or massage but for migraines the intensity can be very debilitating.  Change in the atmospheric pressure tends to have the largest impact on migraine sufferers.  Increased caffeine intake, eyestrain, depression and anxiety are a few contributors.  The question is how can we improve our health to decrease the migraines and headaches in our daily routine?  

 

 Poor posture creates muscle tension in the back impacting the shoulders, neck and head positioning.  If you work at a computer it’s best to get up and move around every fifteen minutes.  Stretching in your chair with your arms up, chest out, chin up and leaning into the back of the chair helps to stretch the pectoralis muscles, reduce the pressure on the back of the neck and open up the diaphragm.  By taking a couple of deep breaths in this position you will reduce body tension, stress and hopefully an oncoming headache.  

Eye strain is another contributor due to the over strain of the optical muscles along with the brow muscle.  During one of my sessions many years ago I was massaging a client’s frontal lobe and she started to speak loudly at her child. As her tone increased the frontal lobe started to tighten.  My eyes were open to see how much tension we have on the muscles surrounding the skull.  Massaging various points on the head helps to reduce the intensity of a headache or migraine.  Massaging the head adds an additional bonus of stimulating numerous shiatsu points increased overall health. 

Working at a computer for hours at a time it’s important to take short breaks and exercise your eyes.  This easy exercise will make a huge difference and help with your eye health.  Take a moment to look up to the right corner, then down to the left corner.  Reverse this process by looking up to the left corner, then down to the right corner.  Now look up at the ceiling, then down at the floor. Holding each point for a few seconds and repeat throughout your day.  These movements will help to strengthen the eye muscles that are not being used during computer work alone with reducing the tension in the activated muscles you use continuously at the computer.

In shiatsu the Urinary Bladder (UB2) acupuncture point holds tension from the forehead.  By pinching together this point on the eyebrows you will feel the tension release.  

Applying pressure to Liver 3, a point between the first and second toe where the bones merge will help to regulate the increasing energy in the body and drain away the building energy from the head.  

Gallblader 20 is another point used to drain energy before it builds up causing the migraines/headaches to intensify. 

Tao Shiatsu works on the physical body and the emotional body at the same time.  A Tao Shiatsu Practitioner studies for many years learning to stay connected to the client at all times during the session.  They are trained to listen to the body’s response and applying tsubo work when needed.  Tsubo work is effective in applying the correct amount of pressure to the body to release stagnant energy allowing the energy to flow freely.  Regular shiatsu sessions will can help to reduce the occurrence of headaches and migraines.  Start your road to improving your help by booking your appointment today!