Herbal Health
Herbal Remedies Blog
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TREATING MIGRAINE WITHOUT DRUGS: MEDITATION AND YOGA
MeditationThe many different forms of meditation can be grouped into two general categories: those concerned with ‘emptying the mind’ and those in which internal thoughts are built up and maintained by an effort of concentration.Transcendental meditation became very fashionable in the West during the 1960s and much is claimed for it by headache sufferers. It is not surprising that an act of relaxation or withdrawal from everyday activities is associated with relief of tension which produces a reduction in headache frequency. It is less likely to be effective once a headache has started, presumably because the metabolic changes which occur during the headache make it difficult to maintain the appropriate state of mind.
Pain Relief-Muscle Relaxers
YogaYoga is an ancient Indian technique of achieving total bodily and mental control in an attempt to reach new heights of awareness and in promoting relaxation. There have been several trials of yoga methods of meditation in the prevention of migraine and the results, although preliminary, are encouraging.’Yoga of the body’ is concerned with making the body a fit vehicle for the mind as it meditates. The first precepts of control are based on the type of foods ingested, and are similar to much of the dietary advice often given for migraine: no citrus fruits, little cheese, no alcohol or wine, no garlic or onions and, in addition, no smoking. Garlic and onions are excluded because they may cause gastric upset. Meals are taken three times a day, the stomach being ‘half filled with food, a quarter filled with water and one quarter left empty’, to avoid any feeling of fullness. Food has to be chewed thoroughly and eaten slowly (in contrast to the gulping of quick snack lunches seen in British pubs). Constipation is avoided by adding bran to the diet. Much of this advice is commonsense and it is understandable that, with this regime, the body will function in a better way.The exercises of yoga are divided into those in which breathing is the main concern, and those which exercise the rest of the body. The breathing exercises are designed to establish conscious control over respiration as well as using the stomach muscles to ensure that the lungs are fully inflated.The bodily exercises are performed very slowly and involve either stretching movements or the maintenance of particular positions for periods of time. Physiologically, the maintenance of posture utilizes the stretch reflex of muscles. The whole system can be likened to a cat stretching and rolling, with movements being slow and graceful. It is essential that these exercises become comfortable and patience is needed for this but, after three months’ practice, many patients find they feel much better, fitter, and much less likely to develop headaches.There are many techniques of teaching yoga. The meditation aspect of yoga is the most important so that those techniques controlling thought, or holding thoughts in the mind and so building on them, are likely to be of benefit in developing control.Current approaches involve combining certain yoga techniques with biofeedback and it will be interesting to see how much this will achieve; it is conceivable that migraine patients who practice these techniques will not be so much at the mercy of stress and therefore will suffer fewer headaches.
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ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BACKBONE: CURVATURE
Let us now look at the vertebral column as a whole. It consists of 7 cervical vertebrae, 12 thoracic vertebrae, 5 lumbar vertebrae and 5 sacral vertebrae, which fuse completely between 25 to 30 years of age. The total length of the vertebral column of an adult averages 28 inches.The vertebrae do not form a straight and rigid structure. If you look at the spine from the side (see Figure on page 61) you will see that it has several curves, namely (1) the cervical curve, (2) the thoracic curve, (3) the lumbar curve and (4) the sacral curve.The thoracic and sacral curves are called primary curves as they appear by the end of foetal development and are present in the newborn. They are also called ‘accommodation curves’ as they accommodate the thoracic organs (lungs, heart and other related structures) and abdominal and pelvic organs (large intestines, small intestines, uterus, kidney, bladder, rectum etc). These organs are voluminous and they need space, so the spine in the thoracic and sacral regions curves out (convex) to accommodate these organs. In the case of the sacrum, the weight of the abdominal organs tends to push them downwards into the pelvic region where they need ample space to be accommodated.*65\330\8*
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