Although stress is not usually associated with headaches that are chronic, it can lead to occasional headache episodes. It is a good idea for your daily routine to reduce stress and promote calmness. Meditation is a great discipline to achieve these goals. There are many ways to meditate. If you choose to incorporate meditation into your daily life, I will only list one method of counting breaths.
What is meditation?
Meditation is the act of focusing your attention on a single object. Concentrating on an object is what meditation does. It can be a mantra repeated over and over, an image in the mind’s eyes, or your breath. Meditation has been shown to reduce blood pressure, lower heart rate, and increase blood flow.
Meditation is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Before you start a meditation practice, I recommend that you incorporate the breathing exercise into your daily life. However, being a regular meditator is the best way to promote calmness.
What to do?
Start by putting your back straight and sitting up straight. You can sit half-way or full lotus. A chair is fine. I don’t recommend lying down as you could fall asleep. For several deep breaths, close your eyes and close your eyes. Each in-and-out cycle is a count of one. Take four deep breaths and then count again. That’s it!
You’ll soon realize how tedious it is to focus on your breath. You will also notice a variety body sensations that require attention, such as an itchy foot, tight muscles, or any other sensations. It is important to remember that if you get distracted by counting your breaths, your task should be to simply count your breaths again. You should try to disconnect from your thoughts.
Remember
You are not trying to stop your thinking process. That’s impossible. However, you do want to be able to let thoughts pass without being attached to them. This can be difficult to do consistently. It is best to start a meditation program in the morning. You’ll be able to manage another session before dinner which will help you make more progress and leave you with fewer headaches.