Tension headaches often result from excessive stress, so activities that decrease stress and promote relaxation can be beneficial for these kinds of headaches. Yoga is well known for helping people to relax and can be helpful for some people with stress-related headaches.

How does yoga help with tension headaches?

Yoga helps with tension headaches in three ways: by decreasing muscle tension, through the parasympathetic nervous system, and by promoting deep slow breathing.

Yoga's Effects on the Muscles and Fascia

Yoga is a powerful practice for releasing tension held in the body and muscles. With regular practice, yoga can relax the face and neck muscles and this is important for getting relief from tension headaches. In the past, tension headaches were referred to as contraction headaches because the muscles around the head and face are often tight and contracted. When one’s mind and body are more relaxed tension headaches are less common.

There are several kinds of tension headaches based on where they are felt and originate from. When they are located in the back of the head and occur with neck pain, yoga poses can be very useful. For this pattern of headaches, there may be an excessive strain on the neck and shoulder muscles. If you feel pain at the base of your head, or where the neck meets the head, it may be related to myofascial tension. The pain may also extend across the top of the shoulders, through the upper back, or it may move along the side of the head in the temporal region. These symptoms often indicate strain and tension in the neck and back muscles.

This pattern also occurs with forward shifting in the head, and the chin may have a tendency to move down towards the chest. This posture occurs from excessive sitting, computer work, and smartphone use. These activities often result in a forward and downward movement of the head and neck. Other kinds of work and activities can cause this pattern, such as cooking, gardening, and reading. Any tasks that require us to look down a lot, or cause us to shift our head forward can lead to this pattern.

When this postural condition is present it is important to strengthen the back, shoulder, and neck muscles. This can be done in poses that include neck extensions. Two primary movements of the neck and head are flexion and extension. When we look down the head and neck go into flexion, However, when we look up and move the head back, then that is an extension. Backbends such as cobra, upward dog, and bow pose are usually done in a way that places the head and neck into extension. When tension headaches result from excessive forward flexion, we need to counterbalance that movement by strengthening the back and neck.

Gentle forward bends such as child's pose are also useful for tension headaches with neck pain. You do however want to be careful with doing too many forward bends as they do have a tendency to shift the head and neck forward and down. Often times people think that forward bends can help neck and back pain, but forward bends stretch and lengthen the back and neck which can add to the strain that is already present. For many cases of neck and back pain, it is better to strengthen the muscles of the back and neck through backbends and neck extensions. Child's pose however is gentle enough that it is a good movement for most cases of tension headaches. Additionally, this pose helps calm us down and benefits the nervous system

Yoga's Effects on the Nervous System

It has been confirmed in numerous studies that yoga alleviates the symptoms of chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. [1,2] Accordingly, it can be very useful for tension headaches and migraines. Yoga helps these kinds of headaches by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which is responsible for relaxation. The PNS can also reduce the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which elicits the fight-or-flight response and is active in times of increased stress. When the PNS is active we feel calmer, happier, and sleep better. This can contribute to lower severity and frequency of tension headaches.

Yoga's Effects on Blood Pressure

Lastly, yoga lowers and stabilizes blood pressure as well as synchronizes it with one’s heartbeat. This occurs through the parasympathetic nervous system which plays a major role in regulating heart functions. High blood pressure and stress are often related and can contribute to tension headaches. Since yoga can be beneficial for both stress and blood pressure, it can also reduce stress-related tension headaches.

What yoga poses are best for tension headaches?

Poses that calm the body such as child's pose and reclined butterfly tend to be some of the best for promoting relaxation. Restorative yoga, yin yoga, and yoga nidra are also beneficial for stress-related headaches.

Are yoga breathing techniques good for headaches?

Some practices can be beneficial such as humming bee breath, alternate nostril breathing, and ocean breathing. Long slow deep exhalations are preferred for stress reduction, as these kinds of breathing techniques help to activate the PNS.

Stimulating breath techniques with short fast inhalations should not be used for stress reduction or when one has high blood pressure. Fast short breathing that emphasizes or lengthens the inhalation is more activating and can stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. Since we want to increase the PNS and decrease the SNS in tension headaches, it is best to practice slow breaths that lengthen the exhalation.

Is yoga good for other kinds of headaches?

Since yoga benefits the nervous system, muscles, and fascia it can be useful for different kinds of headaches. Some studies have shown it to be useful for migraines. It also likely helps with hypertension headaches and some kinds of post-traumatic headaches. [Yoga for Migraine]

In summary, yoga can be a good natural remedy to use for tension headaches. It works by decreasing muscular tension, calming the nervous system, regulating the breath, and alleviating stress.

Learn more about Pressure Points for Tension Headaches

Sources

Effect of Yoga on Migraine: A comprehensive study using clinical profile and cardiac autonomic functions; Ravikiran Kisan, MU Sujan,1 Meghana Adoor,1 Raghavendra Rao, A Nalini, Bindu M Kutty, BT Chindanda Murthy, TR Raju,1 and TN Sathyaprabha1; Int J Yoga. 2014 Jul-Dec; 7(2): 126–132.

Yoga for Migraine; Hallie Levine; Web MD; https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/migraine-yoga