Yoga Therapy for Migraines: Pranayama, Asana, & More

A young woman practicing yoga therapy for migraines to help her relax

At least 39 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from migraines, as estimated by the American Migraine Foundation. Migraine symptoms include an intense, throbbing headache (often in one spot in the head) and possibly nausea and vomiting. Migraines can last for hours or days, making them debilitating for many sufferers. What if I told you that using yoga therapy for migraine headaches could help bring relief?

I’m Brandt Passalacqua, Co-Founder, Director, and Lead Teacher of Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy. I’ve devoted my life to helping others heal through yoga, and I’ve seen firsthand how effective yoga for migraines can be. Everyone is different, and while some people see major results from using yoga for headaches, others find it less beneficial. But for those who are suffering and struggling to find relief, I believe it’s worth trying yoga to see if it helps.

Keep reading to learn more about how to use techniques such as asana (yoga poses), meditation, and pranayama for migraine headaches. If you’d like to work privately over Zoom with one of our experienced yoga therapists to apply these techniques, please fill out the contact form on this page.

Table of Contents:

How to Use Yoga Therapy During a Migraine

Unfortunately, when a migraine is acute, yoga therapy doesn’t have as much to offer. The most common remedy is to be in a dark, quiet space and possibly take painkillers. Make sure you’re hydrated, too.

But there are still ways to use yoga therapy for migraine relief during an episode. I recommend trying pranayama, or breathing techniques, to keep your nervous system regulated.

When we experience pain, it often elevates our sympathetic nervous system response, otherwise known as “fight or flight.” This creates a loop in which your pain elevates this response, which makes the pain worse. Getting out of this cycle is important for managing pain during a migraine.

That’s where yoga comes in with pranayama for migraine headaches. For example, Three-Part Breath, also known as Dirgha Pranayama, promotes diaphragmatic breathing to calm your nervous system. It can be practiced during a migraine, especially while you wait for painkillers or migraine medication to take effect.

Pranayama can also help manage your mental health during a migraine. Being in pain and not knowing when it will end can cause anxiety. Controlling your breathing and using it to relax and remain present can help get you through a migraine headache.

How to Use Yoga Therapy to Prevent Headaches and Reduce Pain

The good news is that yoga therapy can be a very helpful paradigm as a preventative measure. Yoga can reduce the frequency as well as the intensity of migraines.

In a study published by the International Journal of Yoga, patients who used conventional care in conjunction with yoga therapy had fewer headaches and less intense headaches compared to those who used conventional care without yoga therapy. Not only that, but the patients who used yoga therapy for migraines saw improvements to the vagal tone, along with lower sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system activity and higher parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system activity.

Many yoga techniques can also help restore balance after a migraine, allowing you to recover faster. Relieving muscle tension, regulating the nervous system, and balancing the doshas are all ways you can use yoga therapy for migraine prevention.

1. Relieving Muscle Tension

Someone performing a Supine Spinal Twist in a sequence of Upper Cross Syndrome yoga poses

One way yoga can potentially help with migraines is to release tension in the muscles that contribute to neck and head tension. Releasing the muscles of the chest, upper back, and neck can reduce migraine frequency in some people.

2. Regulating the Nervous System

While using yoga to regulate your nervous system can help manage a migraine when it happens, it is even more valuable for preventing headaches from occurring in the first place.

As discussed above, being in pain deregulates your nervous system. Regularly practicing pranayama can help keep your nervous system in balance. It teaches you how to self-regulate and stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system response, encouraging your body to rest and helping to reduce migraines.

You can also leverage these breathing techniques after a headache to help recalibrate your nervous system.

3. Balancing the Doshas

In addition to regulating the nervous system, where yoga therapy really shines is regulating the pranic system and specifically the pitta dosha. When pitta is regulated, migraines can be decreased.

In Ayurveda, a traditional Indian model we use in yoga therapy to individualize care, people are composed of five elemental forces (ether/space, wind, fire, water, and earth) which combine in our bodies to make three key life forces, also known as doshas. The three doshas are vata, kapha, and pitta.

Pitta is associated with the fire element and finds its home in the belly area. When we are properly balanced, that powerful energy circulates around the body and then finds its home in the belly. When imbalanced, this process doesn’t go so smoothly and health issues can be created.

In this case, we can think of it as the pitta getting stuck in the head and causing migraines. (If this description doesn’t work for your brain, think of it as a simple metaphor for the thousands of biological processes that are occurring.)

In a person where pitta tends to go out of balance, the trick to healing is consistent maintenance. This could be done with various yogic techniques which include movement (asana), breath work (pranayama), and meditation.

Which Asanas Can Help with Migraines?

Someone performing Cobra Pose as one of their yoga poses for Upper Cross Syndrome

For best results, I recommend combining movements with breath and working with a knowledgeable yoga therapist who can create a routine that is personalized for you. Here are a few tips to keep in mind regarding yoga poses for migraines:

  • What to choose: Prioritize asanas that release muscle tension in your neck, upper back, and chest.
  • Examples: Consider Sun Salutation, Forward Fold, Bridge Pose, Supine Spinal Twist, Legs Up the Wall Pose, Child’s Pose, Cat-Cow Pose, Downward-Facing Dog Pose, Extended Triangle Pose, and Cobra Pose.
  • What to avoid: Because neck, shoulder, and chest muscle imbalance and tension can contribute to migraines for some people, avoid movements that feel uncomfortable in your head, neck, or shoulders. In addition, take care not to flatten the back of your neck too often if you tuck your chin during a pose. This can compress the cervical curve and press on your discs. If you have migraines and a slight disc problem, you’ll be putting your neck in a position that can create issues with your discs.

Which Pranayama Is Good for Migraine Headaches?

A demonstration of pranayama for migraine headaches, showing how to perform Alternate Nostril Breathing

In my opinion, using pranayama to regulate your nervous system is one of the most useful things you can do if you get migraines. Here are some of my top tips to remember, along with recommendations for which pranayamas are good for migraine headaches:

  • What to choose: Prioritize pranayamas that turn off the sympathetic nervous system response and encourage the parasympathetic nervous system response.
  • Examples: Consider Three-Part Breath (Dirgha Pranayama) and Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana).
  • What to avoid: Avoid breathing patterns associated with stress, which can disrupt the body, increase anxiety, and stimulate the flight or fight response. These include taking short, shallow, or erratic breaths and breathing into your chest rather than your diaphragm.

Can Meditation Offer Migraine Relief?

Meditation is another essential technique of yoga therapy, along with asana and pranayama. But can it be used for migraine relief?

Studies have shown that, in general, meditation can lower pain responses. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that mindfulness meditation reduces pain. Even more recently, a study from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine indicates that mindfulness meditation reduces pain and suffering by disrupting communication between areas of the brain associated with feeling pain and those associated with creating a sense of self.

While research has not yet shown that meditation improves migraine pain specifically, it is possible that it could help manage this type of pain.

An Example Yoga Sequence for Migraine Sufferers

What does it look like to put movement and breath into practice for migraine sufferers? While I recommend getting a yoga therapy practice that is tailored to your unique self and needs, I’ve included an example sequence below to give you an idea what it could look like.

In this particular example, I demonstrate how to balance pitta with movement practice as a preventative measure against migraines.

An example sequence of yoga therapy for migraine sufferers, outlined step-by-step in our blog post.
  1. Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar): This series of movements is performed in sequence to warm up the torso and body without warming the head, practicing greater control over pitta. It involves standing tall with your feet together in Mountain Pose, bringing your arms above your head in Upward Salute, folding forward from your hips in a Standing Forward Bend, lifting your torso back up to your hips in a Standing Half Forward Bend, sliding your legs back and holding up your body with your arms in a Plank, lowering your body toward the floor by bending your elbows in a Four-Limbed Staff Pose, dropping your legs and raising your chest in an Upward-Facing Dog Pose, lifting your hips with your hands and feet on the mat in a Downward-Facing Dog Pose, and coming into another Standing Half Forward Bend followed by another Standing Forward Bend, Upward Salute, and Mountain Pose. Those who wish can do other variations of Sun Salutations.
  2. Chest Opener at Wall: Standing arm’s length from a wall, this pose is performed by placing a hand on the wall. Turn to one side for 12 breaths, then turn to the other side for another 12 breaths, helping to open the chest.
  3. Seated Neck Release: Sit comfortably with your back straight and your legs crossed to perform this pose. Tilt your head to one side, bringing your ear closer to your shoulder, for 6 to 12 breaths. Repeat on the other side. This helps to relieve muscle tension in your neck.
  4. Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana): With both legs straight out before you, hinge at the hips and fold your torso over your legs for 12 breaths. This creates a stretch along the back of your body, including your spine, hamstrings, and calves.
  5. Rolling Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana): In this modified Bridge Pose, you start by lying on your back with your legs bent as you exhale. While inhaling, press on your feet and shoulders, rolling your hips off the floor and lifting them without using your arms. Engage your core muscles and hold for 6 breaths to stretch the front of your body while strengthening the back of the body.
  6. Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana): For this pose, start by lying on your back with your arms outstretched on either side. Bend your left knee and bring it across your right leg toward the floor, twisting at the hips. Hold for 6 breaths, then repeat on the other side. This can relieve tightness in your shoulders, chest, and lower back.
  7. Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani): This pose is exactly what it sounds like! Lie flat on your back with your upper body while bringing your legs to a 90-degree angle up the wall before you. Hold for at least 5 minutes. It’s a great way to relieve tension in your neck and back while relaxing your nervous system.

The idea with this sequence is to catch up with that out of control pitta fire. To do this, we have to work harder at first by doing Sun Salutes until we are warm in the entire torso but not in the head. In this way, we become more sensitive to our internal fire, being able to tell the difference or stop before it goes to the head. Once we are sensitive to it, we can slow down and allow the pitta to circulate properly.

We then slow down with some poses that release back and neck tension, finally ending up in an inversion (Legs Up the Wall Pose), completely relaxed and balanced. In this way, we teach our system how to use pitta properly and we become more regulated. This leads to reduced pitta deregulation and fewer migraines.

I’ve used this approach with clients and it has helped them tremendously. The most dramatic example was a young lawyer who went from being hospitalized for a 30-day migraine to using these techniques and being migrainefree within months. I offer this example, not as a guarantee, but to give hope to those sufferingan alternative approach to their migraines that may bring much-needed relief.

How to Get Help from Our Experts

If you would like expert guidance on how to use yoga therapy for migraine relief, we can help. Myself and a number of hand-picked yoga therapists who I’ve personally trained are available for private, one-on-one sessions via Zoom. With our understanding of health conditions and the therapeutic application of yoga techniques, you’ll receive personalized care and learn how to wield these practices yourself at home. Click here to learn more and contact us for a private session.

If you are a yoga instructor or healthcare provider whose client is suffering from migraines, consider our yoga therapy training. In as little as one year, you can become a yoga therapist with the knowledge and experience to treat a wide range of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health issues. Read more about our yoga therapy training or apply today.

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