Imagine being just six years old and feeling a pounding headache, your eyes squinting against the light, and your stomach churning with nausea. That was my first encounter with a migraine attack that I can remember, a condition my mother knew all too well. She swiftly turned our home into a sanctuary of darkness and silence, allowing me to rest. This became my go-to remedy, and honestly nobody ever told me that there was anything I could preventively do to support myself living with this condition. So I carried on, accepting that this was something I had to deal with but extremely frustrated every single time it kept me from enjoying a vacation or made my workday miserable.
It wasn't until my late 20s, amidst the emotional turmoil of my mother's passing from breast cancer, that I realized stress was a major Migraine trigger for me. After 15 years of cultivating my meditation practice to manage stress, I’m happy to say that it transformed my relationship with Migraine and significantly reduced the impact it has on my life. Now I encourage everyone with Migraine to meditate as a way to shift their perspective of living with this condition, understand their stress and manage it better - and hopefully feel better too!
*Meditation is not a treatment for Migraine and as of this writing, there is no cure yet for this neurological condition. Instead, meditation can improve quality of life when done consistently for a period of time conducive to lifestyle modifications.
How Meditation Can Help
Builds Resilience
A consistent meditation practice can help regulate your nervous system and lower baseline stress, potentially decreasing the burden of Migraine. Your migraine attacks may be less intense, not last as long and recovery may be quicker.
Boost Your Mental Clarity and Memory
Migraine-induced brain fog is a genuine struggle! Meditation can help train your brain to focus on what you want it to for clarity and recall.
Break Free from the Pain Cycle
During a migraine attack, slowing down the breath and focusing your mind on being with the experience or even distracting your mind can soothe the nervous system and diminish pain signals.
Manage Your Trigger to Manage Your Migraine
Meditation is a lifestyle change and can be one of the techniques you cultivate as a preventive measure to manage stress, which is the #1 trigger for people living with Migraine. With all lifestyle changes, it takes commitment. Daily meditation for even one minute can be helpful, especially if you're not doing anything right now to manage your stress. Once you've meditated daily for a week, try it for two, three, sticking with it up to at least the eight week mark. Evaluate any shifts, make any necessary changes and keep going! The key is to be mindful and really give into it - don't just go through the motions.
If you're ready to give meditation a try and want guidance from someone who understands a piece of the Migraine experience (and hated meditating but did it anyway), join me in my online program Resilient with Migraine. I'd love to support you with ways to manage Migraine symptoms, cultivate your relationship with Migraine and improve resiliency so you can bounce back quicker after attacks.
About the Author:
Tiffany Lord, E-RYT & Yoga Therapeutic Specialist
Corporate Yoga Coach
Resilience + Stress Management Expert
As the founder of Love + Asana, I help busy professionals feel more resilient and and increase agency in their wellness. This all-levels, accessible approach to physical and mental health at work allows employees to easily learn and implement healthy habits during their work day…and feel the benefits ripple out into all areas of life
Since 2016, I’ve had the honor of coaching thousands of employees through virtual sessions and workshops focused on relaxation techniques, mindset, and mobility. My wellness articles have been featured in fyi50+, CO Yoga + Life, and I’m the author of three “Get With Gratitude” journals based on my online workshop series for resiliency through a grateful mindset.
I completed a 200-hour training through CorePower Yoga and received my 500-hour Therapeutic Specialist certificate through Yoga Medicine to complement my background in massage therapy and Bachelor’s Degree in International Business with Cum Laude honors from the University of Colorado at Denver. As a Continuing Education Provider with the Yoga Alliance, I share my knowledge of functional movement and the mind-body connection with yoga instructors wanting to deepen their teaching toolkit.