A Yoga Routine for Migraineurs

I’ve been dealing with episodic migraine since high school. They increased in frequency and intensity after the birth of my second daughter. I’ve poured a lot of time and energy into eliminating as many triggers as possible and sticking to a daily prevention routine. Happily, I’ve had some success in these endeavors and don’t need my medicine quite as often.

Following a car accident several years ago, I used yoga to deal with the resulting back pain. Recently I began to wonder if there were yoga poses or routines that could help with migraine. I found quite a few articles and blog posts and began perusing them.

They all had slightly varied suggestions, but I noticed some poses came up over and over again. I took notes and highlighted the repeated poses.

And I created my own routine.

Now, I am by no means a yoga expert. I’m mostly a DVD and web video yogi. But I love how much better I feel when I practice regularly.

This routine belongs in the “prevention” category; I certainly don’t recommend attempting these poses in the throes of a migraine! Not many of them, anyway. I don’t do it every day, but I usually manage several times per week. I think it makes a great addition to my prevention arsenal.

I included links to each pose so you can actually see someone doing it.

Hold each pose for several breaths--or longer if you can and feel like it.

1. Cat pose
2. Mountain pose. I also do this.
3. Side stretch or try this.
4. Standing forward bend or try this.
5. Wide legged forward bend
6. Triangle or try this.
7. Tree pose or try this.
8. Downward facing dog
9. Upward facing dog or cobra
10. Child’s pose
11. Seated spinal twist or try this.
12. Seated neck release (the first pose shown)
13. Seated side stretch (number 5 in this list)
14. Seated forward bend
15. Bridge
16. Happy baby
17. Knees to chest
18. Reclined butterfly or supine bound angle (This one’s my favorite!)
19. Legs against the wall (This was the first pose I found specifically recommended for migraine. Highly recommended)
20. Straddle against the wall (basically just what it sounds like--stay against the wall but spread legs apart) (scroll down to “wall straddle”)
21. Corpse

Of course, consult with your doctor or other medical professional before beginning any new exercise routine.

Hope this is beneficial for someone!