Stage 4 Tension Headaces – Pushing Through Vs. Switching Focus To The Abdomen

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This topic contains 5 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by  Erlend K 6 years, 9 months ago.

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  • #1983

    Erlend K
    Member

    Hi fellow meditators!

    This is my first post on this forum.

    To introduce myself, I have been meditating regularly since August 2016. The first four months I did pure samatha/anapanasati (I don’t really understand the difference between these two), and gradually worked my way up to 1,5 hours a day. I started enjoying meditation a lot, and noticed that my lifelong problems of constantly zoning out and being in my own head diminished month by month. Around Christmas I started getting strong pressure is my head witch seemed like a dense, shaking cloud/lump that pulsated with my hearthbeat, when I examined it. This was combined with sinusoidal pain. I would feel the pain outside of meditation as well, but it was particularly strong during meditation. I assumed that this was a sinusoidal infection, and decided to take a break from meditation since the pressure and pain changed meditation from an enjoyable hobby to a dreaded chore I had to force myself through.

    I signed up for a yin yoga course instead, and after reading Kristin Neff’s book and a few research papers, also did a 8 week mindful self-compassion course. About two months ago I switched back to anapansastati. My daily practice is about 1 hour anapanasati + one hour distributed over yoga, metta, self-compassion and mindful walking.

    The last few weeks the pressure in my head has come back, and I also notice my neck is stiff. This is making meditation painful again. After spending some time looking through various meditation forums I realize this is a common phenomena and I find various explanations including excessive effort, early level piti, 3rd nana and issues with prana energy. The type of yin yoga I am practicing has a heavy focus on meridians, so even tho I’m at an early stage in my concentration practice, I can feel my subtle-body quite clearly.

    First of all I was wondering if it is realistic that someone working mostly on stage 4 (Before the head pressure started I rarely lost awareness of the breath, but struggled with cultivating introspective awareness) can experience 3rd nana or piti? If this is a likely explanation of what I’m experiencing, is it advisable to just accept that this will be an uncomfortable phase of my meditation development, keep focusing on my nostrils and wait for the pain to disappear as my concentration deepens?

    I have also read the advice of moving the focus of attention from the nostrils to the abdomen. I notice that when I try this I don’t get same pressure in my head. At the same time I don’t find focusing on the abdomen to be as pleasant and enjoyable as focusing on my nostrils used to be. I also worry that switching meditation object to the abdomen will keep me from eventually reaching the higher stages. Does anyone here have any experience or advice about this?

    #1984

    Ted Lemon
    Member

    You can definitely experience piti. However, I would tend to suspect that this is a stage four purification, which is expressing itself in the form of muscle tension. You may also be engaging in efforting. If it’s manifesting as pain, that’s a bit unusual—for me that sort of piti generally manifests as pressure, but isn’t particularly painful. If you can, treat it as just another distraction. Don’t avoid it, but just surrender to it rather than thinking that it’s something that is a problem or has to go away.

    That said, headaches and stiff necks can also be signs of illness, so you might want to consult with a doctor to be sure you aren’t bypassing something.

    If it’s not medical, another thing to consider it using a different meditation posture that doesn’t put tension on the neck, so as to give you an opportunity to work through the purification, if it is one, without debilitating your neck. You could try doing it in shavasana, perhaps with a small cushion to support your head if that’s an issue.

    #1985

    Pop
    Member

    Hi,

    My 2 cents regarding sinusoidal pain:

    Check out where your eyes are look at: nostrils, abdomen or eyebrows. The last one may be the problem. But focusing downwards brings up further unconscious stuff to purificate. It may also work to release tension to widen up the scope of attention to the sides of the nose, or do some gladdening of the mind (mental smile) by finding pleasant sensations at the side of the eyes and lips.

    Also, check if the tip of the tongue is touching the palate. As you can feel your subtle-body clearly, check if you can ignite and drive the cool energy from the crown down to the eyebrow, down the nose to the neck and beyond.

    #1986

    Ted Lemon
    Member

    I’ve heard this suggested as well, but I actually try to avoid putting any effort into telling the eyes where to look, because for me that creates tension. But you’re definitely right to suggest noticing what’s going on with them, because I was unconsciously staring at my nose, and that was causing significant eyestrain, even though my eyes were closed. 🙂

    #1990

    Erlend K
    Member

    Thanks for the advice, both of you.

    Yea, you are right, it is more like pressure than pain. However it starts feeling painful after I play around with it for too long, trying to make it go away.

    Since reading Teds advice about shavasana, I have done 4 30-40 min sessions lying down. I find that the tension mostly subsides, but I also founnd it very difficult to keep attention on the breath in that position. My mind behaves just like it did when I first started out meditating – constantly walking away.

    I tried experimenting with my eyes, but finds that this creates tension for me as well.

    From what I have read tension headaches tend to be coursed by unconscious tensing of the neck muscles. I’ve booked an appointment at a massage therapist, and another one at an acupunctureist, and hopefully that will help.

    I also found a piece of advice on an other forum that I tested for the first time during my afternoon meditation today: Wrapping a wet towel around my head. For some reason this relieved a lot of the tension.

    #2014

    Erlend K
    Member

    Update: I have managed to deal with this problem now. I realized I was straining too much during my meditation, unconsciously tensing my muscles.

    The last two weeks I have had two appointments with a massage therapist and one with a acupuncturist. I have also started doing 15 min of progressive muscle relaxation before each sit. The tension headaches are now completely gone! I also find meditation more relaxing and enjoyable than before.

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