Use Your Yoga Timer to Cure a Headache
Got a pounding headache? This sequence of supported poses can send it packing.
When a boa constrictor of stress creeps up your shoulders, circles your neck, and encases your skull, you may be more tempted to reach for the jaws of life than your yoga mat. But don’t underestimate the power of asana to unlock the vise grip of a tension headache; try this sequence of forward bends and reclining poses. The idea, says Northern California yoga teacher Richard Rosen, is to soothe the pulsating brain with internally focused forward bends. At the same time, by supporting the head, you’re giving the back of the neck permission to release. “When you get a tension headache, often the third eye at the place where the skull meets the neck is squeezed shut,” he says. Open that eye wide by letting the nape of your neck drift down toward your shoulders and imagining the base of your skull floating up toward your crown.
- Balasana (Child’s Pose) with head on bolster or block
- Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Pose) with head supported
- Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana) with head on block
- Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) with head on padded chair, block, or other support
- Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose)
- Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) with block
- Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall Pose)
- Savasana (Corpse Pose)
Although meditation & yoga can be done in almost any context, practitioners usually employ a quiet, tranquil space, a meditation cushion or bench, and some kind of timing device to time the meditation session. Ideally, the more these accoutrements can be integrated the better. Thus, it is conducive to a satisfying meditation practice to have a timer or clock that is tranquil and beautiful. Using a kitchen timer or beeper watch is less than ideal. And it was with these considerations in mind that we designed our digital Zen Alarm Clock and practice timer. This unique “Zen Clock” features a long-resonating acoustic chime that brings the meditation session to a gradual close, preserving the environment of stillness while also acting as an effective time signal. The Digital Zen Clock can be programmed to chime at the end of the meditation session or periodically throughout the session as a kind of sonic yantra. The beauty and functionality of the Zen Clock/Timer makes it a meditation tool that can actually help you “make time” for meditation in your life.
adapted from YogaJournal.com by Catherine Guthrie
Yoga & Meditation Timers from Now & Zen, Inc.
Now & Zen’s Yoga & Meditation Timer Store
1638 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO 80302
(800) 779-6383
Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks
