{"id":1207,"date":"2025-05-29T10:22:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T10:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/blog\/yoga-qigong-headache\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T10:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T10:22:48","slug":"yoga-qigong-headache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yoga-vs-qigong.com\/en\/blog\/yoga-qigong-headache\/","title":{"rendered":"Tension headache? How your neck, breathing, and posture play a role"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A tension headache often starts in the muscles of the neck and shoulders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A squeezing pain, as if someone had put a tight band around your head. It doesn\u2019t throb or knock you off your feet, but it drags on for hours and by evening turns any task into a chore. That\u2019s how people most often describe a tension-type headache, the most common kind of headache in adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I devoted my yoga therapy thesis to this topic and defended it in early 2022. It grew into a free video course of exercises, which I\u2019ll tell you about at the end. But first, why exercise makes sense here at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See a doctor first, then get on the mat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Any recurring headache should be checked by a doctor first. This is especially true if the attacks are frequent or severe, came on suddenly, have changed in character, or come with numbness, vision or speech problems, or fever. Exercise does not replace diagnosis and treatment. It works as a complement once serious causes have been ruled out and your doctor has confirmed a tension-type headache. Migraine works differently, and a practice plan for it is also best discussed with a specialist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens in the body<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tension headaches rarely come out of nowhere. Research links them to emotional stress, lack of sleep, and staying in the same position for a long time. Many people with this diagnosis have muscles around the skull, neck, and shoulders that are tender to the touch: they work for hours without a break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neck and shoulders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your head weighs several kilograms. As long as it sits straight over the spine, the neck muscles hold it with almost no effort. Push your chin toward the screen, and the load on the back of the neck and the upper trapezius goes up many times over. An hour at the laptop in that position, and the muscles attached to the base of the skull are in constant tension. Meanwhile the shoulders creep up toward the ears, especially when we\u2019re concentrating or anxious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A slouch and a forward head go together. The upper back rounds, the chest sinks, and the neck has to compensate. That\u2019s why working on the neck alone isn\u2019t enough: the whole body needs its vertical line back, from the pelvis to the crown of the head. I covered how to set this up at a desk and on the floor in my article on how to sit correctly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breathing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This link is often overlooked. In calm breathing, the diaphragm does most of the work. Under stress, breathing becomes fast, shallow, and chest-based, and the accessory muscles kick in: the scalenes, the sternocleidomastoids, the upper trapezius. All of them are in the neck. Thousands of small breaths a day, and the neck gets as tired from breathing as from a bad chair. Slow breathing with a longer exhale, on the other hand, shifts the nervous system toward parasympathetic regulation, and muscle tone goes down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which exercises help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A sensible approach combines several directions. There is evidence in favor of regular moderate aerobic activity, exercises that strengthen and stretch the neck and shoulder muscles, relaxation, and mindfulness practices. Yoga and qigong are convenient because they bring all of this together in one session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice it looks like this. Gentle stretching and strengthening of the neck and upper back, with no jerks or sharp head rolls. Posture work: learning to sit and stand upright without strain. Breathing exercises that lengthen and calm the breath and give the work back to the diaphragm; you can read more about them in my piece on pranayama<\/a>. A dynamic sequence like Surya Namaskar that loads the whole body evenly. The standing practice Zhan Zhuang<\/a>, where you learn to hold your vertical line while letting go of extra tension. And finally meditation, which lowers your overall stress level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regularity matters most: practice not only on days when your head already hurts. Muscles need weeks to adapt to a new routine, and a noticeable effect usually builds up gradually. If an exercise makes the pain worse, skip it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A free video course<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I developed the course from my thesis, drawing on clinical guidelines from Russian and international headache specialists. The exercises are grouped into six blocks: neck and upper back, posture, breathing, Surya Namaskar, Zhan Zhuang, and meditation. Each session is short and easy to fit into a normal day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a while the recordings just sat there. Then I put them in order and gathered them into a playlist. You can watch with no sign-up and completely free: the \u201cExercises for Headaches\u201d video course on YouTube<\/a>. The lessons are in Russian. Start with the introductory session:<\/p>\n\n\n

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