Headaches

Hi ladies

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I don’t know about better insights but maybe other ones! 😆

Interestingly there are times I have had headaches during class and out of class ONLY when I haven’t been practicing enough. In class it has happened during Camel and just a persistent bad headache out of class that required some analgesia. This has been on the odd occasion when I have for some reason or another had an extended break from yoga. As soon as my regular practice is reinstated the headaches disappear. It is probably worth noting that before yoga I didn’t actually get headaches more than once or twice a year. But I get headaches if I stop practicing and run out of ‘yoga credits’. Otherwise headache free.

Dehydration is a very valid place to investigate, thanks RF!

So for you Rachel it could simply be part of your process towards creating more vibrant health for yourself. Your words seem to imply that you weren’t having them before, so as uncomfortable as they are, just look after your nutrition, your hydration and notice how the signs reduce and you feel lighter and pain free probably over a very short period of time.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Although this thread is old, I wanted to offer my experiences in hopes they might be useful to others. Besides hydration, take notice of your head and neck tension and positions. I used to run, lift weights, sometimes do spin classes, etc. and very often suffered post-exercise headaches that lasted all day. After much trial and error and reading lots of advice, I found that my problem was related to my neck and head positioning. When running, I’d often keep my chin up high, eyes on the horizon. When lifting, I’d raise my head to see my positions in the mirror instead of keeping my neck and head aligned. I’d read that bikers/spinners especially suffer these headaches because of the awkward position of leaning far forward and keeping the head up.

As soon as I made a concerted effort to occasionally look at my feet while running and to focus on the ground about 10 feet ahead, the headaches stopped! Instead of watching my reflection during lifting, I’d just glance at my position and then keep my neck and head aligned. Problem solved!!

When I began hot yoga, I found the headaches occurred after the first few classes. I realized that, being new, I was always in the back row and would often be crooking my head to try to see people in front of me in order to learn the correct positions. So, I concentrated on looking at the back wall or my feet, especially in upside-down positions (down-dog), and relaxing my neck muscles. (I also love my Yogitoes Element towel because I can focus on the element symbol at the top of my mat and it keeps me from raising my head too high.) It’s made a world of difference for me and I haven’t had headaches since!

Hi Karen

Sorry, I have been away! Anyway, tell me… how much water do you drink every day? What is the temperature at your studio? Do you know for sure or is it just what they tell you? It is possible that you have low level heat exhaustion symptoms. There could be other stuff going on. Let’s start with the basics first

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Karen

Do you sweat a lot during class? Is your towel drenched?

If you’re taking all those electrolytes I really question whether you need Gatorade at all. A nice little concoction is sea salt or Himalayan salt in water with some lemon juice. You can take that in class. However, if you’re a salty sweater (that is someone who sweats a tremendous amount more than a ‘regular’ sweat-er) then you need to replenish the electrolytes more than usual and again take the high quality stuff not Gatorade.

It can only be Rabbit pose if you’re not doing it properly. This is possible. We would need to talk some more about that one!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

I also have taken the Himaylan salts too….I’ll try that again.

I remember the first time I did Bikram and it caused a three day migraine that was unbearable.

5 years later, the second time I tried Bikram, I was in much better shape and drank lots of water and it helped although I got some minor headache for the first three sessions, and after that I was OK and did not get any headaches at all. And I could feel the benefit of Bikram in my body. It got busy and unfortunately I stopped it in Summer and did not get back to it until recently after a year of break.

The first session was OK but the second session gave me such a bad headache late at night that I was going to go to hospital if I could drive… My head was exploding and I was about to throw up.
After two days, I still have some head heaviness and headache, but not major.

So I want to tackle this headache as I enjoy Bikram very much when I do not get headache after practising it. These are my finding after reading others postings in different places about the same problem and of course my personal experiencing with the problem. I do not tell you this will help you out, everyone person is different, what I am trying to say that the following tips have helped some people including me at one point of time to tackle the migraine and headache I am going to try these again and go back when my headache is completely gone. I suggest you discuss this with your physician to be absolutely sure it is safe for you and do not trust me or anyone else for your health 🙂

– People who get migraine should make sure they haven’t had other stuff that triggers migraine when they are going for Bikram. And if you see it coming and you are not sure. Do not do Bikram that day.
– Generally a better diet will help with the Bikram and migraine. So lowering Carb and refine sugar would generally help.
– Hydration is a must. And it cannot be just before the class, it has to be the whole week, before and after the class
– drinking some liquid with natural electrolyte (water+Salt+lemon+OJ) coconut water. You could buy some premade brand name drinks but I rather stay away from them because of the chemical and the refine sugar in them
– eat (Snack) at least an hour before your session moderately. Include a sweat fruit snack (such as banana) to your pre Bikram meal.
– if you are overtired it is better to avoid Bikram (that is my experience)
– Listen to your body. If the pose increasing your heartbeat excessively (so that you can feel your heartbeat noticeably)stop and take a break by sitting or laying down and slowing down your heartbeat.
– Some of the poses if done incorrectly may aggravate your headache especially the ones that deals with your neck. If it is hurting or creating discomfort around your shoulder and neck, stop and make sure you are doing it correctly and get back to it slowly. The pose should not create a big discomfort or pain on your neck.