Eliminating headaches ..part one

Any of you that have been reading this blog for a while will know that I always have a headache. I can’t remember a day when I’ve not had a headache. Some days the pain is just like an annoying niggle that can be ignored with the help of a couple of paracetamol. On other days, it feels like a ten-ton elephant is dancing on my head, wearing stilettos and a sparkly tutu. On those days, no amount of paracetamol, ice packs or crying is going to shift it. I used to take stronger painkillers but they’re not healthy for you (and I am already unhealthy enough) so I stopped taking them. Sadly, Nelly the elephant has yet to receive the memo telling her river dance in my brain has been cancelled.

I asked on twitter for some ideas on how to stop the headaches without strong medication. I got lots of replies and lots of good ideas, so I thought I would give them all a try and see which ones, if any, work best for me.

A couple of people suggested meditation in a dark room, possibly with an eye mask on. Always one to give things a try I grabbed my eye mask and set about helping Nelly pack her trunk and get back to the circus.

The first problem I faced was finding somewhere quiet and relaxing in my house in the middle of the day. No matter where I went I could hear the teenager tap tap tapping on his computer … believe me when I say he hits the keys harder than Hanley Ramirez hits a baseball.

Eventually I found a quiet moment, slapped my eye mask on and set about meditating the headache away.

The second problem I faced was the meditation part. It was so hard for me to deep breathe and close off my mind to ease my headache, because my head was hurting so much. I also discovered that meditating is harder than it looks. How do you switch off your mind and relax?? In the fifteen minutes I was meditating I planned dinner for the coming week, thought about lesson plans, contemplated a colour scheme for the downstairs bathroom and pondered on why moles don’t wear glasses.

I have to admit, while my attempt at meditating didn’t send Nelly packing and I struggled to switch my mind off, I did find it somewhat relaxing and although Nelly didn’t leave she did take her stilettos off. I would give this method a solid 7/10.

I will try the whole dark room, meditating thing again, this time without the ponderings of moles eyesight.