Active meditative techniques appear to be more effective at reducing migraine severity than distraction techniques, according to research published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine.
“Meditation practice has been associated with improved pain and decreased migraine headaches frequency in previous studies,” the authors of the new study said. “However, it is unknown if all forms of cognitive control, both those that contain meaningful practices for the participant (e.g. meditation, relaxation) and meaningless practices (e.g. simple distraction) would be equally effective in reducing migraine headache frequency or pain levels.”
The researchers re-analyzed data from a previous study on migraines and meditation, in which 83 individuals with frequent migraines were instructed to practice spiritual meditation, internally-focused secular meditation, externally-focused secular meditation, or progressive muscle relaxation. The participants also completed daily headache diaries.
The meditation practices were fairly simple. It consisted of focusing on a phrase for 20 minutes per day for 30 days.
“Meditation participants were instructed to begin their meditation by softly repeating their meditation aloud a few times to help them focus, and then to continue to silently focus on the phrase, and how the phrase is reflected in their lives. If the participants felt they were losing focus, they should repeat the phrase aloud to refocus and then continue with the silent meditation,” the authors of the original study explained.
For spiritual meditation, participants were instructed to focus on spiritual phrases such as “God is peace.” For internally-focused secular meditation, participants were instructed to focus on positive self-reinforcement phrases such as “I am good.” For externally-focused secular meditation, participants were instructed to focus on phrases such as “Grass is green.”
Those in the progressive muscle relaxation group, meanwhile, were taught cognitive techniques to reduce muscle tension, which they also practiced for 20 minutes per day for 30 days.
The researchers considered externally-focused meditation to be a form of cognitive distraction, while the other three practices were meaningfully focused on spirituality, self-esteem, or one’s own body — and thus considered active.
From my experience of guided meditation and somatic exercises, I find that meditation is useful if you do it very frequently to build a sort of ‘muscle memory.’ I’ve also tried the kind of meditation wherein one is supposed to block out all thoughts. That is exceptionally difficult to do when you are already in a lot of pain and/or dealing with the litany of other migraine symptoms. If you wish to meditate, look into the kind that uses sounds and sensations rather than trying to block them out. I have years of experience with the latter kind of meditation and it worked well when there weren’t many other variables, when the pain wasn’t aggressive and I was able to inhale deeply. And this is where somatic exercises are all the more useful. I believe University of Michigan medical school compared the results between two groups of people; those who meditated versus those who used a specific somatic exercise (somatic sighing). The results were clear that the latter was more effective. There are many other exercises which help your mind focus on parts of your body that do not hurt, that help with the intense anxiety which chronic illnesses can provoke. I see the difference in myself within minutes of doing the somatic exercises. I am not an expert but, to me, somatic exercises seem more primal. The intent is to reset the nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system to help prevent fight/flight/freeze and to help bring you out of that when you are already experiencing that response. Again, it is very common for chronic pain/chronic illness patients to develop anxiety. So, at the first symptom of a severe migraine, the nervous system is apt to begin a fight/flight/freeze response. Breathing becomes faster and more shallow. Blood pressure and pulse increase. Spikes in pressure can trigger or worsen migraines in some patients so being able to settle the nervous system is essential.
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