In this program you will find powerful mind-body approaches that
prove helpful for most headaches. There are four separate deep
relaxation and guided imagery experiences designed to:
Ø Relieve the discomfort through a deeply relaxing technique of muscle tension release;
Ø Trace the cause of your pain through a brief exploration of its
origins, and alter the patterns that may be giving rise to repeated
episodes of pain; and
Ø Use imagery as a daily measure to keep you pain free and feeling comfortable.
A special 7-minute relaxation ritual is provided for use each morning
to start the day relaxed and breeze through challenges that might
otherwise have caused a headache. Finally, at the end of each day
another stress management exercise will assist in washing away any
accumulated tension.
Purpose of Headache Relief:
To alleviate mild, moderate or severe headaches, especially those associated with stress or muscle tension.
To provide relaxing imagery meditations for starting and ending each day.
To teach principles of self-care for a wide variety of headaches.
To guide an exploration of the behaviors that trigger headaches and
re-script those cognitive, physical, and emotional reactions and
behaviors to prevent future headaches.
To teach the powerful tools of deep relaxation and stress management.
To clear the mind of worrisome activity that creates internal tension which often leads to some form of headache.
To help restructure self-image of people who have become identified with their headaches.
Recommended For:
Those suffering from chronic tension and stress headaches; or
vascular headaches, such as migraines or those caused by emotional
factors. Use alone or with medication, physical therapy, or other
therapies.
Contraindications:
Not recommended for use in cases of significant trauma to the head
until the possibility of serious intracranial damage has been ruled out.
Many people can learn to control their headaches and eliminate or
reduce their need for medication, but in all cases, medication
adjustment should be done only after consultation with the prescribing
professional.
Recommended Use:
Track 1: "Relax Away Your Headache." Use 1X or 2X/day for one
week; Try to take a 5-minute break each day to practice relaxation
technique heard on Track 1 from memory.
Track 2: "Evening Relaxation and Clearing."
Track 3: "Greeting a relaxed, successful day"(Use Track 1
every couple of days as a refresher; Tracks 2 and 3 can be used on an
ongoing basis.) or gradually dispensed with after a week or two once you
have learned how and are able to appapply these techniques without the
use of the tape and headaches have ceased.
Track 4: "Exploring the roots of your headache." once or twice
a week for several weeks, until you feel you have a better
understanding of the roots and triggers of your headaches, and are
making changes in your attitudes, reactions, or behaviors so you have
fewer and milder episodes.
Gradual and Immediate Changes
Although many people will find listening to this headache relief
program provides immediate relief, others will find only partial relief
the first few times they use it. Those who are unfamiliar with the
techniques used may notice nothing except greater relaxation the first
few times.
Whatever happens at first, it is important to continue to practice
with the recordings for a while. This is a training program to teach the
unconscious part of your mind skills that will later enable you to
relieve pain by simply reviewing the imagery.
It is important to aim for continued success, and not set the stage
for failure by not using the training program regularly. In many ways,
this is like training a muscle to be strong by repeatedly using it in a
certain way; after it is strong you can lift a heavy weight that would
have been too heavy before you had built up that muscle.
The emphasis is not simply on relieving the symptoms of a headache, but on learningstress management, relaxation skills, and guided imagery to prevent headaches.
Detailed Description of Exercises:
Track 1 – Relax Away Your Headache: Before listening, gently
examine your head, neck and shoulders, noting where there is tension,
muscle knots, or sore trigger points. Next, you will be guided into a
comfortable state of relaxation through a number of techniques.
First, there is a deep muscle relaxation procedure for relieving
accumulated muscle tension in the shoulders, neck and scalp. Following a
series of progressive relaxation images, you will receive suggestions
to slowly tense your hand into a fist while imagining the tension in
your hand is superimposed over the tense spot in your head. You will
then be instructed to gradually relax your hand. As it relaxes, it
models the letting go process. The unconscious mind then uses this as a
metaphor, transferring the same process of relaxation to the neck and
scalp muscles.
Track 2 – Evening Relaxation and Clearing: A 7-minute
relaxation experience to use after work or at bedtime. First you will be
guided into a pleasant state of relaxation and your deeper mind
encouraged to release the tensions of the day.
Next it provides imagery for creating self-acceptance and
forgiveness, two qualities frequently associated with the disappearance
of headaches. No need to take extra tensions to bed. Encourages a deep,
restorative night’s sleep. If you still need more relaxation to get to
sleep, consider Easing Into Sleep.
Track 3 -- Greeting a Relaxed, Successful Day: A great way to
begin your day is to listen to this track as soon as you wake up in the
morning, before the challenges and worries of the day have begun.
Designed to help diminish morning tension and depressed feelings, and to
create an attitude of confidence and self-acceptance.
Next, the imagery will guide you into the future, projecting ahead to
events that could potentially be stressful (and thus
headache-producing). By rehearsing the response you want in such
situations, you inoculate yourself against stress. This is called "image
rehearsal," in which the appropriate behavioral responses (and freedom
from head and neck pain) are visualized.
Sometimes things happen quickly, and just in case a headache should
sneak up on you during the day, the pain relieving technique learned in
Track 1 is rehearsed, so it will be available whenever you need it.
Track 4 – Exploring the Roots of Your Headache: (Do not use this part during an actual headache.)
This section is designed to train your system to operate without
headaches. First you will trace the pattern of headaches back through
time, to discover their common triggers, emotions, and behavior
patterns. Next, you will be guided to relax deeply. Then your deeper
mind will review certain stressful situations in your past, especially
those that originally helped train your system to have headaches. You
will pay careful attention to the triggers of your pain: the interaction
with others, mental attitudes, and the emotional and behavioral
reactions and responses that occur. Careful attention is paid to any
“secondary gain” or subconscious purpose the headaches may have served.
These events are now “re-scripted” or “reprogrammed, using a process similar to that used in Dr. Miller's Writing Your Own Script ( SC5202)
. In the “rewritten” script a new, more adaptive pattern of behavior
is visualized – perhaps behavior that is more accepting, more
confident, relaxed and wise. Whatever behavior your newer wiser self
visualizes, it will lead to the reward of not getting a headache.
Some people will simply review their last few headaches, while others
may find that they go back years or even decades to their earliest
headaches. It is common to view a different series of events with each
listening, thus adding to your ability to recognize maladaptive patterns
and change them.
**All
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