While occasionally getting a headache during meditation can be annoying, ultimately it’s nothing to be concerned about. However, if you are getting consistent painful headaches, that’s not normal and you need to change something about the way you are meditating.
Headaches are a buildup of unusual pressure in your head and can be brought about because of several different things that you are doing.
These include: shifting mental, emotional, and physical energy patterns; poor posture; moving too abruptly after a sustained period of stillness; you are trying too hard; excessive eye strain while focusing; and even dehydration, low blood sugar, and toxin release.
Let’s examine each cause in more detail to help you identify and fix the reasons why you get a headache when you meditate.
Why Do You Get A Headache When You Meditate?
Energy Movements In Your Body Will Cause You To Experience Different Sensations.
Many people meditate for the relief they achieve that sitting in silence brings. When practiced properly, meditation promotes overall well-being by realigning your mental, emotional, and physical energies. And this process of change will at times cause uncomfortable sensations in your body, including headaches.
Change is something to be expected when meditating and normally happens with subtle shifts in your energies. It is a beneficial and ongoing process that cleanses your body, mind, and emotional energies of stress and weaknesses. The subtle changes happen to tune up your chakras or meridians (energy centers located throughout your body.)
However, at times, you may experience a larger energy shift than your body is prepared for. And this is when you may experience a buildup of pressure (energy) in your head, which you experience as a headache.
This type of issue doesn’t normally happen regularly because your body soon adjusts to the new energy patterns as you continue to meditate. So, if you think this is the cause of your headaches, don’t worry about it. Just continue with your practice knowing that your intelligent body is ‘sorting itself out.’
Poor Posture Creates Stress in Different Parts of Your Body
A great meditation session is made easier when you are comfortable. However, for beginners, it’s often challenging to find a position that they can maintain comfortably for ten to twenty minutes at a time. Not everyone can comfortably sit cross-legged on a hard floor…
This often means that your attention is going to be distracted by the sensations of discomfort you are feeling in your body. And headaches can occur as a result of straining to keep your back straight and tensing your neck and shoulder muscles.
The remedy to these types of headaches is to bring your attention to your body while you are meditating. By doing so, you will notice when you are tense and you can ‘gently allow’ the tension to dissolve away.
If you find that the stress does not leave your body, then you can gently adjust your position so you feel more comfortable again. With continued practice, you will find that you can maintain your chosen posture for longer without having to move.
Not Allowing Sufficient Time for Your Energy to ‘Re-Balance’ After Meditation
Meditation is a life-changing process. And if you are really into your practice, you will not want to get up and get busy too quickly after a good session. Why?…..
…. because, if you had a deep session, your energy will not be focused on your ‘normal’ waking life. Instead, it will be ‘elsewhere’…. more than likely, healing many different aspects of your psyche. This healing is most often the release of mental, emotional, and physical stress.
And if the processes your soul is going through are not yet complete, you will experience discomfort or pain (maybe even a headache) when you bring your focus back to your work, kids, problems, etc. too quickly.
The energy you shifted during meditation needs a little time to re-adjust for you to continue with your ‘normal life.’
So, when you recognize that your meditation session is over, allow at least a couple of minutes, preferably five or more, to transition back into the ‘real’ world. And this will be enough to allow any residual stress to dissipate allowing you to get up feeling relaxed and refreshed.
This Transition Can Take Many Forms Including: 
– You may just continue to sit quietly and contemplate how you are feeling.
– Doing some slow and gentle stretching (no quick or large movements) will help you get the blood and therefore oxygen back into all areas of your body.
– Get up slowly and go for a walk in nature if possible. Go to the balcony and breathe in the fresh air, walk on the grass with bare feet….. or just focus on your breath, mindfully, while walking around in the room where you meditated.
You Are Trying Too Hard To ‘Meditate!’
Meditation is a passive activity, not an active one. And this means that if you are ‘trying to meditate,’ you are not meditating properly. And this is a common issue that many beginners face as they are trying to learn how to meditate.
You may be trying too hard to focus on an object, a mantra, or on your breath while trying to block all other thoughts. And in doing so, you are putting pressure on yourself to experience certain outcomes (including relaxation) and therefore tensing your mind instead of relaxing it.
Any of these processes, including focusing on your thoughts or trying not to think, are activating your brain. Therefore, the blood and energy flow to your head will increase because that is where your attention is directed. And this may result in a headache.
The remedy to this is to just allow your thoughts to flow with ease, without judgment…. To just be aware of them without having an objective in mind….. to just allow things to be as they are….
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You Are Straining your Eyes While Trying to Focus
While meditating with awareness on your gaze, either with eyes open or closed and directed up to your third eye, you may be straining your eye and facial muscles. And this can be the cause of your headaches.
If you are intent on continuing to ‘gaze’ during your meditations, just relax a little more, or try focusing your attention down slightly…. And again, be more relaxed about it. You could even shift your focus to ‘body awareness’ to diffuse the energy throughout your body instead of concentrating it in your third eye region.
It takes a little time for your body to become accustomed to doing new things, and this is why, initially meditation is hard for many beginners. However, with practice, your physical, mental, and emotional bodies will learn what you expect from them and adapt accordingly.
So, don’t give up… instead, just take a relaxed approach to your practice, and your magnificent body will adapt and come to enjoy the time you spend in meditation.
Dehydration, Low Blood Sugar, or Toxin Being Released
– Dehydration can lead to headaches and migraines. And if you are doing intense breath-focused meditations, your body is going to heat up and extra water. Therefore, making sure you have had sufficient water before you meditate is important.
– If you are diabetic or suffer from low blood sugar, you may experience a headache while meditating. Relaxed sitting for an extended period will cause your blood pressure to drop, so if you already have a preexisting condition, it may become a little worse.
Therefore, in this situation, the simple solution is to make sure you have a small snack before meditating.
– Meditation is a process of cleaning out old energies, physically, mentally, and emotionally. And this means that sometimes your body will release toxins along with stress. And once in the bloodstream, these toxins could end up in your head and cause a headache.
This is a good thing (even though the resulting headache sucks) as you are detoxifying your system and allowing for more energy to flow through your being. It’s a necessary part of personal growth and development…. And if the toxins don’t come out here, you will need to find another way to get rid of them.
So, enjoy the process as much as you can, knowing that it is for your long-term benefit.
What’s The Common Theme Here?
Getting the occasional headache while meditating is not something that you need to be concerned about. In fact, it’s just a normal part of the spiritual growth journey for many people.
Headaches are energy that has accumulated in the head and once you find a way of releasing that pent-up energy, they will naturally diffuse and with time stop occurring, (although, you may begin doing other stuff that may cause a headache for a different reason!)
Unlocking any energy that has been dormant or trapped by stress is going to be noticeable as uncomfortable sensations in your body or emotions…. Just knowing that it is part of the process of transforming you into a better more aware person should be enough to help you accept this part of your journey.
To help minimize the chance of getting a headache, you can properly prepare yourself before you meditate by getting comfortable, being hydrated, doing some relaxing exercises, and just chilling out… be gentle with yourself and don’t have any expectations….
Have a great day!
