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| Ayurveda &
Headaches |
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How can
Ayurveda Retreat help with Headaches?
 Chronic conditions like headaches are usually caused by a variety of imbalances that have become deeply embedded in the physiology over years. True healing of these conditions require a comprehensive approach, using several healing modalities.
The Ayurveda Retreat headache program is conducted under the supervision of our Ayurvedic Consultant and draws on knowledge from Ayurveda, the world's oldest and most complete system of natural health.
Through its unique assessment of causal imbalances at the basis
of a condition and its wide range of time-tested recommendations,
Ayurveda provides the most
Modern medicine classifies headaches as either a primary disorder, as in migraine, cluster and tension headaches, or a secondary disorder where the headache is caused by other diseases. The Ayurveda Retreat program addresses the primary disorders of migraine, cluster and tension headaches.
There is a general agreement as to what physiological changes in the brain create headache pain. In every case there must be some stimulation of the pain sensitive structures in the head. Stimulation of these pain centres is usually created by a dilation or constriction of blood vessel walls that aggravate nerve endings in the pain sensitive areas. It is less clear to modern medicine as to why certain stimuli like oestrogen fluctuation, barometric pressure change, insomnia and hunger trigger migraines and other primary headaches.
Ayurveda can often provide individuals with a new perspective on what is causing their headaches through its unique and subtle diagnostic techniques. Our Ayurvedic Consultant will perform an initial evaluation by determining which functioning modes have become imbalanced. Ayurveda describes how it is these imbalances in the inner intelligence of the body that prevent the natural self-repair processes from removing the physical sources of migraine and headache.
Our Ayurvedic Consultant will also assess the contribution that mental stress and build-up of toxins may be having on your headaches. This evaluation aims to determine the root causes of vascular fluctuations in the brain and the resulting experience of headache pain.
After the evaluation of balance and imbalance our Ayurvedic Consultant will provide you with natural therapeutic approaches to stabilise the nervous system, reduce stress and help cleanse the body of toxins.
This natural approach to truly heal the body differs markedly from modern medical treatment that is primarily drug based. Modern medicine uses different sets of drugs to:
1. Help prevent headaches from occurring
2. Stop them once they have occurred
3. Reduce the pain of ongoing headache.
The problems with these drug-based approaches is that they are not all completely effective at removing headache pain; many can have some side-effects and few if any permanently remove the primary physiological imbalances that predispose individuals to headaches in the first place.
The nervous system mechanism at the basis of headaches
The vascular changes in the brain at the basis of headache pain are often created by nervous system instability. Excessive vascular wall dilation and constriction occurs due to an inappropriate response from the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Ultimately it is the imbalanced performance of these divisions of the nervous system that creates the experience of headache pain.
Restoring stability and balance to nervous system functioning
The Ayurveda Retreat program provides the following natural
approaches to restore balance to nervous system activity.
1) Balancing the functioning mode in the body that controls nervous system activity
Ayurveda calls the principle of biological intelligence that controls nervous system and brain activity Vata. By diagnosing the extent and location of Vata imbalance within the body the Ayurvedic Consultant is able to target a variety of natural recommendations to the root imbalances in Vata and nervous system function. Because Vata is the most commonly disturbed principle within the body there is a great wealth of recommendations within Ayurvedic medicine to restore Vata's proper functioning.
2) Use of diet to prevent Vata imbalance
Certain foods increase the activity of Vata and others decrease Vata activity. Our Ayurvedic Consultant will provide you with recommendations as to which foods and food groups balance Vata and which disturb it. By eating Vata balancing foods and avoiding Vata aggravating foods individuals can gain a powerful dietary approach to reducing imbalances at the basis of headache symptoms.
3) Cleansing the body of toxins and impurities
Toxin accumulation in brain tissue can aggravate and sensitise those tissues to pain. Impurities can also block channels of circulation and elimination which prevent nutrients from nourishing nerve tissues and waste from being eliminated. Our Ayurvedic Consultant will provide natural recommendations to remove and help prevent toxin accumulation from:
1. Hard-to-digest foods
2. Poor digestion
3. Poor elimination
4. Improper metabolism
5. Mental and physical stress
4) Decreasing Vata and eliminating toxins
Rejuvenation therapy is the foundation of the program at Ayurveda Retreat. It contains the most powerful treatments in Ayurveda for removing the imbalances at the basis of migraine and headaches. During your program you will receive a combination of Ayurvedic massage, herbalised oil application, heat treatments and herbal enema. This multi-modality cleansing approach works by:
1. Loosening impurities from where they have been deeply embedded in tissues.
2. Liquefying the impurities so they may be more easily eliminated.
3. Opening the channels of circulation thereby supporting natural cleansing processes.The goal of rejuvenation therapy is to draw out of tissues the chemical impurities that are imbalancing Vata and clogging circulation.
5) Use of herbalised oil massage
Herbalised oil massage is especially helpful in balancing Vata and eliminating impurities. The motion of massage creates heat and friction which enhance circulation and help cleanse the areas of chemical impurities that imbalance Vata.
Our Ayurvedic Consultant will choose a specific herbalised massage oil that is individually prepared for your condition. For headache, the various herbs that have been boiled into a base oil, and the oil itself, are specifically chosen for their Vata balancing and cleansing influence. The oil allows the herbs to deeply penetrate the tissue beds, thereby balancing the nerve and other tissues throughout the physiology. The oil and herbs cleanse and nourish the tissues so that tissue development and repair is hastened.
6) Stress Management
Many individuals experience that headaches are often worsened by heightened stress, anxiety and mental fatigue. This may be due to hormonal changes and other biochemical responses to stress that can aggravate the nervous system, create pain and depress resistance. Also, headache symptoms can disturb sleep thereby increasing fatigue, making one susceptible to stress and aggravating headaches. There are published articles on the effectiveness of meditation for both pain relief and insomnia.
You have the option of learning how to meditate. Meditation
has a wealth of scientific research verifying its effect on
reducing many of the mental and stress factors influencing headaches.
Research also shows it creates virtually the opposite physiological
response that stress does and helps the body recover more quickly
from stressful stimuli.
7) Proper Lifestyle and Daily Routine
One of the most important factors for balancing Vata and keeping the natural cleansing processes strong is to have a lifestyle that does not disturb natural bodily rhythms. When we eat, sleep and exercise in constantly fluctuating and disturbing patterns, the body loses its natural balancing cycles and cannot cleanse or heal itself as effectively. Therefore, regularity in our daily routine can be extremely important for reducing headache symptoms.
Our Ayurvedic Consultant will review your daily routine and
provide the information you need to help create a daily schedule
that will actually increase balance in your nervous system and
aid in healing your body, and headaches.
8) Ayurvedic Herbs and Reduction in Free Radicals
Our Ayurvedic Consultant will select the appropriate herbal formulas for aiding the healing process, strengthening digestion and helping the body purify itself of free radicals.
Free radicals are highly irritating to the physiology and their presence creates and worsens many disorders, including headaches. When appropriate, our Ayurvedic Consultant can recommend herbs that research has shown contain powerful anti-oxidants and free radical scavengers. These herbs also have a holistic influence of balancing and nourishing the entire physiology.
9) Exercise and Flexibility Education
Ayurveda considers proper stretching and flexibility exercises to have a very positive effect on the body's healing response, stress management and the treatment of many chronic conditions. We offer Yoga classes and teach you a simple but profound set of postures that can be practiced daily to create a healthy flexibility throughout the body. We also instruct you in individualised Yoga breathing practices that create a state of restful alertness in mind and body.
Summary
Ayurveda can help with the prevention and treatment of headaches.
The Ayurveda Retreat program provides the most comprehensive
approach in natural health to remove the imbalances at the basis
of migraine, tension and cluster headache pain. |
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Opening hours : Monday – Friday 9.00am – 8.00pm | Saturday 9.00am – 6.00pm | Sunday 10.30am – 4.30pm.
32 Friar Street, Reading, RG1 1DX, England. Email: info@ayurveda-retreat.co.uk |
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