Headaches?

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  • Seiko
    Novice Priest-in-Training
    • Jul 2020
    • 1125
    #1

    Headaches?

    A friend who has begun meditating with me is developing intense headaches during a 20 minutes session of zazen. I can see in her eyes/face that the headache is real and develops during zazen. This is new to me as it's outside of my own experience in 40 years of zazen.

    Can anyone please help me - to (ideally) assist her to not get these headaches - but also what encouraging advice to give, to help her stick to her practice and not give up?

    Thank you

    Gasshō
    Seiko
    stlah
    Gandō Seiko
    頑道清光
    (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

    My street name is 'Al'.

    Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.
    Tags: None
    • Nengei
      Member
      • Dec 2016
      • 1658
      #2
      She needs to see a physician about this. It is probably positional. Posture in zazen affects the bones and muscles of the whole body, especially the pelvis, spine, and cranium. In the meantime, she could try sitting in a chair.

      Gassho,
      Nengei
      Sat today. LAH.
      遜道念芸 Sondō Nengei (he/him)

      Please excuse any indication that I am trying to teach anything. I am a priest in training and have no qualifications or credentials to teach Zen practice or the Dharma.

        Comment

        • Jundo
          Treeleaf Founder and Priest
          • Apr 2006
          • 40963
          #3
          Yes, she should stop meditating until she sees a physician and gets this checked.

          It is usually said that meditation, because it reduces stress, also reduces the triggers for headache. However, there are infrequent reports otherwise.

          Is she doing something unnatural during the sitting that you are not aware of, for example, breathing strangely or concentrating too intently, or focusing the eyes on an object too intently or the like? Nengei's posture suggestion could be a trigger too. Vision should be normal (I compare it to driving a car, seeing the road, everything and nothing too in particular, relaxed.)

          It could also be related somehow to a change in blood pressure while sitting. Are the headaches appearing elsewhere in her life, with other triggers?

          Online, I am finding that reports of this seem usually associated with more intense forms of concentration meditation, not Shikantaza. However, much of the advice online ... about moving Chakra energy about and such ... I consider unreliable and doubtful. She should check with a doctor and, perhaps, also check and soften intensity how she is sitting Zazen. Shikantaza, as a low intensity/light concentration kind of sitting, should rarely trigger something like this, in my experience.

          However, we are not doctors, so she should see one, and only return to Zazen with a doctor's okay.

          Keep us posted.

          Gassho, Jundo
          Last edited by Jundo; 10-06-2023, 10:25 PM.
          ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

            Comment

            • Seiko
              Novice Priest-in-Training
              • Jul 2020
              • 1125
              #4
              Originally posted by Jundo
              Keep us posted.

              Originally posted by Nengei
              It is probably positional.


              Jundo / Nengei,
              Thank you for your advice. I have spoken to her, she says she does get the same headache when concentrating on studies for a time. She is exploring whether she may be trying to hard, thinking to hard, and will try to allow herself to relax into zazen.

              Gasshō
              Seiko
              stlah
              Last edited by Seiko; 10-18-2023, 12:19 PM.
              Gandō Seiko
              頑道清光
              (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

              My street name is 'Al'.

              Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

                Comment

                • Seiko
                  Novice Priest-in-Training
                  • Jul 2020
                  • 1125
                  #5
                  Originally posted by Jundo
                  Keep us posted.
                  It seems that the headaches were caused by the way she was focusing her eyes. Solved by adjusting distance from wall, remembering to keep eyes open during zazen, not focusing in a way that causes the eyes to roll back, relaxing a little.

                  Gasshō
                  Seiko
                  stlah
                  Gandō Seiko
                  頑道清光
                  (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

                  My street name is 'Al'.

                  Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

                    Comment

                    • Jundo
                      Treeleaf Founder and Priest
                      • Apr 2006
                      • 40963
                      #6
                      Originally posted by Seiko
                      It seems that the headaches were caused by the way she was focusing her eyes. Solved by adjusting distance from wall, remembering to keep eyes open during zazen, not focusing in a way that causes the eyes to roll back, relaxing a little.

                      Gasshō
                      Seiko
                      stlah
                      Yes, we don't sit while doing this either while sitting ...

                      I am glad that she feels better.

                      Gassho, J

                      stlah
                      ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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