Meditation Found To Alleviate Migraine Pain Within One 20 Minute Session

If there is one recommendation I universally recommend to people it is to learn and practice meditation.  So many problems in our lives are caused and/or contributed to by ongoing unresolved emotional and physical tension (i.e. "stress").  Meditation is shown time and time again to be an effective antidote to these issues.

A study published in the pain management nursing journal recently found that even one session of meditation for total beginners can significantly reduce migraine pain.  In this study, researchers recruited 27 migraine sufferers who each had 2-10 migraines each month and who had no experience in meditation.

They were asked to attend a 20 minute meditation session while they were having a migraine.  The particular method used was what is called "loving kindness" meditation or "tong-len" in tibetan.  Tonglen meditation generally involves focusing on the pain of others and taking that onto yourself to alleviate their suffering.  

After the session the participants reported a 33% decrease in pain and a 43% decrease in emotional tension.  This is significant considering the response that many patients get from strong migraine medications which are probably in that general range of effectiveness.  Longer term meditation practice and its role in resolving or managing migraine symptoms would have to be further analyzed, but other long term studies have shown very positive effects on stress levels and neurological functioning.