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A simple tension-relieving technique, originally developed at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, may provide swift relief for most tension headaches, and also for some migraines—usually within a few minutes.

Stand erect with feet slightly apart and continue to breathe normally throughout the exercise. Begin by clenching both fists and tensing both arms and hands from the shoulders down. Hold tightly for six seconds. Then release.

Without waiting, tense both legs and feet, including the buttocks. Curl the toes if you can. Hold the tension tightly for six seconds. Then release.

In the same way, tense and release the abdomen muscles … the chest muscles … and the shoulder and neck muscles. Then screw the face up tightly, press the tongue against the teeth, tense for six seconds, and release.

Now, beginning once more with the arms and ending with the face, repeat the entire process twice more. Finally, do several neck rolls. Shrug the shoulders several times and roll them around. Raise the neck up and push the shoulders down. Then relax. Without holding the breath or stopping at any point, take ten long, deep continuous breaths. Each rime you exhale, visualize the pain leaving your head.

if you prefer, you can do the exercise lying down. Although the whole thing usually takes less than three minutes, you can speed it up by tensing every muscle in the body and face at the same time. Hold it for six seconds, then release. Repeat three times before doing the neck rolls and deep breathing.

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All she had to do, Arlene found, was to stand up with feet about twenty inches apart and rub her hands together until the palms were warm. Then, using her warm palms. she was to lightly stroke her face from brow to chin 30 times in the same direction.

Next, still standing, she was to partially close her eyes, look down at her feet, and continue to hold this stance throughout the exercise. Following this, she was to extend her arms out in front at waist level with fingers touching. Then she was instructed to swing her arms back behind her until her fingers touched, and then to swing her arms out in front again. She was to do 100 of these arm swings. Throughout, she must keep her awareness focused on her toes and not allow her thoughts to wander.

Before the count of 100, Arlene realized that the awful pain in her head had completely disappeared. Since then, for more than a year, she has practiced Li-Shou every morning before breakfast—and she has not had a single headache.

Li-Shou, which means “hand swinging” in Chinese, is highly effective because swinging the arms shunts blood away from dilated arteries in the head and into the arms. Simultaneously, the exercise releases endorphins in the brain that also help to relieve pain.

As additional blood is drawn from the head into the hands and arms, the arteries dilate and the hands and arms become warmer. This is the same effect as that achieved through biofeedback. By keeping the awareness on the toes, this condition is then transferred to the feet, which also become warmer.

After practicing Li-Shou for two or three weeks, arteries in both hands and feet remain dilated throughout the day. By redirecting the blood flow away from the head, the Li-Shou method makes further headaches almost impossible.

Li-Shou works well for both tension and migraine headaches, both as a prophylactic and to abort a headache which has already occurred. As. ^.prophylactic, it should be practiced once a day. When stroking the face, avoid touching the eyes. Simply stroke the flat of the face lightly with your palms. Don’t rub or press hard on the face. Naturally, if you have any ill effects from the exercise, you should stop at once.

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Anyone prone to migraine should also studiously avoid exposure to MSG, monosodium glutamate. This popular flavor enhancer can also provoke a headache in people not prone to migraine. It is liberally used by cooks in Chinese restaurants. If you must eat in these restaurants, try to avoid beginning the meal with wonton soup, a small bowl of which typically contains 2.5 grams of MSG. Endeavor instead to eat some bread first, or any other food free of MSG, so that you do not consume the MSG-laden course on an empty stomach. Another food that may be high in MSG is hydrolized vegetable protein. Many Chinese restaurants will now serve food without MSG if you ask; it’s a good idea to do so.

An MSG headache is actually caused by free glutamic acid which stimulates taste receptors on the tongue. The headache begins 20 to 30 minutes after eating MSG and is experienced as an ache or throbbing pain over the temples, in the forehead area, and also in the cheeks and jaw. It is sometimes accompanied by a burning sensation in the chest and upper torso. In non-migraineurs, it usually disappears within an hour.

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Positive emotions are recognized as friendly, which is a signal for the glands to turn on the body’s relaxation response. This is a calm, relaxed state of serenity and peace. The parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system takes over and maintains routine metabolism. Muscular tension melts away and negative thoughts and feelings disappear. The heart rate drops, blood pressure falls, respiration slows, oxygen consumption is reduced and immunocompetence soars.

As we enter the relaxed alpha state, brainwave frequency drops to 8 to 13 cycles per second. We feel comfortable and relaxed and we experience a delightful state of ease and wellness in which headaches are rarely experienced.

By contrast, the hypothalamus and pituitary glands recognize all negative emotions as threatening or unfriendly. Whenever confronted with a negative feeling, even a mildly negative feeling like boredom or uncertainty, these twin glands turn on all or part of the body’s fight-or-flight response.

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With all these options available, the drugless treatments you choose will be those that seem most appropriate for you and for your particular type of headache. To play an active role in your own recovery from headaches—or any other dysfunction—you must know how to act and what to do. Thus the first step in practicing holistic healing is to acquire this know-how.

We also very strongly urge that, as part of your holistic healing program, you include Anti-Headache Technique #17, Liberate Yourself from Headaches With Cognitive Positivism. For this is the only modality that can actually help rid us of the underlying cause of headaches.

For instance, to relieve and banish chronic tension headache, you might choose these anti-headache techniques:

7-A, A Simple Stretching Technique.

12, Temperature Therapy for Speedy Relief.

14, Deep Relaxation With Muscle Tensing.

When these techniques, incorporating the physical and relaxation approaches, and Technique #17, they offer a truly holistic approach.

To relieve and eventually banish chronic migraine, you might choose to employ these anti-headache techniques:

5, Headache Freedom Through Tryptophan Loading

6, Herbal Relief for Migraine Pain.

14 & 15, Deep Relaxation and Biofeedback. These techniques use the nutritional, herbal and relaxation approaches.

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