kicker naturally headache free
By Kelsie Kenefick
Happy Thoughts
You can begin to control headache pain by reining in your negative thinking.
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Why does my head always hurt?”“ Oh no, do I feel another headache coming on? I can’ t miss another day of work.”“ I hate my body.” When migraine and headache sufferers feel an attack coming on, negative thoughts like these are a common( and understandable) refrain. But did you know they could also be contributing to your pain?
You might be asking yourself,“ What does my thinking have to do with my headaches?” The answer is: a lot. Any thought that causes you stress contributes to headaches through a number of physiological changes. That’ s because every thought you have creates both a chemical change in the body and an electrical change in your nervous system. In other words, your thoughts are very powerful.
Make Your Own Positive Affirmations
Follow these five simple guidelines for writing your own positive affirmations.
1Always state your affirmations in the present tense. For example,“ I will relax next month after my taxes are done,” is a poor affirmation. It is better to say,“ I choose to relax now.”
2Keep your affirmations short. Your subconscious mind will hear them better.
3Don’ t focus on the negative. For example, replace,“ I am not a cigarette smoker,” with,“ I put only healthy things into my body.”
4Make your statements believable. If there is no part of you that believes the affirmation, it won’ t be effective. For example, if your stressful thought is,“ I will never get rid of these migraines,” don’ t replace it with,“ I don’ t have migraines.” If it is not true, it simply will not work. A better affirmation is,“ I am now in the process of controlling my migraines.”
Tara Moore / Stone / Getty Images
5Be specific.“ My life is getting better,” is a poor affirmation because“ better” is a vague word. Try,“ My body is healthier and stronger with each passing day.”
44 HEAD WISE | Volume 1, Issue 3 • 2011