Natural Pain Relief: Managing Migraines Through Breath & Movement

When you live with migraines, you know they are so much more than just a headache. They can cloud your mood, drain your energy, and pause your life for hours or even days. If you’ve experienced the intense throbbing, the sensitivity to light, or the exhaustion that follows, you aren’t alone.

While migraines can feel overwhelming, gentle tools like mindful breathing and movement can make a significant difference. Recent research shows that these simple practices don’t just help you cope, they can actually change how your body responds to pain.

Understanding Why Migraines Happen?

Migraines are complex. For many, they are tied to hormonal shifts, such as changes in estrogen during a monthly cycle. For others, they are sparked by triggers like stress, lack of sleep, bright lights, or even specific foods.

Whilst we can’t always control these triggers, we can control how we support our nervous system.

How to Naturally Ease Migraine Attacks

If you do suffer from migraine attacks, there are two science backed ways you can support yourselves in a natural and effective way.  Here’s how:

1. Movement, Breath & Eye Exercises

   The first study followed women who combined gentle movement (such as walking) with simple eye exercises and slow, deep diaphragmatic breathing. The results were encouraging in that they experienced fewer migraines, and when migraines did occur, they were shorter and less intense. Participants also reported improved sleep and a reduced reliance on pain medication.

   This study showed that you don’t need extreme interventions to see results.  All that is needed is subtle, consistent eye or body movements paired with mindful diaphragmatic breathing to help retrain the nervous system to settle more quickly, reducing both the intensity and impact of migraine attacks. 
   
   

2. The Power of Mindfulness

   Mindfulness practices such as relaxation techniques, breath-led movements and conscious breathing, can reduce the fear and frustration that often comes with a migraine attack.  These practices may not reduce the amount of attacks you have, but they can dramatically change how you experience them. 

   This was shown in the second study, where women reported that after implementing mindfulness practices, they felt less disabled by their migraines, recovered more quickly, and reported lower levels of anxiety and depression. 

So one way to think of how mindfulness impacts migraines is that it doesn’t always erase the pain, but it takes away its megaphone. It softens the impact, lowers the volume on the stress response that usually prolongs the reaction and makes the pain feel better.

Your Daily Practice: Simple Steps to Calm

Below we set out simple steps you can start using today to support your body. Try practising these everyday to build a foundation of calm.

Mentally scan your body: Check your body on those small shifts that you will recognise as the onset of a migraine. When these signs show do the following:

• Gentle Movement: Take a short gentle walk, upon returning; 
• Do these eye exercises: Sit comfortably, back straight, shoulders down back and away from your ears, do the following:

1. 1. Look up → center → down → center (10 times).
   2. Look left → center → right → center (10 times ).
   3. Move slowly and gently; avoid any straining or sudden jerks.

• Box Breathing: Sit tall, relax your jaw, and close your eyes.

1. 1. Inhale through your nose for a count of 4
   2. Hold your breath for a count of 4
   3. Exhale through your nose for a count of 4
   4. Wait for a count of 4 (repeat for four rounds)