I have been getting a headache at the very end of my practice, when getting up out of corpse pose. It usually only lasts about 10 minutes. I have noticed that this is usually only after I completed a long inversion prior to corpse. I am assuming that this is related to blood pressure since I am going from head below heart to standing…though I am not sure. Anyone else experience this or know what it might be indicative of?
Thanks 
Hello Kimberly.
Would you outline your practice please - its style, duration, and sequence?
Additionally, information about you would be helpful - age, fitness, activity, health, and level of practice.
Thanks.
gordon
Sure, I take vinyasa flow classes at a local studio and model my home practice closely to what is taught at my studio. Generally my practice is between an hour and an hour and a half and includes several salutations, standing sequences, balancing poses and inversions on an intermediate level. Like I said previously, I recognize that the headaches usually follow practice of inversions, such as headstand. I am 27 and in fairly good physical condition, with no known health ailments. I don’t smoke (anymore!) and I eat red meat only very rarely (pun intended ;)) I am currently practicing 3-5 x weekly after about 10 years of on and off yoga practice. I feel like just an average american yogini! (I am training to be a teacher later this summer so my practice is about to become a lot more intense!)
Thank you Kimberly! That is a model response and both thorough and to the point. It is MUCH appreciated.
If you are having headaches from the practice of asana BOTH at home and in the class then (on the physical level) it could be sequencing, timing, alignment, actions, entry/exit, breath et al. It could also be something unique to you.
I have not taught a Vinyasa practice for five years now and so my experience(s) in the physical body through my personal practice would not fit your scenario.
I can tell you that I typically do not do inversions at the end of an asana practice AND when I do inversions the exit and transition(s) are very mindful, specifically correlated with the breath, and gradual rather than immediate.
So perhaps it would be fruitful for your practice to move inversions earlier in your practice and/or remain in balasana without lifting the head from the floor when exiting (sirsasana) and remain there for several rounds of breath. Then, with the eyes half open and the chin resting on the manubrium, inhale as you come up to vajrasana - where you may release jalandhara bandha on the inhalation. (at this point in my practice I center the mental energy and move it to the heart center before progressing to savasana).
I hope some of this is helpful for you.
I want to bump this because I had an idea in class today that perhaps the rubber bands in my hair could be contributing to the headaches.
I have very thick and very long hair and I have to hold it tightly back behind my crown and then braid the ponytail, otherwise my hair gets everywhere in my face during practice.
Any yoginis experience problems with keeping long hair out of the face? Or issues with headaches from holding your hair back too tightly?
I think the rubber bands could definitely be contributing to the headache, but it’s probably not the source.
I have short hair now, so I don’t tie my hair back at all for yoga, BUT… A couple years ago when my hair was still long, I had to have my hair up in a bun for about 12 hours a day for dance technique classes… By the end of the day, my head would be THROBBING. But again, this was only after having my hair up tightly for a very long time, and I could always tell the difference between headaches caused by hair trouble and headaches coming from a more internal source…
I hope you find out the reason for your headaches very soon!
Hi Guys! I am new to this site and actually came accross it looking for similar solutions for one of my students who has headaches after shavasana at the end of the class.
She has had some back problems before and her day job is a lot to do with sitting across her laptop .
I have tried a lot of modifications in her asanas especially the ones for the back like bhujangasana, even asked her to stop doing dhanurasana but she usually complaints of headaches after the corpse pose.
Already spoken to her about water and hydration. we do yoga at a normal temperature so the heat cannot really be so much of an issue.
I start with quite a few sun salutations, going in to standing poses , going into front lying poses and then we end with the back poses .
Any suggestions would be helpful
Hmmmm it sounds like you are drawing a correlation between back issues and headaches. For me, I’d likely approach them as two different issues, though of course Yoga is holistic by its very nature and so of course the larger picture must be kept in mind.
It can not be repeated too often that the student has to be assessed and that no one answer suits everyone. That having been said, a student who has back issues may have issues (in backbends) with compressing the lumbar spine or with the hip flexors in the front of the body.
The first should be approached by teaching the appropriate actions in backbends to maintain space in the lumbar spine. The second can be addressed in two ways; opening the hip flexors using posture that provides gentle progressive opening (rather than demand it) and by calming that which is aggravated, shortened, in spasm, or wrought with fear (the iliopsoas).
Backbends can be very helpful for lower back issues when a) they are done correctly and b) when they are not done to excess.
Headaches are tricky buggers and I’ve not seen anything conclusive about their origin. Of course a practice that places undue strain on the neck muscles or one that allows the student to compress the cervical spine, or one that does not educate the student in the use of the serratus anterior, can increase the probability for such things as headaches.
And, of course, all physical manifestations are just that. So while we are trying to explore that which will support the student’s well being physically, we are remiss as yoga teachers if we are not sharing the other tools of Yoga - namely pranayama and meditation. I advise my students to stop at onset then go inside to communicate with the subtle bodies in order to find out the message and act accordingly.
The above suggestions are def appreciated. I was wondering if change in breathing pattern can also bring about these headaches ??? the headaches are right in the center of the forehead and come only after shavasana . A few students who had this problem before was more because of the alingment of the neck once that was set right in the asanas there were no more complains about the headaches.
Also these students pratice yoga just once a week so i cannot monitor whats happening the entire week .
The next time they come to class its as good as starting all over again. As they have just done 3 classes with me i have not intoduced pranayams to them yet but i do intruct the breathing patterns during the Asanas.
So I have been trying to modify a few things here and there throughout my practice to try to see if leaving anything out, or extending anything, results in no headache. At the studio I attend, the teachers have the students roll onto their right sides in fetal position for a few breaths, after corpse, before sitting up for the conclusion of class. I always thought my neck felt funny at that angle of laying on my side and having my head leaning down to the floor (with no pillow under it like when I sleep in fetal at night!). So one day in class I decided to not rollover after corpse, I just stayed flat and stretched out and then hugged my knees into my chest, and then sat up with the class. [I]No headache.[/I] Ever since then I have not had any headaches after class or home practice. This certainly may not be the solution for everyone, but it worked for me!!
@ Omkar
Retention of the breath, for some students, can have such results. Headaches in the center of the forehead can be muscular or energetic. So the nature of the Savasana would need to be explored.
Students who only practice once a week? Wow. That is really tough as they slip very far back in the six days in between. It may be helpful to ask them what physical activity they have the other six days of their lives. It is also an opportunity to share other elements of yoga with them - lifestyle, nutrition, etcetera, wherever you can get it in and within the training you have had.
@ AbdhijaKimberly
Oh that’s great. So I’d wonder now about rolling to the right AND using the upper right arm as pillow. I’d likely not amend my classes to have students roll right up from Savasana as I feel it places strain on the neck and shocks the CNS in transition from parasympathetic to sympathetic. But if it’s working for you, rock on!
Nice solution…
When I started getting headaches after doing yoga it was an energetic thing. My instruct told me I needed to do neck lock. It worked, but sounds like you did just fine on your own.
Thanks guys ! I will try getting out more from information in the limited time i have with this student.I will intruct the breathing carefully again and might also try for this particular student to not roll up on the side and come up straight from shavasana.