Migraine Relief: What Geeta Iyengar Advised For A Migraine

A migraine is coming on. What do you actually do with your body in the next hour? Geeta Iyengar was asked exactly that, by a student in Australia, and her answer was surprisingly simple: bend forward, rest the forehead, and keep the belly soft.

Migraine relief: what Geeta Iyengar advised

For migraine relief on the day, Geeta S Iyengar’s advice was to bend forward with the forehead resting on a support, at the height where the neck lets go, with the belly soft and the throat quiet. No backbends and no hard muscular effort while the head hurts. Between attacks, regular yoga for migraine is about calming the whole nervous system, and trials of yoga have found fewer, shorter and milder migraines.

This page goes deeper on her answers than our main headaches and migraine guide.

The bottom line: five key moves on a migraine day

1. Bend forward and rest the forehead on a bench, a chair seat or an extra bolster.
2. Find the height where the neck softens. Too low can make the headache worse.
3. Keep the belly soft. Nothing pressing on the navel; bend a leg out to the side if you need room.
4. Leave backbends and strong effort for another day.
5. Start now. New to Flametree, or away 3 months or more? 2 free classes, then 10 at half price, in Darwin or LIVE online.

Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It’s the style we teach at Flametree. This page is part of our encyclopaedia of yoga for health conditions.

Where does this advice come from?

In short: a long question and answer session Geeta Iyengar gave in Australia in 2009.

Geeta S Iyengar was Mr BKS Iyengar’s daughter, one of the great teachers of his method, and a doctor of Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine). At the Iyengar Yoga Australia retreat in 2009 she spent more than two hours answering questions from teachers and students about practising with health problems. The recording is in the Iyengar Yoga Australia video library for members.

About five minutes of it deal with migraine and headache. Everything below is our summary, in our own words, of what she said there. She was describing how she worked in her own therapy classes in Pune, India, where the student’s report of what feels better guides the teacher.

What should you do during a migraine attack?

In short: bend forward, and give the forehead something to rest on.

Geeta’s first answer was always the same. During a migraine or headache, bend forward and rest the forehead on a support. A bench, a chair seat or an extra bolster all work.

She also linked these forehead-resting poses with the ones she used for asthma-type breathing problems. In both, the first thing the person feels is a sense of relaxation. Once the brain stops working to hold the head up, it can begin to quieten.

How high should your head be?

High enough that the neck relaxes. This was her most practical point.

If the head is taken too low, she said, the headache increases. So the person with the migraine has to find the height at which the head gives relief. Try one more fold of blanket, or one less. Then notice what the neck does.

In her therapy classes the teacher asks one question: at this height, can your neck relax? That is the test. A fancy shape that leaves the neck gripping is the wrong shape for today.

Why keep the belly soft during a migraine?

In short: Geeta saw a link between migraine and a tired, tight abdomen.

She described how, for many people with headaches, the abdomen feels weak and unable to stretch. So she supported it, sometimes with a folded blanket, while the head rested at an angle. Her words were plain: “the abdomen has to remain soft.”

Anything that presses on the navel or the belly, she said, makes the pain worse. So when a straight-legged forward bend squashes the belly, change the shape. In Head To Knee Pose (Janu Sirsasana), take the bent leg out at a wider angle instead of keeping it close. The belly is freer, and in her experience the pain eases sooner.

What about the neck and throat?

In short: no pressure on the neck, and the throat passive.

Geeta asked that the person with a migraine work out which head position feels most comfortable. There should be no pressure on the cervical spine (the neck bones). The throat and neck stay passive, meaning nothing is held or pushed.

This matches what Mr Iyengar taught about headaches in general: support the head, rest the eyes, keep the head cool. Our tension headache guide covers the neck and jaw side in more detail.

Which yoga poses should you avoid with a migraine?

In short: backbends and hard muscular work, during an attack.

• No backbends while it hurts. Geeta said backbends make a migraine worse.
• No hard effort. Do not exert muscularly, she said, because migraine is tied up with the autonomic nervous system (the automatic system that runs your heart, gut and stress response).
• Upside-down poses wait for a teacher. Dr J. T. Shah, a medical doctor who was also an Iyengar yoga teacher, who worked closely with Mr BKS Iyengar for many years, lists inverted poses for migraine in his book Therapeutic Yoga (p. xix). He also lists who should avoid them: people with high blood pressure, glaucoma, a detached retina, high short-sightedness, discharging ears or neck arthritis (p. xiii). So inversions are learnt in class, between attacks, never on a bad day.

When attacks are frequent, Geeta’s answer was forward bends, done with understanding, as a regular part of practice. That is steady work between attacks, not only a rescue on the day.

What causes migraines?

In short: medicine is still working it out, but stress and the nervous system play a big part.

Geeta tied migraine to the autonomic nervous system, the part that runs without our choosing. She also tied it, in the same session, to the mind’s background of tension. Asked about stress more generally, she said the point is to find the cause behind the tension, not only to soothe it. Her image for letting go was to “surrender your brain to your own feet”.

Dr Shah groups migraine with insomnia and poor concentration as conditions of the brain and nerves (p. xix). For them he lists inverted poses, stress-reducing poses, Corpse Pose (Savasana) and alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana), done without holding the breath.

How long do migraines last?

Usually from about 4 hours to 3 days, if nothing is done. That is how the International Classification of Headache Disorders defines a migraine attack.

That is a long time to wait it out. It is why Geeta’s simple forehead-rest set-up matters: it gives you something useful to do with your body during those hours, at home, with a chair and a few blankets once your teacher has shown you how.

What does the research say about yoga for migraine?

In short: the newer review of migraine trials found clear benefits; an earlier review that mixed headache types did not, for migraine. According to PubMed:

• Yoga reduced migraine pain, how often migraines came and how long they lasted, and improved two disability scores (HIT-6 and MIDAS). Long and colleagues, 2022, a meta-analysis of 6 randomised trials in people with migraine. The authors note the trials differed from each other. Read the study (PMID 35660369).
• Yoga cut how often headaches came, how long they lasted and how much they hurt, mainly in tension-type headache. For migraine alone this earlier review found no significant effect. Anheyer and colleagues, 2020, a meta-analysis of randomised trials (5 trials for headache frequency). Read the study (PMID 31667736).

The two reviews disagree on migraine, and we would rather say so. Newer trials since then, including a large trial of yoga added to migraine medicine, are listed in our headaches and migraine guide. Most of these trials tested yoga of many styles. No trial has yet tested Geeta Iyengar’s forehead-rest approach as she taught it. Not yet studied is not the same as not working. Read why the difference between yoga and Iyengar yoga matters.

How does a Flametree class use this?

Tell your teacher if a migraine is coming on, and the class changes for you. Instead of the standing poses or backbends the rest of the room is doing, you get a chair, a bolster and a forehead rest, at the height that suits your neck that day.

Between attacks, steady classes several times a week build the calm that Geeta was talking about. Our teachers in Darwin and LIVE online also show you how to set up the forehead rest at home. Chris’s post on the Iyengar yoga head wrap for migraine shows one of the props many students use.

New to Flametree, or away 3 months or more? Get 2 free classes, then 10 at half price. Done yoga before? Try the non-beginner starter deal, or reserve a class.

Migraine relief and yoga: questions people ask

Can yoga help a migraine?

Yes. A 2022 review of 6 randomised trials found yoga reduced migraine pain, frequency and duration. On the day of an attack, Geeta Iyengar advised supported forward bends with the forehead resting, to quieten the nervous system.

How do you get rid of a migraine with yoga?

Geeta Iyengar did not promise to make a migraine vanish. Her advice for relief was to bend forward with the forehead resting on a bench, chair or bolster, at a height where the neck relaxes, keeping the belly soft and avoiding any strain.

Which yoga poses should I avoid with a migraine?

During an attack, Geeta Iyengar said to avoid backbends, which make a migraine worse, and any hard muscular effort. Upside-down poses are learnt with a teacher between attacks, and some people should avoid them altogether.

How high should my head be in a forward bend?

High enough that your neck relaxes. Geeta Iyengar warned that taking the head too low can make the headache worse. Add or take away a folded blanket until the neck lets go.

Why keep the belly soft during a migraine?

Geeta Iyengar linked migraine with a tired, tight abdomen and said pressure on the navel worsens the pain. In Head To Knee Pose she had the bent leg taken wider, so the belly stays free.

What causes migraines?

The exact causes are still being studied. Geeta Iyengar tied migraine to the autonomic nervous system and to background tension, and taught that finding the cause of that tension matters as much as easing it.

How long do migraines last?

A migraine attack usually lasts from about 4 hours to 3 days if nothing is done, according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders.

Where can I do yoga for migraine in Darwin?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga at Woolner and Coolalinga in greater Darwin and LIVE online. Tell your teacher about your migraines and the poses are adapted for you. New students get 2 free classes.

Where this comes from

Dr Geeta S Iyengar, Yoga Retreat Australia 2009, Disc 6 (Day 1), Prayers and Discussion, question and answer session, Iyengar Yoga Australia video library (members), migraine and headache section. Summarised in our own words; the two short quotes are as recorded. Dr J. T. Shah, Therapeutic Yoga (foreword by Mr BKS Iyengar), Vakils, Feffer and Simons, Mumbai, 1999, pp. xiii and xix. Studies checked on PubMed and linked above. Attack length: International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition.

Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and LIVE online. This page is general information, not medical advice.