10-minute softening meditation for tension headaches, before an exam

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for tension headaches. A softening session you can do before an exam. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: tension headaches

Tension headaches follow a band of tightness across the forehead and around the skull, usually the product of long staring, jaw clenching and neck position.

It tends to show up as:

• A band of pressure across the forehead
• Pressure behind the eyes
• Ache worsening through the day

Softening the jaw, eyes and neck interrupts the pattern early. Once a tension headache settles in it is harder to shift.

Doing this before an exam

• Do it outside the hall, before you go in
• Do not revise during it — that raises the noise
• Aim to arrive early and steady rather than late and reading

Last-minute revision mostly raises arousal without adding recall. Arriving settled is worth more.

How softening works

Softening is the practice of releasing held tension degree by degree rather than all at once. It targets the physical grip — shoulders, jaw, gut — that persists long after the stressor has passed.

• Soften one place per exhale rather than everything at once
• Let warmth and gravity do the work instead of muscular effort
• If a place will not soften, leave it and go somewhere that will

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Notice whether you're leaning forward. Most people are, slightly, all day.
2. 0:12If a place will not soften, leave it alone and go somewhere that will. It often follows.
3. 0:27Let your sense of the room shrink down to just your body and the surface you're on.
4. 0:42You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
5. 0:54Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
6. 1:06Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
7. 1:19Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
8. 1:31Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
9. 1:43Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
10. 1:54Let your whole body be as heavy as it wants to be.
11. 2:07You are allowed to be unimpressed by the ache from a long staring day. Indifference is a legitimate response.
12. 2:23When the band around the forehead presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
13. 2:42Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
14. 2:55Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
15. 3:09Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
16. 3:20Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
17. 3:33We are not forcing anything open. We are letting things unclench by a single degree.
18. 3:47Let me stop talking. Follow the breath instead.
19. 3:58Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
20. 4:09Find the tightest place and simply breathe near it. Warmth does the softening, not effort.
21. 4:23Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
22. 4:35If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
23. 4:49Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
24. 5:00Let the pause stretch out.
25. 5:09Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
26. 5:21Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
27. 5:34Let it be this simple.
28. 5:43Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
29. 5:55Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
30. 6:09Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
31. 6:19Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
32. 6:31Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
33. 6:44Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
34. 6:56When the pressure building behind the eyes arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
35. 7:15This is not the last time the ache from a long staring day will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
36. 7:35Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
37. 7:46You do not have to solve the band around the forehead in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
38. 8:05If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
39. 8:19If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
40. 8:31A short silence. Let it be empty.
41. 8:41With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
42. 8:56Nothing changes for a moment.
43. 9:05Take one last look at whatever your attention settled on.
44. 9:17Let your eyes open when they're ready, not when the words end.
45. 9:30Let this one be unhurried.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.