15-minute grounding meditation for tension headaches, on a slow Sunday

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 15 minutes of grounding for tension headaches, on a slow Sunday. A guided session of about 15 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 on a rest day

• Do it without a reason or a target
• Later in the day, unhurried, in good light
• Let it be longer than usual if you want

Rest that has to be justified is not really rest. This one is allowed to be pointless.

How grounding works

Grounding brings attention to physical contact and the immediate environment. It works on the principle that the body cannot be somewhere else, so contact with the surface you are on is always available as an anchor.

• Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back — and let them take your weight
• Use the senses deliberately: what you can see, hear, touch
• Return to solidity whenever attention drifts

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your forehead smooth out. Most of us hold a small frown there all day.
2. 0:14We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
3. 0:24Settle into the fact that for the next few minutes, nothing is required of you.
4. 0:38We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
5. 0:52Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
6. 1:06Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
7. 1:19Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
8. 1:32Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
9. 1:44Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
10. 1:54Move to your forehead. Let it be smooth instead of gathered.
11. 2:06Feel your upper back against whatever is behind it.
12. 2:17If the band around the forehead is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
13. 2:34the pressure building behind the eyes may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
14. 2:52Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
15. 3:06Give the ache from a long staring day a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
16. 3:25If the band around the forehead has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
17. 3:43Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
18. 3:56Let the pause stretch out.
19. 4:05Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
20. 4:16Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
21. 4:29Let the quiet do its work.
22. 4:39Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
23. 4:52Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
24. 5:03Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
25. 5:13Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
26. 5:26Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
27. 5:37Let it be this simple.
28. 5:46Let each breath out be a small letting go of the muscles around your ribs.
29. 6:00Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
30. 6:13Nothing changes for a moment.
31. 6:22Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
32. 6:34Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
33. 6:46Let your body keep settling.
34. 6:55Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
35. 7:10No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
36. 7:21We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
37. 7:35If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
38. 7:48Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
39. 7:59There's no need to try harder than this.
40. 8:10If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
41. 8:24Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
42. 8:34If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
43. 8:47If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
44. 8:58Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
45. 9:09Small efforts are the whole method.
46. 9:19You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
47. 9:31Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
48. 9:43Let this be easy, if easy is available.
49. 9:54Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
50. 10:06A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
51. 10:17You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
52. 10:30If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important.
53. 10:43Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
54. 10:56Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
55. 11:08Feel the weight of the pressure building behind the eyes somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
56. 11:25When the ache from a long staring day arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
57. 11:45Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
58. 11:57When 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.
59. 12:16If you catch yourself fighting the pressure building behind the eyes, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
60. 12:34Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
61. 12:45Notice any tension that arrived while you weren't looking.
62. 12:56Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
63. 13:07If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
64. 13:22Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
65. 13:34Nothing here needs to be efficient.
66. 13:44Remain here for a few more breaths.
67. 13:54Take one breath that's a little fuller than the others, and let it out through your mouth.
68. 14:09Before you open your eyes, notice how you feel compared to the start. It might be small.

Questions people ask

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