3-minute softening meditation for tension headaches, on a break

About this practice

A 3-minute softening session for tension headaches, on a break. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 3 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 break

• Leave the room if you can
• Do not start anything else in the same gap
• Set a timer so the break has an end

A break spent half-engaged with a screen is not much of a break. Guard the whole five minutes.

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. 0:00Find one place in your body that already feels fine. Use that as the starting point.
2. 0:15Unclenching is not the same as relaxing. Just stop adding the tension back.
3. 0:28We'll work through this slowly. If you lose the thread, the thread will wait.
4. 0:42Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
5. 0:56Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
6. 1:09Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
7. 1:20When 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.
8. 1:39You do not have to win against the pressure building behind the eyes. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
9. 1:57Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
10. 2:09If the ache from a long staring day starts telling you a story, let the story finish without you adding to it.
11. 2:27If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
12. 2:39Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
13. 2:53Notice your feet on the floor. That's where you start from.

Questions people ask

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