Noting for tension headaches: 12 minutes, at midday

About this practice

12 minutes to meet tension headaches with less of a fight. A noting practice, at midday. A guided session of about 12 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 at lunch

• Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
• Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
• Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

How noting works

Noting is a technique from insight practice: when something arises, you give it a single plain label — thinking, hearing, planning — and return to the anchor. The label creates a small distance between you and the content.

• Use one word, not a sentence — explaining means you have joined in
• Label and return; do not follow the thought to see where it goes
• Drop the labelling if it becomes effortful and just follow the breath

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Keep your eyes open if you like, resting on one point of the floor a metre or two ahead.
2. 0:16When something arrives, label it quietly — thinking, hearing, planning, worrying — then return to the breath.
3. 0:31Now let your attention move from the room into your body, slowly, the way you'd move through a doorway you know well.
4. 0:49You can let your eyes close now if they weren't already.
5. 1:01Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
6. 1:14Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
7. 1:28Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
8. 1:40Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
9. 1:53Feel the tops of your thighs.
10. 2:03Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
11. 2:15Imagine softening the edges of the pressure building behind the eyes. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
12. 2:33Each time your mind hands you the ache from a long staring day, treat it like a leaf on a stream. Present for a moment, then carried on.
13. 2:53Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
14. 3:09Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
15. 3:21Notice the gap between the label and the next thought. That gap is what we are practising.
16. 3:36A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
17. 3:47Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
18. 4:00You are the one noticing, not the thing being noticed. Stay on that side of the line.
19. 4:15No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
20. 4:26If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
21. 4:39A label is enough. You do not need to follow the thought to see where it goes.
22. 4:54I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
23. 5:06Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
24. 5:18Use one plain word, not a sentence. The moment you explain, you have joined in.
25. 5:32Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
26. 5:44Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
27. 5:57Remain here for a few more breaths.
28. 6:07Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
29. 6:21Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
30. 6:33Let the quiet do its work.
31. 6:43Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
32. 6:55Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
33. 7:06Take the next breath slowly.
34. 7:15Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
35. 7:26Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
36. 7:41Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
37. 7:51Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
38. 8:04If the band around the forehead is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
39. 8:21Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
40. 8:32If the pressure building behind the eyes shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
41. 8:53Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
42. 9:06Think of the ache from a long staring day as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
43. 9:25the band around the forehead may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
44. 9:43Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
45. 9:56Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
46. 10:09Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
47. 10:23I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
48. 10:36If noting feels like too much, drop it and just follow the breath. The label is optional.
49. 10:51Let this one be unhurried.
50. 11:00If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.
51. 11:14Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
52. 11:24Keep following the air.

Questions people ask

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