Tension headaches: 12-minute grounding meditation, at 3pm

About this practice

Nothing to learn and nothing to fix: 12 minutes of grounding for tension headaches, at 3pm. 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 in the mid-afternoon

• Sit upright and open a window if you can
• Expect heaviness rather than fighting it
• A short session here beats a longer one that never happens

The dip is a normal circadian low. You are riding it out, not correcting a fault.

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. 0:00Check your hands. Are they doing anything? Let them stop.
2. 0:12Feel the contact points — feet, seat, back. That contact is the whole anchor.
3. 0:26If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
4. 0:40Let your body be exactly as tired as it is.
5. 0:52Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
6. 1:05Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
7. 1:21Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
8. 1:34Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
9. 1:45Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
10. 1:55Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
11. 2:07You are allowed to be unimpressed by the band around the forehead. Indifference is a legitimate response.
12. 2:22Notice the space around the pressure building behind the eyes. It is there, even if it is small. Put your attention in that space.
13. 2:41Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
14. 2:55Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
15. 3:06Name what you can see, hear and touch. Counting senses is not a distraction; it is the practice.
16. 3:22I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
17. 3:35If a song is stuck in your head, let it play in the background.
18. 3:49Come back to the solid things: weight, temperature, surface. They are always available.
19. 4:02I'll step back. You stay here.
20. 4:12If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
21. 4:25The floor is holding you right now. You do not have to hold yourself up.
22. 4:39No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
23. 4:50If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
24. 5:04If your mind has gone somewhere else, the floor under you has not moved. Start from there.
25. 5:19Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
26. 5:30If nothing much is happening, that's not a problem. Nothing much is often the point.
27. 5:44Notice your shins, which take small knocks all day and never complain.
28. 5:57Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
29. 6:10A few seconds more.
30. 6:19Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
31. 6:31Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
32. 6:44Take the next breath slowly.
33. 6:53Notice your jaw again. Let your back teeth part slightly.
34. 7:05Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
35. 7:16Nothing changes for a moment.
36. 7:25Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
37. 7:35Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
38. 7:47Let this one be unhurried.
39. 7:56Notice your breathing, without changing it.
40. 8:06Each 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.
41. 8:26Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
42. 8:38Let the exhale carry a little of the band around the forehead with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
43. 8:57Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
44. 9:11Give the pressure building behind the eyes a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
45. 9:29Think of the ache from a long staring day as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
46. 9:48Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
47. 10:00Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
48. 10:12Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
49. 10:23Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
50. 10:35Press down slightly and feel the push back. Your body already knows where it is.
51. 10:49Let it be this simple.
52. 10:58Come back slowly. There's no prize for finishing fast.
53. 11:09Take one last look at whatever your attention settled on.
54. 11:21No need to open your eyes yet.

Questions people ask

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