Headaches during meditation

[Azur Qasm]

Eye strain/headaches (not clear what to call them, I'll go with the term headache since pain isn't localized to eye balls) occurs above left eye during meditation. Relaxing eyes by opening them (if closed) and focusing on distant objects mitigates this somewhat and cancels the headache. If I continue meditating with the pain however the headache continues for the day.

But I've been unable to stop the oncoming of headaches with relaxing my eyes and just continuing the practice. I try to not get distracted by taking my focus off of it but the pain drags it back. As soon as the practice stops, I ignore them and they might fade.

I meditate (Do Nothing technique) but also do concentration practice (breath version). Headache may come during any of these sessions. They are related to eyes but not totally because of them.

The headaches do not come in some sessions. In such cases I meditate 10 minutes, 2 min go to concentration practice (yes, am essentially a beginner, have been following Actualized.org for a few years. Used to do 1 hr do nothing meditation for 1 year but then habit fell off).

These headaches used to be rare at first but are increasing in frequency. They appear especially when I am near achieving access concentration (in that rare session I get to concentrate 10-15 minutes. Yes, I've achieved access concentration twice before - a few years ago.

Yes, I do have 'spherical' myopia (wear specs. -4.5 power). No, I do not sit in terrible lighting, do not watch screens in darkness or strain my eyes in any way since I learned these were harmful. I still watch inordinate amounts of digital screens throughout the day. Am sure watching less screens will help but gut tells me it won't solve the problem fully.

 

Has anyone had similar experiences? Does anyone know tangible solutions and causes to this, or at least a method by which we can discover one/some?

 

[DreamScape]

relax. meditation should be considered a practice of letting yourself relax, like you're laying down in a comfy bed with a heated blanket at nighttime. except without the sleeping part and without the tiredness part, and laying down part if you're not doing that. your body is like the most comfortable bed, and your neck and back being the pillow and support. the states of consciousness you'd reach thinking and practicing this would be beautiful btw. 

essentially lucidity and clearness come from acting upon that deeper place, theta realms (theta waves),which are accessed by relaxation, in which very practiced and developed practitioners of spirituality are very relaxed and still all of the time.

headaches are caused by tension. make sure your upper back, neck, and mind are relaxed, and this should help. Breathing and allowing your body to breathe and move should help also. 

[Rolo]

make sure you create a really relaxing state of being, you could do belly breathing maybe some form of physical activity etc... i used to do Osho active mediations to get into a relaxing state in my body.

[Azur Qasm]

I've tried relaxing with body awareness in the past. But the moment I focus on the upper head the headaches begin. Am I not doing it right? I direct attention to the upper parts of the head and scan for tension. Immediately the pain above the eyes pops up, first small in amplitude and then I can feel the pulsations stronger and stronger till I have to pull away.

And  it is hard to relax or even just become aware of the area once the headaches start coming. I experience them in pulses, almost synchronous with my heartbeat. I find my eyes try to find something up in there and I relax them but nothing happens when I manage to release the tensions, the headaches don't go away and I have to pull out.

The only technique that does anything to my headaches is Kamil's "where? what shape? what colour?" technique and its effectiveness has been decreasing (or I've become able to use it less/forgotten how to apply it properly). But I use it outside of meditation - it's a headache cure.

It didn't work for my friends, but it did for me. In the past much more so than today, but it still works.

I'll look up and try more relaxing techniques and relax in general, but any more insights would be appreciated.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Azur Qasm
grammar; posted link

[everythingisnothing]

@Azur Qasm Hey Azur! Two things you can do: 

1. Really focus on the pain. Where is it exactly located? What quality does it have (pressure, stinging, burning)? Does it change when you watch it, in location, quality or intensity? Whenever a thought pops up about: this is headache. I don‘t like it. It hurts. Notice how you are not fully focused and there was still room for thoughts to slip in. Really curious whether the sensation will stay the same or show some dynamic behaviour over time.

2. Close your eyes and move your eyeballs intuitively. Feel what feels good to you. Exhaust your eye muscles and see what it does. 
 

Good luck!??‍♂️