It was a typical Tuesday afternoon when I found myself once again battling a migraine. The piercing pain on the left side of my head was relentless, coupled with dizziness and sensitivity to light that seemed to make every second unbearable. I had tried various medications, but nothing seemed to offer long-lasting relief.

That’s when I turned to yoga. It seemed to have not only help alleviate my symptoms but also become part of my regular yoga practice to prevent future episodes.

Migraines, characterized by throbbing pain, nausea, and dizziness, can often interrupt our daily lives. Unlike regular headaches, migraines can last for hours or even days. In my search for a natural solution, yoga proved to be a game-changer, providing both physical and mental relief. But how exactly does yoga help?

It isn't entirely clear how yoga changes the body to aid in migraine relief, but studies suggest that the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) may play a key role. The PNS is responsible for regulating your body’s rest and digestion processes, helping to slow your heart rate and lower blood pressure. When activated during yoga, the PNS can create a calming effect, which is essential for managing migraine symptoms.

A 2014 study revealed that individuals practicing yoga experienced reduced frequency and intensity of migraines. Participants also showed improvement in vagal tone, which refers to the level of activity in the PNS. When this balance is restored, the likelihood of migraines decreases significantly.

Specific yoga poses target stress and tension, which are often triggers for migraines. These poses also help improve circulation, promoting blood flow to the brain, which can ease throbbing and pain. In fact, another study from 2020 confirmed that yoga can reduce the frequency, duration, and intensity of tension headaches.

Yoga Asanas for Migraine Relief

Here are five yoga poses (asanas) that can provide migraine relief and improve overall well-being:

1. Balasana (Child’s Pose)

How to Perform:

- Kneel on the floor, keeping your toes together and your knees wide.

- Lower your buttocks onto your heels and stretch your arms forward.

- Rest your forehead on the floor, allowing your shoulders and neck to relax.

- Hold for one minute or longer, focusing on deep breathing.

Benefits:

Balasana is known for its calming effects. This pose soothes the nervous system, reduces tension in the neck and back, and helps relieve headaches. By resting your forehead on the ground, it can also alleviate pressure, making it a go-to for those experiencing migraines.

2. Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)

How to Perform:

- Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.

- Press your feet and arms into the floor as you lift your pelvis towards the ceiling.

- Keep your thighs parallel and hold the pose for up to one minute.

- Lower your torso back to the floor gradually.

Benefits:

Bridge pose opens up the chest and shoulders, which can reduce tension and anxiety. It improves circulation to the brain and can help with migraines by calming the mind and releasing stress.

3. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)

How to Perform:

- Start on your hands and knees, aligning wrists under shoulders and knees under hips.

- Lift your pelvis and straighten your legs, distributing your weight evenly between hands and feet.

- Hold for up to two minutes, focusing on lengthening your spine and breathing deeply.

Benefits:

Downward-facing dog increases blood circulation to the brain, which can help reduce the intensity of migraines. This pose also stretches the spine, hamstrings, and shoulders, releasing tension that may contribute to headaches.

4. Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall)

How to Perform:

- Lie on your back with your legs resting vertically up against a wall.

- Let your arms relax at your sides and breathe deeply.

- Hold this position for 5 to 10 minutes, allowing your body to fully relax.

Benefits:

This pose is incredibly restorative and promotes relaxation. It helps improve blood flow from the legs back to the heart and brain, aiding in migraine relief by calming the mind and reducing pressure.

5. Savasana (Corpse Pose)

How to Perform:

- Lie flat on your back with arms and legs relaxed.

- Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.

- Hold for 5 to 30 minutes, allowing your body to release any built-up tension.

Benefits:

Savasana allows the body to enter a deep state of relaxation, which can be particularly beneficial for calming the nervous system during a migraine. It helps the body and mind release tension, promoting recovery and a sense of peace.

Can Yoga Help Prevent Migraines?

Yoga is not just a reactive solution; it can also serve as a preventive measure. Practicing yoga regularly, you can improve your cardiac autonomic balance, which may reduce the chances of experiencing migraines. Yoga promotes relaxation, reduces stress, and encourages mindfulness, which are crucial in managing migraine triggers. Incorporating yoga into your daily routine can improve overall well-being, making your body more resilient to the onset of headaches.

Migraines can feel debilitating, but incorporating yoga into your lifestyle offers a natural and holistic approach to relief and prevention. Whether you're new to yoga or have been practicing for years, these poses can provide significant benefits, from reducing tension to promoting circulation.

Always consult your healthcare provider before beginning any new exercise regimen, but once you start, you may find that yoga offers not only relief but also a deeper connection to your body and mind.

The next time you feel the symptoms of a migraine coming on, instead of reaching for the painkillers, consider rolling out your yoga mat and experiencing the healing power of asanas.

You're walking through your day, effortlessly monitoring your health, steps, and heart rate without the bulk of a fitness watch on your wrist. Rather, a sleek smart ring lies unnoticed on your finger, working its magic quietly in the background. Interested? You're not the only one. With all the hype over these little tech wonders, people are wondering if they're actually as accurate as their clunky cousins—the fitness watch.

Smart rings are a trendy, minimalist version of the old-style fitness watch and have been widely adopted by health tech buffs, athletes, and even medical practitioners. They come in sleek form, being undistinguishable as jewelry, loaded with strong sensors that can measure sleep, heart rate, and a multitude of wellness indicators. But at what price: reduced accuracy because they are so small? And most importantly, can they really compete with—or even outdo—smartwatches in health monitoring?

The answer is not so simple. Smart rings might be less capable in some respects, but recent studies and developments indicate that they have promising strengths, particularly in the accuracy of some health measurements. Here's an in-depth, exclusive comparison of how smart rings compare to fitness watches.

Smart Rings vs. Smartwatches

At the core of both smart rings and smartwatches lies the same foundational technology—photoplethysmography (PPG). This method uses light-based sensors to measure changes in blood volume, providing real-time data on your heart rate. However, where the device is worn makes a significant difference.

According to a 2022 review in Frontiers in Physiology, the finger is a more vascular-rich area compared to the wrist. That is, smart rings might provide more accurate readings, particularly for heart rate tracking, due to the proximity of the finger to rich blood vessels. Also, a study published in 2023 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health pointed out that smart rings might provide more accurate readings of heart rates in individuals with darker skin. The palm contains less melanin than the wrist, minimizing the light distortion that PPG sensors tend to have trouble with.

However, they have their prerequisites. Motion artefacts—motion-induced interference—can warp smart ring readings, particularly during exercise. According to a 2021 study in the Journal of Electrical Bioimpedance, even minimal movement of the finger during light exercise can invalidate ring-based sensor accuracy. And not like smartwatches, smart rings generally have no onboard GPS and sophisticated accelerometers, thus restricting their use in monitoring challenging workouts or runs.

Even with some immediate limitations, smart rings are rapidly advancing. New prototypes indicate that these wearables may soon far surpass heart rate and sleep tracking. One exciting advance is the result of a January 2024 paper published in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, which introduced a smart ring to track hand hygiene in real time—a revolution in healthcare environments. The ring's electrochemical fluid sensor proved to be 97.8% accurate, more than a 10% improvement over available electronic hygiene monitors.

Another 2021 Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences study presented a ring that would be able to sense early hand tremors, an early sign of Parkinson's disease. As research advances, experts envision future rings will even track blood glucose, hydration, and blood pressure—marking the beginning of a new era of passive, ongoing health monitoring.

Sleep Tracking and Wellbeing

When it comes to sleep monitoring, smart rings really shine. Their light, non-intrusive nature makes them perfect for wearing overnight. Unlike smartwatches—which are often found to be cumbersome in bed—smart rings can easily track your sleep without disturbing you.

Brands take it a step further, providing detailed information on energy levels, sleep phases, recovery, and even the best time to consume caffeine. Although a 2024 meta-analysis in Applied Sciences noted that smart rings tend to underestimate REM sleep, they still provide a holistic picture of sleep patterns by integrating data points such as heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and skin temperature.

Nevertheless, experts warn that such rings should be employed to identify trends, not to diagnose sleep disorders. "Smart rings can help identify trends, but they can never replace a sleep study that monitors brain activity," said wearable tech researcher Semitha.

Comfort, Design, and User Preference

Comfort and style are huge pluses for smart rings. They are less obtrusive and better-looking than clunky wrist-mounted devices, making them easier to incorporate into daily wear. But all is not great in the design world. Even with their streamlined marketing, many rings look clunky on smaller hands, and matte finishes tend to wear off after a while with regular use.

Smartwatches, in contrast, have adjustable sizes and removable straps, which may be attractive to those looking for flexibility. Premium smartwatches are more likely to be stronger, since they are manufactured from superior materials and designed to endure intense use.

Which One Is Best for You?

Ultimately, deciding between a smart ring and a smartwatch comes down to your individual health objectives, way of life, and personal comfort level.

If you're a fitness buff requiring precise workout tracking, GPS, and exercise recognition, a smartwatch is still the better choice.

If you're more concerned with sleep quality, daily readiness, recovery, and overall wellness—and don't mind something less invasive—a smart ring could be a game-changer.

For those who value medical-grade accuracy, both devices still lag behind clinical equipment, but smart rings potentially have more future potential because they are closer to high-fidelity data points.

Significantly, neither device is 100% accurate, but both can give you useful insights that enable you to make healthier lifestyle choices.

Smart rings are more than a fad. They are a new convergence of design, health, and technology that will have significant potential to become powerful weapons in personalized healthcare. As technology continues to improve in sensors, the distinction between wearables and medical devices might get blurred, and users could become empowered to take proactive actions towards their healthcare.

In the meantime, these rings can be thought of as hot trend friends to your health journey—not as alternatives to professional health care, but as virtual cues toward improved behaviors.

As the health tech landscape continues to evolve, the finger may just become the most important real estate in wearable innovation. And with every ring that tracks your sleep or your heart rate, we're one step closer to a future where wellness is literally at your fingertips.

Spending a dedicated time exercising, whether it is an hour or half, could be difficult for some people. If you live alone, or are a homemaker, most of the time goes by taking care of household chores, commuting to and from work, grocery runs and general day to day errands. This leads many people to worry that that they may not be able to lead a healthy lifestyle, but a new study shows that even small movements can prove to be a great addition to your daily life. The study was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, and revealed small movements being a great aid to bigger health issues.

Researchers found that people who weren't in the habit of working out saw improvements in their fitness after doing a specific type of exercise for about a month. These improvements included stronger muscles, more stamina to keep going, and better flexibility. This means you don't need to spend hours at the gym to start feeling healthier; even short bursts of activity can make a real difference.

Can Small Movements Make A Big Difference?

The type of exercise the study focused on is called ‘eccentric exercise’- movement emphasizes the part of an exercise where your muscles are lengthening. Think about slowly lowering any weighted object after you lift it and gently going down into a squat. Research has shown that this type of exercise is easier on your body compared to other types of workouts, and it's very effective at helping your muscles grow stronger and bigger. It's a smart way to build muscle without putting too much strain on your body, making it a good option for people who are just starting to exercise.

Even a small amount of this type of movement done regularly can provide noticeable benefits for your fitness. This is encouraging news for people who might feel like they don't have much time or energy to dedicate to exercise. It shows that even short, simple routines can have a real impact on your strength, endurance, and flexibility, making it easier to do everyday activities.

The participants, mostly women, went through a short period to get used to the study before starting a four-week routine of eccentric exercises. Every day, they performed ten repetitions of four easy exercises- chair squats (standing up and sitting down using a chair), chair reclines (leaning back slightly while seated), wall push-ups, and heel drops (raising up onto their toes and slowly lowering their heels).

After the four weeks of daily eccentric exercises, the researchers found some interesting results. While there weren't big changes in things like body composition, resting heart rate, or blood pressure, the participants did show significant improvements in their ability to do sit-ups and push-ups. They also performed better on the three-minute step test, which measures cardiovascular endurance. Additionally, their flexibility improved, and they reported feeling better mentally. This suggests that even a small amount of daily exercise can lead to noticeable and lasting fitness benefits for people who are not regularly active.

Exercises You Can Perform At Home

Chair squats: standing up and sitting down using a chair

Chair reclines: leaning back slightly while seated

Wall push-ups: placing your palms on the wall and pushing against it

Heel drops: raising up onto their toes and slowly lowering their heels

Tips To Help You Get Started With Eccentric Training

If you're interested in trying eccentric training, remember that you don't have to stick to the exact exercises used in the study. Almost any exercise can include an eccentric component. If you're not very active right now, you'll likely still see progress even if you start with low intensity and very short exercise sessions. Experts suggest starting with just five minutes a day and aiming for around ten repetitions of each exercise. This can be a good starting point to see what's possible, and from there, you can gradually increase the intensity or how long you exercise to keep improving your fitness.

One of the biggest indicators of a good workout for people is how much they sweat. The more you sweat, better the workout. Many people love heated workouts, like hot yoga or spin, even when it’s warm outside. Studios make the rooms very hot, sometimes over 100 degrees. they also believe it is a good way of remaining fit and a great evidence of their hard work. While a lot of people believe this, you still must see how it benefits you and whether are any other safety concerns or health risks you may be putting yourself into by doing this.

The Cleveland Clinic explains that working out in the heat can make your blood flow faster and warm up your muscles. This might make you more flexible. You might also burn a few more calories than in a normal workout. Some people feel good after a hot workout, like they do after a sauna. But, just being hot doesn’t mean you’ll get super fit. You still need to work hard and do the exercises correctly. Don't think that only the heat will make you fit.

Are There Any Risks Of Doing Heated Workouts?

Working out when it’s too hot can make it harder to exercise. According to WebMD your body has to work harder to stay cool, so you might not be able to do as much. This can mean you don’t get as much benefit from the workout. Normal workouts in a comfortable room can be just as good, and maybe even better for you. Heated workouts aren’t a magic way to get fit. They can also put a lot of extra stress on your body, so be careful.

When it’s very hot, you can get dehydrated easily. This can lead to problems like heat exhaustion or fainting. Drink a lot of water before, during, and after class. Watch out for signs that you’re getting too hot, like feeling dizzy or sick. If you have any chest, joint, or muscle pain, stop right away. It's important to listen to your body and make sure you are not pushing yourself too hard.

Who Should Avoid Heated Workouts

Some people should not do heated workouts. Older people, pregnant women, and people with heart problems should be careful. These workouts can be dangerous for them. If you have health problems like high blood pressure or asthma, talk to your doctor first. Just because a workout is popular, doesn’t mean it’s safe for you. It's better to be safe than sorry, so ask your doctor.