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Stress and Headaches

Fix the ROOT to Heal the Whole

**“Heaven on Earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find.” ** — Unknown

During Wednesday’s webinar, Vaidya Manohar Palakurthi (2026) discussed the second type of ama (mental ama) being caused by rajas and tamas weakening the mind through actions like addictions, intoxication, greed and delusion. He went on to discuss how limiting greed is, for it creates a boundary around “me, mine, I,” eventually leading to envy, further separating “me” from “him” or “them” or “us” (Palakurthi, 2026). What this means is mental ama is a result of a damaged nervous system and mind, and mental ama therefore alters our sense of reality, deviating from Natural Law and what is unmanifest. The goal then, is to reduce cortisol and stabilize the mindbody connection, paying attention to nourishing the nervous system and restoring balance to not just the mental state but to consciousness as well. Today, many lifestyle choices include rajasic and tamasic attributes, which over time create mental ama. Due to this, it’s crucial to be aware of mental health when clients come to me for recommendations. This knowledge is pivotal in practice, giving more insight into client’s imbalances, which may not be a result of physical imbalance but of mind imbalance. Mental health is underdiscussed in many practices, and this will impact my own by giving me awareness, comprehension, empathy and grace to clients suffering from mind weakness.

On Saturday, Dr. Zakutney (2026) showed a slide that detailed tension headaches as a slow development, starting as a dull ache and growing into a worse imbalance over time. Due to triggering lifestyle events like stress, lack of sleep, unhealed emotions, strain, alcohol and caffeine, it naturally makes sense that these kinds of headaches can be prevented first and foremost but treated by avoiding the causes (Zakutney, 2026). Treatments also include seeing a chiropractor, exercising, massage therapy, breathing techniques and acupuncture, among other modalities (Zakutney, 2026). This point brought me back to the initial goal of Ayurveda, which is prevention. With a simple shift toward an Ayurvedic daily routine, a client prone to tension headaches would find relief. This is important for healthcare because sometimes medicine does not have to be the first and only choice for clients. Instead, natural remedies and life shifts can not only reverse symptoms of, say, headaches, but other symptoms, too. I’ve learned personally that the body whispers before it screams, and it’s interesting to note that tension headaches develop slowly. The signs are there before the headache is fully there.

In The Supreme Awakening, a lovely description paints a picture of a gardener focusing on watering the root of a withering tree to ensure nourishment to the tree in whole rather than tending to the thousands of leaves and branches that are ailed — the root being an analogy to the problems in life, stemming “fundamentally, from a massive disconnect with the Self” (Pearson, 2016, p. 492). This disconnect is due to weakness of the mind due to stress or addictions or otherwise unhealthy lifestyle choices, creating mental ama. It also is due to ignoring signs of the body until a full-grown tension headache has taken place. By watering the root, we get to enjoy the fruit, which is optimal health and happiness, free from disease and stress. It means listening to the inner intelligence by joining mind and body, giving rise to higher states of consciousness, meeting the Self.

References

Palakurthi, M. (2026, April 29). Week 2 Webinar PH 509 Nervous System and Skin. [Live Webinar]. Maharishi International University.

Pearson, C. (2016). The Supreme Awakening: Experiences of Enlightenment Throughout Time — And How You Can Cultivate Them (2nd ed.). Fairfield: Maharishi University of Management Press.

Zakutney, M. (2026, May 2). Neurologic System — General Pathology, Herbs, and Low Back Pain. [Video]. Maharishi International University.