The fourth sign of the year is Aries. The body parts associated with Aries are the head, face, jaw, and cerebrum.
The energetic signatures of Aries are innovation and energetic circuitry. People who have their sun sign in Aries often tend to have headaches, pressure in the head, jaw clenching, migraines, and overextending one’s energy outwards. Core theme: New beginnings, impulse, mental tension, over analyzing, mental constipation.
Over the years, here’s what I observed about head, face, and jaw issues:
- Migraine headaches occur when one wants to be perfect and places unmet or elevated expectations on oneself along with repressed/suppressed anger.
- The face relates to whatever cannot be repressed gets expressed.
- TMJ and jaw issues are all about holding in emotions or things that we feel unable to express to ourselves or someone else.
Headaches
I have two case studies about headaches, one which was included in my book, Infinite Body Wisdom. Both illustrate the Aries energy of being in your mind! Names and situations have been modified to protect the identities of members.
Trey and His Mom
A 14-year-old kid, Trey, who came in. He was having bad pressure headaches, and his mom decided to contact me because he was missing a lot of school in the past couple of months. His headaches are so painful that he couldn’t go to school.
Trey was adjusted by another chiropractor before, and the headaches decreased quite a bit, but still come and go. Upon meeting them, it turns out that his mom really loves him, but is extremely controlling. She is militant about no media – no video games, movies, none of the computer gadgets that are used in society today.
All his friends are into it, and have Playstations, Xbox, iPhones, etc. His mom limits how long he can be on the computer, and even says he can’t play any video games if he goes over to a friend’s house.
In the last few months, he’s been going over to his friends’ houses and playing video games. He goes to school and tries to connect with his friends but can’t because they’re all into media and gadgets and games, so he feels left out.
He’s really quiet, doesn’t say much, and holds it all in. When I asked him if there was anything going on with his mom, he starts tearing up, but doesn’t say anything. His mom was also in the room with us, so I asked her if she would get upset if he expressed himself. She reassured him that she wouldn’t and wants him to express whatever it is.
I was able to slowly pull things out of him. Another issue was that his mom is an avid cyclist and focuses on working to make the roads safer for cyclists. She has him ride a bike to school every day. Come to find out, he hates to ride a bike! He dreads it and his mom has been forcing him to do it for the past three years, so while he hates it, his mom loves it.
He’s here to break his mom’s fantasy about things. He doesn’t want to disappoint his mom, which is something I completely understand because I did the same thing for my mom, and it messes you up. I understood why he was getting migraines. He doesn’t want to disappoint his mom, yet feels disconnected from his friends, and is miserable. He also has to ride a bike while hating it. He’s in distress due to feeling stuck and having this internal conflict.
In his mind, he’s thinking of how to please his mom while living his life at the same time. He’s getting headaches because he doesn’t know how to deal with it. He’s in a lot of pain because he’s constantly thinking about how to navigate this situation and is having mental congestion – or more like mental constipation.
He had an adjustment on a Saturday, and on Sunday night, his mom asked him if he misses playing video games with his friends? She shared with me that he started tearing up again when asked, so she asked me to talk with him on Monday at his adjustment to see if I can find out what’s going on with him.
When he came in on Monday, he said that he had a headache that morning. It resolved an hour before his appointment, but missed school again. I can’t imagine how upset his mom is at me, because he comes for an adjustment because he’s missing too much school from his headaches, then ends up getting a bad headache after starting adjustments, and misses school again.
This poor kid has his mom questioning him to the point of being on the verge of crying, because he can’t tell her that in his perception, she’s being really unreasonable, not listening to him, and feels that he has no friends because she won’t let him play video games.
I also understand his mom’s point of view. Her intent is good and she doesn’t want his mind to be adversely affected with all the video game playing, but she needs to understand that she’s raised her son for the last 14 years. She’s given him good values and morals, but also has to learn to listen to him. If she makes him repress any more, his head might blow up (figuratively), or he may do something crazy or cause himself bodily harm.
I can’t tell her what to do, but I asked her if she is willing to see that her son is trying to connect with his friends but feels unable to do so. He feels like a pariah since he doesn’t know about the latest video games his friends are playing. I almost cried with him because I knew exactly what he was going through and could feel his pain and internal conflict. This was definitely a challenge.
Jeffrey Deals With His Headaches
A few years ago, Jeffrey came in, having been referred by a few of his friends. Jeffrey had been suffering from migraine headaches two to three times a week from the time he was seven years old. On a visual analog scale of 10, with 10 being the most intense, his score was 11! Within the first few weeks of care, the intensity of the headaches dropped to a three. Jeffrey was pleased with the relief of his pain, especially since work was busier and more stressful than ever.
I too suffered from migraine headaches from a very young age. What I have discovered about headaches is the body’s infinitely wise strategy to get us to literally stop thinking. I jokingly label headaches as “mental constipation.” When you are too much in your mind, recalling and anticipating scenarios and wondering what can be done to control your situation, headaches arise. Dehydration, exhaustion, and caffeine withdrawal may also contribute, but in general, headaches are designed to stop “overthinking” and force you to stop what you are doing, surrender to the pain, and rest.
How Can This Apply to You?
If you experience headaches, reflect on when those headaches occur. Look to see if they may be activated by caffeine withdrawal, dehydration, exhaustion, hunger, menstrual cycle, or a combination of two or more. If any of these apply, then you have some idea of what to do to resolve your headaches. If not, ask yourself whether you think excessively, or find yourself obsessing over a difficult situation you are in. Try to identify your triggers by remembering what was happening just prior to the onset of your headache. Never lose sight of the fact that your body throbs out those headaches not to punish you, but to liberate you from any behavior that is getting in the way of your happiness.
