YOGA FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE: EASY AND EFFECTIVE
At least 25% of all adults have been diagnosed with high blood pressure (or hypertension, as doctors call it). And many more than that actually have the problem, since it can take years for the symptoms of high blood pressure (like dizzy spells, nosebleeds or dull headaches) to show up. It’s usually only diagnosed during a routine doctor’s exam. In a nutshell, high blood pressure means that your blood is having trouble making it through your arteries, either because the arteries are too narrow or your heart is pumping too much blood. For more information see here.
For most people, there’s no direct identifiable cause of what’s known as “primary” hypertension; the problem simply develops over time and is often linked to stress. A smaller group of people has “secondary” hypertension which comes on quickly and can be blamed on medical conditions (such as thyroid or kidney issues), medications (both over-the-counter and prescription meds can lead to the issue), or abuse of alcohol and/or illegal drugs. The risk of high blood pressure increases with age, weight and smoking; it’s also more common among African-Americans and tends to run in families.
The reason it is important to treat high blood pressure is simple: it can lead to serious, sometimes even life-threatening, complications. The most common include heart attacks or heart failure, aneurysms and strokes, either because your heart is working too hard to force adequate blood flow, or because your arteries become damaged. But hypertension can also cause serious damage to your kidneys, your brain function and even your vision. If you’re diagnosed with high blood pressure, it’s not something you can afford to ignore. Treatment is essential.
High Blood Pressure Treatments
There are many treatment options for this serious medical issue. They range from lifestyle changes, to medications, to natural or holistic approaches such as yoga, for high blood pressure. The best hypertension treatment is often a combination of approaches.
Your doctor will probably suggest two different steps:
1. Lifestyle changes: It sometimes seems that whether you’re suffering from an earache, a broken toe or a heart attack, doctors will always recommend the same things: regular exercise, a healthier diet with less salt, losing weight, and quitting smoking. In the case of high blood pressure, though, these are all sensible and important steps to take. Weight, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking and salt have all been linked to hypertension.
2. Medication: You could fill an entire notebook just listing the different drugs that doctors prescribe for high blood pressure, and unless you’ve gone to medical school you’ll have no idea what most of them are. They include beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, diuretics, renin inhibitors, ARBs, alpha-beta blockers, vasodilators — and there are many more. Most act in different ways in order to accomplish the same goals: opening up your blood vessels and reducing your heart’s workload, so blood can flow more easily.
The lifestyle changes are, of course, sensible for anyone — and even more so for people with medical problems. Whether to start medication is more of a personal choice. It’s simple to just pop a pill every day, but it’s often expensive. More importantly, many people don’t want to start down the road of “just taking meds” to solve health concerns when there may be other natural approaches and high blood pressure home remedies which would work effectively. One which has proven to be quite effective in the battle against hypertension is yoga.
Yoga For High Blood Pressure
Because hypertension is often blamed on stress, it makes sense that yoga would be a powerful way to fight blood pressure issues, since it slows the heart, calms the nerves and relaxes the muscles as well as the mind. In fact, many who’ve tried it will tell you that it can lower blood pressure instantly.
Experienced practitioners preach that any yoga is good yoga. But there are specific poses and positions (or asanas) which are particularly beneficial as hypertension treatment while others can be detrimental.
Cooling poses (for example, a forward bend) or modified standing poses (placing your hands on your hips instead of over your head) can be calming for the face, head and neck. They also soften and lengthen the area around the crucial carotid artery, helping to lower blood pressure immediately. One important note: be sure to support your head while doing these poses.
On the other hand, peacock and bow poses can actually increase your blood pressure because they affect the front of your diaphragm. Inverted poses like handstands or headstands are also not a good idea, because they have an undesirable effect on blood pressure. A position is a bad one if your breathing becomes labored or you feel throbbing temples or pressure in the back of your throat.
Two other positions recommended as treatment for hypertension are the corpse position (Shavasana) and the child’s position (Shishu Asana), which are also great ways to cool down after any yoga session.
Combine Yoga With Other Natural Hypertension Treatment
Yoga can quickly lower blood pressure, but the best long-term approach is to combine it with a sensible diet program which can help you to end hypertension forever. One good diet compilation is called “The Blood Pressure Solution.” It spells out a step-by-step program for immediate and then continual improvement in your blood pressure and overall health. It includes reports on the proper foods to eat (along with easy-to-use grocery lists), recipes for meals which will lower your pressure, and information on how to properly read food labels so you don’t end up mistakenly buying products which contain ingredients you should avoid.
The proper plan is eating properly and exercising, making lifestyle changes (such as quitting smoking) and relaxation through yoga, for high blood pressure relief which will not only be instant, but will continue throughout your life. Hypertension becomes common for men around the age of 45, and for women later in life. Taking the right steps early can keep high blood pressure in check for years after that, often avoiding the need for costly medications with sometimes-dangerous side effects.
