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HOW YOGA HELPS REDUCE HYPERTENSION

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We all are familiar with yoga.. right? If you haven’t done it, I’m sure you at least have a friend who swears by it. And I am one of those who does!

There are so many benefits to yoga, but let’s talk about Yoga and Hypertension

What is Hypertension?

Hypertension is just another name for High Blood Pressure.

When I think of HBP, I always picture a cartoon character, who gets so mad they fill up slowly with a red color till they explode (haha). Been there… done that!

When your blood is being pumped with force through your veins and arteries over a long period of time, it causes damage against your artery walls. This results in High Blood Pressure.

The Heart Controls It All

Blood pressure is determined by both the amount of blood your heart pumps and the resistance to that blood flowing in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries are, the higher your blood pressure is.

Our parasympathetic nervous system helps the heart to slow down and also relax our blood vessels. This helps our blood to be pumped at a steady-state, with no forcefulness.

Stress Stress Stress

Unfortunately, we live high stressed lives, which continually is igniting our sympathetic nervous system, waaaay too much (aka… fight or flight mode). American health care providers are increasingly suggesting Yoga as a means of enhancing health. Why? Yoga not only keeps our bodies moving and active, at the same time it taps into our parasympathetic nervous system. This system tells our mind and body… “chill, it’s ok, we aren’t in any danger and now we can relax”.

Yoga Helps Control Blood Pressure

Yoga incorporates postures with controlled breathing and meditation. All of which relaxes the mind (from all our crazy thoughts) and gets the blood flowing to our vital organs and muscles, without the stress. You know when you take a deep breath and it’s very calming? Long, deep breaths manage stress responses. This helps to decrease anxiety, fear, racing thoughts, shallow breathing, rapid heartbeat, and high blood pressure.

Relaxing The Mind

When the mind relaxes there becomes a domino effect that occurs. It tells the heart to slow its beating. This relaxes the blood vessels so they become more dilated and the results are the blood flow is at a more consistent steady rate. Yoga is an effective intervention for reducing blood pressure and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

This Is Where Yoga Comes In

Withholding poses for long periods of time (or even doing the flows), you are forced to concentrate on deep breathing that relaxes the mind. We now know, relaxing the mind activates the utilization of the parasympathetic nervous system, therefore helping to lower blood pressure.

The benefits are pretty awesome if you think about it… not only do you move and tone your body, you relax the mind and lower the blood pressure, all at the same time. That’s definitely worth my time if it helps me look good and be healthier… and takes some stress off this body of mine!

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