Blood Pressure
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(ii) Yoga – Scores of people swear by the benefits of Yoga in lowering BP. Yoga’s emphasis on long, deep breathing and conscious relaxation activates the parasympathetic nervous system and promotes its “rest and renew” function. Yoga decreases the level of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood. Meditative practices of Yoga help to reduce the reactiveness of the mind to stressors and to lessen the intensity of the “fight or flight” response. Yoga also teaches us to see potential stressors as challenges rather than threats, enabling one to avoid the stress entirely. Yoga asanas, such as vajrasana, padmasana, pavan-muktasana and shavasana and simple pranayama like anuloma-viloma and abdominal breathing are beneficial in controlling hypertension. Asanas should be learnt with the help of Yoga teachers. All asanas, however, should be discontinued, except shavasana, if your systolic pressure is above 200.
(iii) Meditation – It has been established that religious people leading a spiritual life get more satisfaction and self-control and tend to have lower BP. Studies have shown that meditation and similar skills could help reduce BP, slow down heart rate and even help give up taking medicines altogether. Meditation improves your physical and mental health, has proved to be a great stress-buster, it brings you peace of mind and calms you down. Research has shown that hormones and other biochemical compounds in the blood, indicative of stress tend to decrease during meditative practice. These changes also stabilize over time so that a person is actually less stressed biochemically during daily activity. Meditation works better in those with a form of hypertension – isolated systolic hypertension – common in the elderly.
(iv) Music – Belief in the curative and healing powers of music has existed in India since ages. Music therapy, with right kind of soothing music is accepted worldwide for the therapeutic benefits to bring about positive changes in lowering BP, muscle tension and stress. Slow meditative music induces a relaxing effect and works as a motivator, healer and a destressor. Like meditation, music too has a tranquilising effect. It calms you down when you are enraged, soothes your soul when you are disturbed, soothes frayed nerves and relaxes the mind. It is believed that music stimulates the pituitary gland, whose secretions have the beneficial effect on the nervous system and the flow of blood. Music reduces the stress hormone, cortisone. Raga Bhupali and raga Todi are beneficial for high BP and raga Malkans and raga Asawan help to cure low BP.
