Many people suffer from high blood pressure or Hypertension. Hypertension can affect the function of many parts of the human body. While modern medical science considers this as a disease, in Ayurveda (the ancient Indian Life Science) hypertension is not considered a disease. Ayurveda recognises that hypertension can cause secondary diseases of the brain, heart, kidneys, eyes, or blood vessels. From an Ayurveda perspective, hypertension is caused by an imbalance of energies operating within the human body ( this imbalance is called Doshas). Imbalance in Wind energy (Vata dosha) or Fire energy ( Pitta dosha) or Earth& Water energy ( Kapha dosha) can all cause hypertension through different mechanisms.
Hypertension or high blood pressure is one of the most common health conditions in which the force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough to cause heart diseases. Your blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher will be your blood pressure. While high blood pressure may not have symptoms, but a few of them may include headaches, shortness of breath, or nosebleeds. In some cases, hypertension may not have signs and symptoms, even if blood pressure is reaching life-threatening levels.
Primary causes of hypertension are;
- Excessive alcohol & salt intake
- Anger, stress, anxiety
- Excessive oily foods, sedentary lifestyle
The good news is studies have shown that Yoga practices can reduce hypertension. In addition, if lifestyle changes are made hypertension could be fully managed or even reversed.
An integrated approach for managing blood pressure consists of;
- Regular checks of your blood pressure along with consulting your doctor regularly
- Yoga asanas ( Yoga poses)
- Prana Yama (rebalancing energies through breath control)
- Meditation
- Herbs and vegetables
- Diet control
Certain Yoga asanas( Yoga poses) have a positive influence on blood pressure. Pranayama techniques are very effective in controlling elevated blood pressures. If this is practiced regularly you can see a reduction in your blood pressure.
Daily practice of Meditation can control your anger, stress& depression. This reduces the adrenal influx into the blood, thus regulating blood flow changes and blood pressure.
Equally importantly, dietary &lifestyle changes are also essential. Eating to suit your energy imbalance (Doshas), avoiding fatty foods, processed meat, salty foods, pungent foods, alcohol are recommended. Some commonly available herbs and foods can be used to regulate blood pressure.
Drop me an email on sanatanayogaacademy@gmail.com or call me on +61438496040 (using Whatsapp if you are living outside Australia) if you want to discuss your hypertension issues and how Yoga practices and diet can help improve your situation. Join our community( can insert hyperlink to Join our Community in the Home page) to receive more of this type of blogs that may be useful to you.
