Yoga and Blood Pressure

[suegy3]

Has anyone had luck lowering their blood pressure with yoga? My blood pressure was slightly high when I went to the dr. this week. I know that I need to watch my sodium intake and weight which I am doing but I'm looking for more natural options.

Thanks!

[luvcritters]

Isometric holds will raise your blood pressure. I guess it would depend on how much effort you put into it. DDP Yoga probably wouldn't be good BUT since yoga is said to lower stress hormones maybe it would work anyway. No help there at all.

[Chomper]

I think both yoga and aerobic exercise have been found to lower blood pressure in numerous studies.

The yoga aspects that would lower blood pressure would be the deep breathing and relaxation and mindfulness elements, I believe. So I would choose stretchy relaxing practices.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/260699.php

[suegy3]

Thanks to both of you. I have the Barbara Benagh Yoga for Stress Relief workout which I have never done. I will start doing it daily starting today. I'm also going to lay off of my intense kettlebell workouts and just do Turbo Jam and walking along with the yoga and see if that helps.

[cristinalatina]

Originally Posted by Linda H

Isometric holds will raise your blood pressure. I guess it would depend on how much effort you put into it. DDP Yoga probably wouldn't be good BUT since yoga is said to lower stress hormones maybe it would work anyway. No help there at all.

Interesting, why is that? I stopped doing Kundalini yoga because I heard that breath holding raises both blood and eye pressure (have had issues with both for unknown reason, especially during pregnancy when my bp rose from 90/60 pre-pregnancy to 180/110 full term ) so I am always interested in this matter.

By the way, deep breathing lowers it, as does walking I believe.

[suegy3]

Originally Posted by cristinalatina

Interesting, why is that? I stopped doing Kundalini yoga because I heard that breath holding raises both blood and eye pressure (have had issues with both for unknown reason, especially during pregnancy when my bp rose from 90/60 pre-pregnancy to 180/110 full term ) so I am always interested in this matter.

By the way, deep breathing lowers it, as does walking I believe.

Wow it went up very high. Your baby is gorgeous by the way. Has your blood pressure has gone down? And if so, how did you do it? The nurse told me to be more concerned with the bottom number. I have no idea if that's true or not.

The deep breathing sounds good because that always relaxes me and it helps me sleep better. And I plan to walk one mile per day in addition to Turbo Jam, etc.

[cristinalatina]

Originally Posted by suegy3

Wow it went up very high. Your baby is gorgeous by the way. Has your blood pressure has gone down? And if so, how did you do it? The nurse told me to be more concerned with the bottom number. I have no idea if that's true or not.

The deep breathing sounds good because that always relaxes me and it helps me sleep better. And I plan to walk one mile per day in addition to Turbo Jam, etc.

Thank you for your sweet words! I took antihypertensives (beta blockers) for 3 months after pregnancy, then did a trial discontinuation and it was down to 130/80. Now 6 months after delivery it's around 120/80. I believe I had some form of pre-eclampsia although I didn't have protein in the urine. Hormonal cause. Walking and other exercise did help, I believe!

[suegy3]

Originally Posted by cristinalatina

Thank you for your sweet words! I took antihypertensives (beta blockers) for 3 months after pregnancy, then did a trial discontinuation and it was down to 130/80. Now 6 months after delivery it's around 120/80. I believe I had some form of pre-eclampsia although I didn't have protein in the urine. Hormonal cause. Walking and other exercise did help, I believe!

Wow! That's great! I thought that once you start taking those medications, that you're on it for life. I'm going to work hard over the next few weeks to reduce my sodium and start walking and meditation instead of doing all that intense exercise to see if that helps.

[Sophie]

if you get right down to it, pretty much most exercise, whether dynamic or isometric, is going to raise your blood pressure during the bout of exercise itself - the question is whether it will raise it to a dangerous extent, and/or whether it will result in lowered resting blood pressure as a long term effect.

That's part of the reason yoga instructors caution against inversions - and breath holding, among other things! - for those with high blood pressure and other associated disorders, because of the possibility of it being raised even further.

However, I really don't think that *most* poses will cause any more hazard for *most* people than weight lifting, for instance, or moderate intensity cardio.

As for the long term effects of yoga and blood pressure - the usual mix of conflicting studies, but enough that points in the direction of: go ahead and try it, if you don't otherwise have any health issues; if you do consult with your doctor or the yoga instructor.

Cristina - great you were able to get off meds with exercise. Suegy - it's worth pointing out, though, that hypertension associated with pregnancy is somewhat different from that occurring in non-pregnant individuals.

[cristinalatina]

Wow, Sophie, I am impressed. I don't know whether you're a medical professional, but you just said word-for-word what my cardiologist told me.