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One of the most powerful (and often overlooked) ways to reduce high blood pressure is through the use of meditation.
If you have high blood pressure, the most important things for you to do are to get lots of exercise and reduce your salt intake. There are also many natural home remedies to reduce high blood pressure. But one of the most powerful (and often overlooked) ways to address hypertension is through the use of meditation.
When you meditate, you feel relaxed, lower your stress levels, and reduce some of the hormones responsible for stress. This can help to bring your blood pressure down, and when incorporated into your daily routine, to keep it at a manageable level.
What’s Happening In Your Body?
During stressful times, the body releases antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which causes your blood vessels to constrict. This is how your blood pressure increases — the pathways become smaller, but the volume of blood remains the same.
Your blood pressure is constantly changing with your state of mind. When you are stressed for an extended period, your blood pressure remains high, and your body reprograms itself to think this is normal. This is where meditation comes in.
Meditation can treat the root cause of the problem: stress.
Normalizing Your System
The first effect of meditation on your body is that it normalizes your system.
We encounter a lot of stressors in our daily lives. Some of these stressors include arguments, toxic work environments, or even your commute to work. While a little bit of stress is healthy for you to grow, too much of it can raise your blood pressure to unhealthy levels.
With meditation, you can stabilize your mind, and detach your body from the stressors in your life. This allows your body to normalize to its natural default setting.
No Negative Side Effects
While most hypertension medications come with a long list of unpleasant and counterproductive side effects, meditation does not. The only side effects are happiness, peace of mind, and spiritual Awakening. How awesome is that?
Previous Studies and Expert Opinions
There are numerous studies that have demonstrated the therapeutic effects of meditation on blood pressure. These studies also agree that meditation can bring about lasting positive changes in hypertension patients.
In 2013, Drs. Joel Hughes and David Fresco conducted a study to investigate the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on blood pressure. For eight weeks, 56 prehypertensive participants did a combination of body scan exercises, sitting meditation and yoga for at least one hour per day.
The study found a clinically significant reduction in blood pressure. Dr. Hughes also noted that reductions observed were only slightly lower than what could be expected from medication.
So whether you’re taking medication to treat your hypertension or not, meditation can be a very effective tool in reducing your blood pressure to a healthy level.
CLICK HERE to learn the basics of meditation!
