5 Yoga Exercises to Deal with Hypertension

Yoga exercises possessing tremendous benefits. Practising yoga can relieve the symptoms of several medical conditions or manage them better, hypertension or high blood pressure being one of them. Yoga helps release the accumulated physical stress and tension, factors that contribute to high blood pressure. Moreover, it can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight; the factors that help lower your blood pressure.

Below are some safe and effective yoga poses for blood pressure control.  

Namaste Pose

Sit in a cross-legged position and bring your hands up to your chest in a prayer position. Slowly inhale and exhale through your nostrils.

Tree Pose

The pose helps strength, assists the lungs and improves your balance. The exercise involves taking deep breaths in and out of your nose, which makes the lungs work easily.

To do this yoga asana, stand straight with your feet touching each other. Put your right foot out and bring the right leg up so that the bottom of your foot is against the inside of your shin or inner thigh. Slowly rotate your right hip and knee out to seem like a half lotus. Your arms should be at your sides with palms facing forward. Also, you can fold your hands together in front of your chest as if you are praying. Hold the position for five long breaths before bringing it back slowly to the initial position. Switch legs and repeat the steps.

Leg Up Wall Pose

Also referred to as Vipareeta Karani, this asana ensures adequate blood flow to your legs. 
Lie on the floor, place your hips up against a wall. Keep your legs straight up against the wall. Put your arms at either side with the palms up. Stay in the position for five minutes, breathing in and out from your nostrils. The exercise relieves the pressure of gravity from the heart and ensures that blood flows through it easily.

Child's Pose

Bend your knees to squat and exhale. Drop your knees and forehead to the floor and inhale. Interlace your fingers behind you. Hold the position for three breaths. Inhale and come back to a kneeling position. Repeat the steps. 

Nadi Shodana/Nostril Breathing Exercise

Nostril breathing exercise is breathing in and out alternating between your left and right nostril. The exercise relaxes the nervous and cardiovascular systems, thus, having a positive effect on hypertension.

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position and rest your left hand on your knee. Use the thumb of your right hand to close off your right nostril and take a deep breath through your left nostril. Now, close your left nostril using the index and middle finger and breathe out through your right nostril. Try this for at least 5 minutes per session.

Yoga is most effective to lower blood pressure when coupled with standard medical intervention and necessary lifestyle changes. Some yoga practices can aggravate blood pressure and therefore, it must be done under the guidance of a qualified instructor.

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