Yoga for hypertension and high blood pressure: is it possible and how to do it correctly?

Techniques for treating hypertension

Yoga against hypertension is a whole set of exercises aimed at normalizing blood circulation and relaxing muscles.
All of them are easy to perform and quite effective:

1. Shavasana. The exercise consists of alternating leg raises for two minutes. Inhalations and exhalations are calm, deep, even.
2. Corpse pose. This unattractive posture is very effective for high blood pressure. The essence is to raise and tilt your arms behind your head as you inhale, and return them to their original position as you exhale. The exercise is performed lying on your back, with complete relaxation.
3. Sit on your buttocks, legs extended forward. As you exhale, reach your feet with your hands and hook them onto your toes. Try to reach your chest as far as your legs as possible, this will stretch the spine. At the very beginning, it will be difficult to do the exercise, so you can bend your knees slightly, gradually striving for full alignment.

Breathing techniques

Breathing techniques are useful even at very high blood pressure. Hypertensive patients are recommended to alternate nostril breathing, as well as slow inhalations and exhalations through the nose. A cycle of breathing practices normalizes blood pressure, relaxes and fills with energy.

Meditation

For patients with high blood pressure, meditation and breathing practices are especially useful. After just a few cycles of exercise, patients feel significantly better. This is expressed by stabilization of blood pressure, a surge of strength and energy, and a good and cheerful mood. But it must be remembered that physical activity, even the most minimal, must be performed under the supervision of a trainer. Especially exercises like purna or shodhana.

Mudra that lowers blood pressure

The body is as relaxed as possible, hands on the stomach. It is important to concentrate and imagine how the whole body is filled with energy and light. Then interlace all fingers except the thumbs and index fingers. First, the little fingers are connected to each other, then the ring fingers and finally the middle ones. The index finger of the right hand is straightened and moved to the side, the index finger of the left hand is pressed against it. The thumb on the left hand is moved to the side. Several repetitions reduce blood pressure and increase energy.

Asanas

The following asanas are aimed at normalizing the functioning of the nervous system and stabilizing blood pressure:

1. Paschimottanasana. The essence of the asana is smooth bending forward. The practitioner sits on the floor and straightens his legs. As you exhale, you need to slowly reach your toes, fix the position for 2-3 minutes, and then return to the starting position. It is important to keep your knees straight.
2. Halasana. Pose lying on your back with straightened legs and arms extended along the body. As you exhale, gently pull your knees toward your stomach, lifting your pelvis off the floor. With the help of your hands, your legs are thrown over your head, while your toes touch the floor. This position is held for 3 minutes, after which the starting position is smoothly returned. If you can’t do the exercise right away, you can put a pillow behind your head and lower your legs on it. This will make performing the asana a little easier.

Ayurveda recommendations

According to Ayurveda, hypertension is a consequence of a clogged digestive tract, clogged arterial vessels and regular stress.

It is important to follow a diet that is based on healthy eating. To preserve the beneficial properties of products, they do not need to be heated. It is recommended to avoid foods such as: wheat, rye, barley, oats, potatoes, peanuts, meat, eggs, cheese, butter, bananas, figs and all fatty, fried foods.
IMPORTANT! You need to give up alcohol and smoking!
You should include in your diet: orange, watermelon, apple, plum, amaranth, spinach, cabbage, cucumber, carrots, beets, ginger.

Recipes

Ayurveda has several recipes for lowering blood pressure:

• Mix a teaspoon of onion juice and honey in a 1:1 ratio. Take for 15-20 days on an empty stomach.
• Dilute a cup of milk in three cups of water and cook in it 20 grains (0.0648 grams) of garlic and grapes. Take 15 days or a month in the morning and evening, dividing the dose in half.
• Mix orange juice and coconut water in a 2:1 ratio. Take 0.5 cups three times a day.
• In the morning, it is useful to drink a cup of water, to which you need to add a teaspoon of honey and 5 drops of apple cider vinegar.

Can hypertensive patients do yoga?

It has been proven that yoga not only improves well-being, but also reduces the symptoms of hypertension! Proper daily exercise helps reduce the dosage of blood pressure medications.

Arterial hypertension is not a reason to give up your usual workouts. Exercise therapy is a way to maintain your health and physical fitness. And if you have never exercised before being diagnosed with high blood pressure, then the time to start doing it is now.

For hypertensive patients, it is necessary to learn how to cope with stress. Both regular exercise and other useful practices help increase stress resistance. These are relaxation and auto-training sessions, yoga classes.

Consultation with your doctor and yoga therapist is necessary before starting classes.

These specialists evaluate your overall health and severity of illness. Taking this data into account, goals are set and an individual training program is drawn up.

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Yoga for high blood pressure

Yoga is a set of spiritual and physical practices designed to relax and create harmony in the physical and psychological state.

Yoga exercises normalize the activity of internal organs, calm the nervous system, and normalize tonometer readings.

Those suffering from hypertension should understand that certain techniques can lower blood pressure and increase it. Therefore, it is important to choose the right asanas for classes.

Yoga to treat blood pressure

When should you not do yoga?

Yoga and hypertension can easily coexist. There are whole sets of exercises aimed at normalizing blood pressure. Yoga therapy is indicated for everyone, regardless of medical history and age. Hypertensive patients only need the selection of special techniques. Such people should warn trainers about health problems and train in separate groups.

The world of yoga consists of a huge number of asanas, differing in intensity and impact on the human body. Not all of them are allowed for hypertensive patients, as they can cause harm.

For patients who have recently suffered a serious illness or surgery, a special set of exercises is selected. They are easy to perform and do not create additional stress on the body. Particular attention is paid to patients with diseases of the joints and skeletal system. Their training is carried out with extreme caution.

Hypertensive patients are not recommended to use techniques that increase intracranial pressure and have a stimulating effect on the nervous system.

These techniques include:

• dynamic exercises that put a double load on the body;
• raising legs while lying down;
• breathing techniques based on short and quick breaths (Bhastrika, Kapalbhati);
• prolonged fixations of the body;
• deep body deflections.

Note! It is not recommended for hypertensive patients to perform inverted poses, as this increases the risk of blood vessel rupture .

If you experience severe facial flushing or rapid heartbeat during yoga practice, you should lie on your back and begin moderate belly breathing. Inhalations and exhalations are smooth and deep.

Hypertensive patients are recommended to exercise according to an individually designed program, which can be adjusted based on the results achieved.

Contraindications

Since inverted poses provoke an increase in blood pressure, they are not recommended for hypertensive patients.

Other dangerous practices should also be avoided:

1. asanas that carry heavy cardio load;
2. deflections;
3. deep crunches;
4. strength exercises with long-term fixation;
5. delays;
6. breathing exercise “kapalabhati”, aimed at cleansing the lungs;
7. breathing exercise “bhastrika”, simulating the work of a blacksmith’s bellows.

While practicing yoga for hypertension and feeling well, you should not forget about regular medical examinations.
Controlling your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and other risk factors can help you stay in good shape and reduce the likelihood of severe hypertension relapses. Author of the article Svetlana Anatolyevna Ivanova, general practitioner

A set of asanas to normalize blood pressure

You need to work with a specialist to create a set of exercises for self-study. It is important to consult a doctor about the advisability of exercise. The complex proposed below will help normalize blood pressure, relieve tension in the cervical spine, strengthen the muscles of the shoulders and chest, and relax the body. Breathing will slow down, the nervous system will calm down. But do it after your doctor approves it.

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Anuloma vilomapranayama (alternate nostril breathing)

Exercise helps reduce psychological stress. Execution sequence:

1. Close your right nostril with your thumb and inhale deeply.
2. Exhale through the left nostril.
3. Repeat similar steps with the left nostril. Or as shown in the photo.
4. Do 6-8 times.

Paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)

Helps stretch the calf and back muscles. Paschimottanasana helps get rid of insomnia, minor psychological disorders and high blood pressure. Execution:

1. Sit on the surface, straightening your lower limbs, pull your toes towards you, place your hands on your hips.
2. Hold your knees with your hands (do not bend your back).
3. Stretch your spine forward and upward, to the maximum, point your head forward.
4. Relax your back muscles and lower your body down, pulling the top of your head forward.
5. Stay in the pose for at least 40 seconds.
6. Gradually come out of the pose into an i.p. position, raising your torso.
7. Do 4-6 times.

Goasana (table pose)

The abdominal and back muscles will gain firmness and elasticity. Procedure:

1. Get on all fours, thighs perpendicular to the body.
2. Slowly, take your left leg back, straightening it, and pull your right arm forward.
3. Become a member of the IP and repeat the asana, changing arms and legs.
4. Repeat 4-8 r.

Marjarisana (Cat Pose)

The chest and neck muscles are strengthened.

Performance:

1. I.p. previous, head down.
2. Inhale, lift your head up, pull your body forward.
3. Exhaling, bend your back and lower your head.
4. Repeat 5-8 times.

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Helps stretch the spine and upper arm muscles. Execution order:

1. Stand with your legs together, hands at your sides. The middle part of the sole is pressed into the floor, the toes are spread apart.
2. As you inhale, stand on your toes and slowly raise your upper limbs higher.
3. Exhaling, gently lower your arms.
4. Repeat 4-6 r.

What does yoga have to do with the cardiovascular system?

Arterial hypertension is a persistent increase in pressure due to prolonged vasospasm. The main causes of the disease are chronic stress, poor diet and physical inactivity.
Regular yoga classes have a beneficial effect on the state of the cardiovascular system:

• reduces stress levels;
• increases psychological resilience;
• increases muscle elasticity, flexibility of the ligamentous apparatus;
• increases tolerance to physical activity;
• promotes better oxygen saturation of vital organs;
• improves venous outflow;
• reduces afterload on the heart;
• normalizes vascular tone.

Changes in clinical parameters in patients practicing yoga:

• decrease in BMI by an average of 0.77 kg/m2;
• decrease in SBP (systolic) by an average of 5.21 mmHg, DBP (diastolic) by 4.9 mmHg;
• reduction in total cholesterol by an average of 18.48 mg/dl, LDL by 12.14 mg/dl;
• decrease in heart rate by an average of 5.27 beats/min.

How do such practices affect blood pressure?

In yoga, there are many practices and techniques aimed at both reducing and increasing blood pressure.

Breathing, meditative and relaxation techniques help reduce the total peripheral resistance of the bloodstream and, as a result, stabilize blood pressure. Certain postures can influence the tone of the vascular wall and normalize low levels.

Mechanisms of influence of “asanas” on blood pressure:

• Mechanical – the involvement of certain muscle groups and a kind of massage of internal organs;
• Humoral – changes in intracavitary and hydrostatic pressure on organs;
• Psychosomatic – elimination of pathogenic stereotypic arcs;
• Reflex – the use of cutaneous and motor-visceral reflexes;
• Stressful – microstress from an unusual body position;
• Hormonal – increased blood flow in the area of ​​the endocrine glands;
• Energy – redistribution, increased circulation of energy.

For what diseases are classes contraindicated?

The use of yoga has a wide range of contraindications:

• 
  Acute infections, injuries - ARVI with fever, purulent diseases, exacerbation of chronic pathologies, severe asthenia, postoperative period;

• Mental illnesses – organic disorders, deviant behavior, schizophrenia, delirium, mental retardation;
• Diseases of the nervous system - inflammatory, degenerative pathologies, atrophy, demyelinating processes, epilepsy, transient ischemic attacks, myasthenia gravis, myopathy, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease;
• Ophthalmological diseases - lens luxation, vascular occlusion, glaucoma with uncompensated intraocular pressure, retinal detachment, incl. and operated;
• Diseases of the heart and blood vessels - rheumatic disease with valve defects, uncontrolled hypertension II-III degree, Angina pectoris III-IV class, circulatory failure class 2A and higher, aneurysms of various locations, pulmonary hypertension with a pressure gradient of more than 40 mm Hg, pericarditis, endocarditis, cardiomyopathy;
• Disturbances of cardiac rhythm and conduction - AV block of II-III degree, paroxysmal tachycardias and arrhythmias, sick sinus syndrome;
• Vascular diseases - subarachnoid hemorrhage, hypertensive encephalopathy, severe stenosis of the cerebral arteries, intracranial thrombosis, Berger's disease, Budd-Chiari syndrome, postthrombophlebitic syndrome grade III, chronic venous insufficiency grade II-III;
• Pathology of the coagulation system - thrombocytopenic purpura, aplastic anemia, hemophilia, von Willebrand disease;

• 
  Diseases of the endocrine system – diabetes mellitus, complicated by retinopathy, nephropathy with stage II-III chronic renal failure;

• Diseases of the digestive system - Crohn's disease, rectal prolapse, hemorrhoids in the acute stage, stage II-III liver failure, cirrhosis of the liver;
• Diseases of the musculoskeletal system - stenosis of the spinal canal, damage to the intervertebral disc in the cervical region with myelopathy, advanced stage of osteoporosis;
• All types of malignant neoplasms.

Exercises contraindicated for hypertension

Hypertensive patients perform inverted asanas with caution. Sharp bending of the body and stopping breathing are completely excluded. Such techniques worsen the well-being of hypertensive patients. Although many yoga therapists note in their practice that soft inverted poses help reduce blood pressure. But only if we are talking about mild hypertension. Therefore, patients with high blood pressure are recommended to gradually increase fixations and leg lifts.

In any case, inverted poses should be treated with extreme caution. If after a cycle of such exercises patients feel well and their blood pressure does not fluctuate, then such exercises are beneficial and do not threaten health.

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If hypertension is unstable, and the patient has a history of a stroke, then inverted asanas will have to be completely abandoned. The same applies to deep arches in the back. It is better for hypertensive patients to exclude them.

Yoga is only useful if the practice is natural. Excessive tension makes it difficult to concentrate, so gradually the body must relax more and more. Thus, the main task of a hypertensive patient is to normalize breathing and complete relaxation when doing yoga.

Causes

High blood pressure occurs due to narrowing of the lumen of blood vessels, which forces the heart to work harder.

Hypertension can occur for the following reasons:

• overweight;
• poor nutrition;
• too intense or sudden physical activity;
• metabolic disorder;
• hormonal changes;
• smoking, drinking alcohol;
• disruption of the kidneys, liver, damage to the small intestine.

In addition, one of the main causes of hypertension is stress, during which a lot of adrenaline is produced.
Reference! Yoga helps with back problems and hemorrhoids, as well as headaches.
Causes of low blood pressure or hypotension may include:

• stress;
• hormonal disorders;
• sedentary lifestyle.

Exercise therapy after hernia removal

To recover normally after removal of a spinal hernia, you cannot do without physical therapy. Rehabilitation takes place in several stages:

1. The first two weeks after surgery. The patient stays in the hospital, must wear a corset, and undergo medication treatment. You can get up for 2-3 days, sitting is not recommended. It is forbidden to lift weights exceeding 3-5 kg, and you cannot do massage.
2. 2-6 weeks. The patient is discharged from the hospital. He must go to the clinic for physiotherapeutic procedures. You can't sit or stand for a long time yet. Weight no more than 8 kg.
3. 1.5-2 months after operation. The attending physician prescribes exercise therapy and massage.
4. 2-6 months The doctor allows you to increase the load when performing exercise therapy. Lifting weights and overworking is still not an option.
5. After 6 months You need to take a course of exercise therapy on special simulators.

Thus, after the operation, the patient is almost motionless for the first two weeks. During this time, the muscles weaken and slightly atrophy. Your doctor will tell you when to start therapeutic exercises. Typically, exercise therapy is prescribed from 6 weeks after surgery. Activities at this time are the same as during the treatment of a hernia, depending on the location of the protrusion. But you can increase the load only by the doctor’s decision.

Read about all methods of treating hernias in our article “Treatment of intervertebral hernia.”

When you can’t do exercises after removal

After removal of a hernia, exercise therapy must be prescribed by a doctor, and the patient must strictly follow his instructions.

For the first time after surgery, you need to wear a corset, which helps the sutures heal. At this time, any loads are prohibited. Weights up to 5 kg can only be lifted with a corset. Active exercises are prohibited, incl. sharp twisting movements.

2 weeks after the operation, the patient is discharged from the hospital, but at this time exercise therapy is still prohibited. Only after at least 1.5 months. (at this point the stitches are tightened) and after examination by a doctor, you can start doing exercises.

Best exercises

The doctor prescribes exercise therapy based on the clinical picture. Classes are only possible under the supervision of a specialist. The main efforts are aimed at strengthening muscle mass and restoring the functioning of the operated part of the spine. If the patient’s condition allows, he is recommended to perform “Half-Cobra”, “Cobra”, “Cat”, turns and tilts of the head, then move on to more complex gymnastics.

6 months after the operation, the rehabilitation specialist prescribes work on simulators. If necessary, the patient undergoes tests, based on which the computer develops an exercise program. The patient is engaged in computerized installations that:

• test the patient’s condition during classes, which allows timely adjustment of the program;
• measure and calculate the patient’s muscle strength and range of motion;
• control the activity, excluding the possibility of injury to the spinal column.

The first exercise therapy sessions after surgery should only be carried out under the supervision of a doctor.

When the main rehabilitation is over, the patient needs to go to group classes in therapeutic exercises. If this is not possible, he can do the exercises at home, taking into account the recommendations of a rehabilitation specialist and exercise therapy instructor.

We use non-surgical hernia treatment techniques
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FAQ

Will exercise therapy help you recover faster after a hernia removal?

Yes, it will help. The main thing is to strictly follow all the doctor’s advice, do not rush, and do not increase the load ahead of time.

Is it possible to do exercise therapy for Schmorl's hernia?

Yes. Exercise therapy can be done for any type of hernia, when the acute pain subsides. The main thing is to choose the right set of exercises. If you have a Schmorl's hernia, you definitely need to pump up and strengthen the muscles, especially the back and abdomen. It is important to remember: weight bearing is contraindicated.

Is it possible to do exercise therapy for a sequestered hernia?

It is possible, but we must proceed from the fact that exercise therapy cannot be done during the acute phase. When the pain subsides, light exercise is allowed after consulting a doctor. Water gymnastics gives a good effect.

Themes

Intervertebral hernia, Spine, Pain, Treatment without surgery Date of publication: 11/12/2020 Date of update: 03/16/2021

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