Sticking Your Buns in the Air for Lower Blood Pressure
January 22, 2008 by Liberty Kontranowski
Filed under Easy Health Tips, Exercise, Heart Health, Prevention, Stress, Your Body, Your Mind
Think yoga is nothing more than a hilarious mix of bodily contortions? Strike that mindset in a hurry. In fact, getting all bendy not only tones your bod and relieves stress, it also has fabulous effects on hypertension. And since high blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke, heart disease and kidney problems, sticking your arse up in the air in the name of good health doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?
Here’s the scoop: Research shows that yoga decreases systolic measurements of blood pressure (this is the reading that’s taken when the heart is contracting) and significantly lowers diastolic figures as well (when the heart relaxes). In fact, doing yoga regularly can be as effective as popping a prescription medication for high blood pressure. Crazy.
You know, research shows that 82 percent of heart disease can be prevented through lifestyle changes. So if whipping out some downward dogs and sun salutations can keep me out of the “scary bin” of heart disease statistics, sign me up. Care to join in?
