How Yoga Fights High Blood Pressure

Yoga is an easy form of exercise that offers physical and mental benefits. There are numerous yoga poses that are appropriate for you when you need a gentle routine or when you are able to perform vigorous movements. If you have high blood pressure, then performing yoga can prevent additional damage to your heart, arteries or blood vessels. There are several ways that yoga fights your high blood pressure. 

1: Maintaining Your Weight

One of the best ways to reduce high blood pressure is by losing weight. Losing only a few pounds can make a big difference, and by having a daily yoga routine, you can lose weight without worrying about straining a muscle or breaking a bone. To lose the most weight with yoga exercise, perform a rigorous routine at least once a day, or use a milder routine several times a day. 

2: Protecting Your Heart

Yoga can protect your heart by increasing your blood circulation. With better blood circulation, you are less likely to develop plaque in your blood vessels that can create blockages that lead to a heart attack or stroke. You can perform a yoga routine to protect your heart by using a floor or chair routine multiple times each week.

3: Improving Your Breathing

A professional yoga practitioner can teach you how to control your breath while performing poses. Certain types of breathing techniques that include shallow or deep breaths can reduce your high blood pressure within a few minutes. When you are in a situation that is leading to a rapid heartbeat, you can begin a yoga routine to improve your breathing immediately. 

4: Reducing Your Stress

If you have problems coping with stress, then learning yoga can help with eliminating your high blood pressure. A great benefit from yoga is the relaxing poses that are suitable for meditation. When you meditate each day, you are able to focus your mind for several minutes in order to stop thinking about stressful events. Regular meditation is an excellent way to fight your high blood pressure. 

5: Preventing Diabetes Mellitus 

If you have diabetes mellitus, then there is a 60 percent chance of you also developing high blood pressure. To avoid developing diabetes mellitus, you must consume a healthy diet to avoid gaining weight. In addition, experts want you to exercise with yoga routines so that you won’t have high blood sugar levels. When you have high blood sugar levels, you are at risk for also having high blood pressure. 

6: Avoiding Kidney Disease

Protecting your kidneys can help you to fight high blood pressure. Your kidneys are responsible for helping to remove toxins from your body. In a yoga class, you can learn a few poses that can improve your kidney functions. If your kidneys are healthy, then your body’s blood flow improves, helping to prevent high blood pressure. 

6 Dangerous Effects of High Cholesterol

Exceeding a healthy level of cholesterol is an issue that affects more than 100 million Americans, but most do not truly understand the consequences. Any level above 200 mg/dL is out of the safe range because it significantly increases the risk of heart disease and other complications. Arteries gradually become more narrow as the waxy substance accumulates, but actual symptoms of high cholesterol levels are rare. Adults that are not considered high-risk are recommended to have a physician screen their levels every 5 years, but it may be necessary for individuals over 50 to get checked more often. Understanding the dangerous effects of high cholesterol in your body is the first step in protecting your health. 

Chest Pain
Angina is a condition that feels as though your chest is being compressed or squeezed forcibly, and it occurs often when the blood oxygen supply going to the heart is decreased. Coronary artery disease can cause symptoms like chest pain when the arteries are clogged with plaque, so it's important to pay attention to new or changing sensations in the chest. A heart attack can occur if the muscle is completely deprived of oxygen. 

High Blood Pressure
Cholesterol plaque that hardens the arteries puts extra strain on the heart, and the resulting high blood pressure will cause problems. Hypertension caused by extremely high blood pressure may cause issues with vision, breathing, painful headaches, or an irregular heartbeat. People that are lucky enough to experience these symptoms will know that they need to see their doctor promptly, but others suffer from consequences like a stroke or heart attack. 

Heart Attack
A coronary artery that becomes completely blocked is going to restrict the blood supply to the heart. If a life-threatening heart attack does occur, the patient could experience total heart failure or a dangerously irregular heartbeat. Arrhythmia isn't necessarily fatal, but a ventricular fibrillation requires immediate treatment to prevent deadly consequences. 

Stroke
There is a domino-effect of complications that begin with high cholesterol because it causes the initial buildup of plaque in the large arteries. As this leads to high blood pressure, the risk of having a fatal stroke is significantly increased. If the small blood vessels that lead to the brain are blocked and weakened, they can burst to cause a stroke. People that survive a stroke could experience permanent complications like limb paralysis, weak muscles, vision issues, confusion, and speech loss. 

Peripheral Vascular Disease
Clogged arteries that limit the blood supply to the limbs leads to a circulation disorder called peripheral vascular disease. Individuals with this disease often experience pain, dull aching, tingling, and weakness in their legs or feet. Without adequate treatment, the symptoms and physical damage are going to worsen to an eventual heart attack of stroke. 

Chronic Kidney Disease
The renal arteries that supply blood to the kidneys can become clogged with cholesterol plaque over time. Damage to the kidneys becomes more severe as a patient progresses through the stages of CKD. Kidney function may decrease gradually, but the complete loss of function can eventually occur.