Yogic Management of Hypertension and High Blood Pressure

Aim of the Program :

Helping ourselves to understand the existing condition, finding the root cause of the trouble, and creating an opportunity to bring change in ourselves towards healthy life through Yoga and its various components is the aim of this program. Thus relieving from hypertension or high blood pressure.

What is Hypertension or High Blood Pressure?

One of the most common health disorders prevalent today is High Blood Pressure also known as Hypertension, which refers to a consistently elevated blood pressure level as compared to the normal expected values for age and gender.

 Blood pressure is recorded as two readings, namely, SBP/DBP (systolic blood pressure/diastolic blood pressure).  Transient elevations of systolic blood pressure occur in normal people under conditions such as exercise and emotional states such as anger. However, a consistently elevated diastolic blood pressure, which reflects the baseline pressure level in the arterial network, is considered most significant in diagnosis and assessment of the severity of hypertension.

The cause of much of hypertension cases still remains unknown to modern medical science.  This is termed idiopathic or essential hypertension.  At present, the only form of treatment available is anti-hypertensive drugs, which leave so much to be desired.

Some of the causes of hypertension occur secondary to some recognizable physical conditions, such as diseases of the kidneys, aorta or endocrine glands (e.g.  adrenal gland tumour), heredity, age, cholesterol and high fat diet, sedentary lifestyle and smoking.

The yogic management:

According to yoga, the mind is the most important component in the cause of hypertension and is therefore, considered stress-induced psychosomatic lifestyle disorder.

It is the common denominator underlying all the aspects considered by medical science. However, fuller and deeper understanding of the cause of hypertension requires that the list be expanded and the priorities rearranged.  It should be noted down that the word ‘idiopathic’ is not included in the yogic terminology.

Yoga classification, therefore, is as follows:

1. Mental cause: The core or essence of hypertensive disease is in the mind.

2. Pranic  cause:  Hypertension  is  also  associated  with  disturbance in the energy systems of the body.

3. Stress  in  the  personality:  These  factors  are  determined  by  mind  and  should  come  under  ‘mental  cause’  but  are  classified separately for clarity.

4. Physical causes – This aspect includes:

• Lifestyle: modern living, bad sleeping habits, unhealthy diet, smoking, chewing tobacco, consuming alcohol, high cholesterol, being overweight, and sedentary occupation.
• Heredity factors – Family history of HBP
• Diabetes – HBP & Diabetes almost go hand-in-hand. When the insulin in human body cannot process the glucose received from the food, it gets accumulated in the blood vessels, thus increasing the blood pressure and eventually causing Hypertension.
• Age and ageing.

In  yogic  literature,  the  heart  is  not  only  the  centre  of  the  circulatory  system  but  also  the  centre  for  compassion.  It  is  the  physical  manifestation  of  the  psychic  centre  called  anahata chakra, the subtle heart of our being.

Adapting Yoga as Lifestyle through a thoughtful set of Yogic practices, will help in:

• Cultivation of right attitude in life.
• Right understanding of healthy diet & good eating habits.
• Increased physical  resistance.
• Balanced mental energy.
• Emotional  harmony.
• Pranic  balance. 

Conclusion:

This Yoga program aims at enabling an individual to attain and maintain a dedicated perspective to organize towards relief of this stress-induced psychosomatic lifestyle disorder.