Can You Relax Your Way to Lower Blood Pressure?

The fastest way to lower your blood pressure is to take a pill. The list of blood pressure lowering medications is endless and the list of side effects is even longer. For people who do not want to take medication there is also a movement toward lifestyle changes that seem to be somewhat effective. Those changes can be vastly enhanced by a practiced form of relaxation.

So we know that blood pressure medicine (a pill) is a fast, easy and nearly foolproof way to lower your blood pressure. We also know that life style changes like increasing your daily exercise, decreasing your weight, cutting out alcohol and cigarettes, and reducing the amount of salt in your diet helps to lower your blood pressure.

But there is one more way to lower your blood pressure and that is to practice a form of meditation called relaxation response. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital compared the lifestyle changes mentioned above with the relaxation response technique and found that blood pressure actually got lower in the group that practiced the relaxation response, plus more of the relaxation response group were able to get off at least one blood pressure medication.

Harvard Health Publications states that the relaxation response was developed by Harvard's Dr Herbert Benson and has been effective in reducing heart rate and breathing rate as well as muscle tension and, most importantly, blood pressure.

Here is how it is taught:

- Select a word or phrase that has a personal and peaceful meaning

- Sit quietly in a comfortable position in a quiet room and close your eyes

- Concentrate on your feet and relax your muscles, then relax successive muscle groups moving to your calves, your thighs, your abdomen and back and so on up to you neck, face and scalp

- Breathe slowly through your nose while you concentrate on your focus word or phrase

- If other thoughts intrude do not worry about it just return to your chosen word and continue the slow breathing

- If you notice any tensing of muscles repeat the muscle relaxation technique and go back to the slow breathing and say your chosen word or phrase silently each time you exhale

- Continue for ten to twenty minutes

- When the time has passed open your eyes but do not just leap up immediately, let the relaxed state envelope you so it carries with you for the day

- Practice this technique twice a day

Remember the researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital? Their results show that 32% of the volunteers who learned the relaxation response were able to get off at least one blood pressure pill. The lifestyle only group had only a 14% success rate.

Not all high blood pressure problems are stress related and of coarse not all people with high blood pressure are overweight or smoke or drink excessively. There are a multitude of things you can do if you have high blood pressure and you need to experiment a little with your Doctor's guidance to find the right combination of techniques for you.

Resource:

Information from Harvard Medical News Letter, healthbeat@mail.health.harvard.edu Sept.10, 2010