Yoga to reduce hiegh blood pressure
Halasana (Plow Pose)
Experiment
with this pose using blankets, a bolster, and a chair for support. If you feel
any discomfort, simply come out of the pose and rest in shavasana. Stack three
folded blankets at the end of your mat. The smooth, folded edges of the
blankets should be in line with the edge of your mat. Open another blanket on
the floor in front of your mat for the back of your head, place a bolster on
the mat behind your blankets for your pelvis to rest on, and position a chair
on the floor in front of your mat and folded blankets. Lie down with your
shoulders, upper back, and base of your neck on the stacked blankets, your head
on the blanket on the floor, and your pelvis resting on the bolster.
Reach
your arms overhead and hold the feet of the chair. Push the chair away from you
until your arms are straight. Bring your arms back by your sides and place your
palms on the bolster. Rotate your upper arms outward and open the chest.
Pressing your hands into the bolster, bend your knees toward your chest, lift
your pelvis off the bolster, and take your feet overhead, toes onto the seat of
the chair. Separate your feet as wide apart as the seat of the chair, toes
curled under.
Clasp
your hands behind your back, straighten your arms, and roll onto the outer
front edges of your shoulders. Press your wrists into the bolster and lift the
sides of your chest away from the floor. Relax your throat and allow the back
of the neck to softly lengthen.
Pressing
your toes down, lift the fronts of your thighs away from your head and
straighten your legs. Release the clasp of your hands and rest the backs of
your hands on the floor besides your head, elbows bent at a 90-degree angle.
Keep your legs active but your head and neck passive, and your throat and face
completely relaxed. To come down, bend your knees and slowly roll your upper,
middle, and then lower back to the floor, keeping your head down. Rest on your
back for a minute before rolling to your side to sit up.
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)
Sit on the front end of a bolster and belt the
tops of your thighs together. With your knees bent and your feet on the floor,
lie back onto the bolster. Using your feet to push against the floor, slide off
the bolster just until your shoulders reach the floor and are at the same level
as your head. Then extend your legs straight, backs of the heels on the floor.
Roll
the outer edges of the shoulders underneath you and broaden your chest as you
lengthen your arms alongside the bolster. Turn the upper arms out and the palms
toward the ceiling. If your lower back aches or feels compressed, elevate your
feet on a support and lengthen the sacrum and buttocks toward your heels.
Some asanas work better than others for lowering blood
pressure--for example, cooling poses, such as forward bends where the head is
supported.
Relax
your throat and allow the root of the tongue to descend toward the back of the
throat. You can close your eyes and gaze inwardly toward your chest, so that
your forehead and cheeks soften and release completely. Relax the area between
the eyebrows and around the temples.
Stay
in this pose for as long as you like—up to 10 minutes; you should feel
completely relaxed. On an exhalation, bend your knees, push your feet into the
floor and slide off the bolster until your entire back comes to the floor. Rest
the backs of your legs on the bolster for a few moments and then roll over to
your right side and sit up.
After
sitting up, you can cross your legs and bend forward to rest your forehead on
the bolster. If your head doesn’t reach, elevate the support. Hold for a half a
minute and then change the cross of your legs and repeat on the other side
before sitting up.
Adho Mukha Shvanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose) with Support
Begin on your hands and knees and place two or three blankets (folded lengthwise) underneath your chest. Press the weight evenly through the hands as you straighten your arms and lift up through the inner edges of the arms. Release your shoulder blades away from your neck toward your hips, straighten the legs, and lift your pelvis up into adho mukha shvanasana (downward-facing dog pose). Separate your feet wider than hip-width apart.
Lift
the pelvis away from the wrists and, keeping the legs firm, press the fronts of
the thighs away from the torso toward the backs of the legs and lengthen your
calves down toward your heels. Extend the inner arms from the wrists toward the
shoulders as you move the shoulder blades away from the neck toward the pelvis.
Let the
back of your neck release down so that your head (somewhere between the top of
your forehead and the crown of the head) can rest on the support. If your head
doesn’t comfortably reach your support, add another blanket. You shouldn’t have
to bend the elbows in order to reach the blankets. If your neck feels
compressed or your head jams into the blankets, lower your support.
When
you can balance the dynamic action in the limbs and torso with the rest and
relaxation in the head and neck, you’ll be able to hold the pose for a few
minutes without feeling strain. When you come down, separate and bend your
knees, sit on your heels, and release your head to the floor in balasana.
Uttanasana
(Standing Forward Bend Pose) with Head Support
Separate
the feet as wide apart as the narrow side of a yoga mat. Align the outer heels
and little toes on the edges of the mat, and place a block at its tallest
height between your feet and in line with your big toes. Depending on your
proportions and the flexibility of your hamstrings, you may need more or less support.
Stack a couple of blocks, if necessary, or put the blocks or a folded blanket
on the seat of a chair to rest your head.
Bend
forward, straighten your legs, and place the crown of your head on your
support. Hold the ankles and spread the elbows apart from each other. Move your
shoulder blades away from your neck, but let the back of your head descend
toward the floor. Even though your head is resting on your support, keep the
majority of your weight in your feet, balancing the weight evenly between the
front, back, inside, and outside edges of the feet. Lift your thighs firmly and
press the thighbones toward the backs of the legs without disturbing your head.
The back of the neck should feel long and the chest broad. Breathe normally and
stay in the pose for as long as you like, up to three minutes. Place your hands
on your hips, inhale, and come up.
Pashchimottanasana
(Posterior Stretch Pose)
Sit on
two folded blankets and extend your legs straight in front of you in dandasana (seated staff pose), feet hip-width
apart. Place a bolster lengthwise on top of your legs, with a folded blanket on
the bolster closer to your feet. Lift the sides of your torso up. If you find
that you’re slumping backward, sit on more support. Extend forward and hold the
outside edges of your feet with your hands. Lengthen your abdomen over the
bolster and rest your forehead on the blanket.
If you
can’t reach your feet, hold a belt around the feet; if your head doesn’t reach
the blanket, rest it on a chair instead, padded with at least one blanket.
Straighten your legs and press the thighbones toward the floor as much as you
can without allowing your heels to lift. Relax the forehead and spread your
elbows as you release the shoulders apart and away from your neck.
Extend
through the backs of the heels and move your back ribs toward your front ribs
down onto the bolster. Keep the back of the neck long and soft and relax your
facial features. Hold for two minutes and then return to dandasana.
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