Deep Breathing Exercises to Lower Blood Pressure

"You don't breathe, you die!" This line perhaps describes the essence and importance of breathing. When viewed critically, breathing goes beyond the realms of just being biologically active and alive! Yes, just breathing is not enough. Then what is enough? To find the answer, just relax a bit, take a few deep breaths, inhale and exhale calmly. Do it just for 2 to 5 minutes! What happens? You will of course realize a positive sense of well-being. You feel better, relaxed nerves and a calm mind. If you are a regular follower of breathing exercises, you will totally agree with me beyond any doubts in your mind. And the reason behind this enhanced feeling of well-being is deep breathing. These relaxation breathing exercises are not a new discovery to the world. Breathing has been realized as a connection between mind and body since thousands of years in the Eastern philosophy (India), China and Tibet scriptures. Deep breathing exercises can help in lowering high blood pressure to a large extent.

Breathing Exercises To Lower Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the force exerted by the heart when it pumps blood into the blood vessels. Also, the arteries resist the flow of blood and hence they exert a resistive force. It is the combination of these two forces that contribute to blood pressure. Generally, hypertension or high blood pressure can be linked to obesity, lack of physical activity and unhealthy habits like alcohol addiction, smoking and drugs and thyroid inefficiency. High blood pressure, if unchecked for a long time, can be life threatening. However, there are many treatments for high blood pressure and various exercises to lower blood pressure. Here, I would like to mention about deep abdominal breathing exercise.

Deep Abdominal Breathing Exercises
This breathing technique is also called as diaphragmatic breathing exercise and it must be practiced nearly twice a day for excellent results. After practicing abdominal exercises you will feel relaxed and the internal rhythm of the body will be perfect. The blood pressure will return to the normal level after some time. Regular practice will show the benefits of abdominal breathing exercises.

• Put one of your hands on the chest and the other on the abdomen. Inhale and take care that while you breathe deeply, the hand on abdomen raises higher than the hand on chest. This ensures that the diaphragm expands enough to put enough air into the lungs.
• Exhale calmly and then start inhaling. Take a slow deep breath and hold your breath for a few seconds. You can count up to seven in order to gain better control. Do not force yourself to hold the breath. Take it easy and hold it just for few seconds.
• Now, at the count of 8, exhale slowly. When all the air is released, gently contract the diaphragm muscles and relax.
• Make sure you exhale deeply without applying too much pressure. Just try to exhale completely.
• Repeat the cycle 4-5 times, with 5-6 deep breaths and 5-6 breathes per minute.

As a general rule, the exhalation time is twice the inhalation time. As you practice and become better, you can stop keeping the hands on the chest and abdomen. They are just meant to give you a feel of the expanding diaphragm.

Ujjayi Pranayama: A Deep Breathing Exercise To Lower Blood Pressure
Ujjayi pranayama is a breathing technique that is effective in raising as well as lowering the blood pressure. It depends on the type of ujjayi pranayama you practice. There are two type of ujjayi pranayama. The forceful ujjayi pranayama and the soft meditative style. For people who wish to lower their blood pressure, the soft style of ujjayi pranayama must be considered. Basically, in this breathing exercise a typical sound is created in the throat during breathing. This sound is different from the sound produced produced by the larynx. Hence, it is named as ujjayi (called as victorious breath) pranayama. For people with high blood pressure, it is advised to practice it slowly and continue only if they feel comfortable doing it. The technique to do ujjayi pranayama is as follows.

• Start breathing slowly, calmly and deeply. Keep it gentle, do not apply too much effort to inhale deeply. Inhale form both the nostrils.
• Contract the back of your throat to a slight extent, while maintaining your posture and keeping your breath constant.
• Now comes the most important part, as you inhale try to make a hissing sound. This hissing sound should be soothing to the ear. The sound should be generated from upper part of the throat. Don't create a sound from your nose!The sound will come automatically due to the air resistance in the throat while breathing. It's simple, just try once!.
• Stretch your inhalation to expand your chest till you feel comfortable. Meanwhile maintain a continuous hissing sound.
• Finally, exhale slowly and completely without any extra tension on any part of the body.

Breathing exercises are a part of Yoga and meditation. They can be very effective in controlling high blood pressure. However, one should take care that breathing exercises to lower blood pressure must be practiced under the guidance of expert yoga trainers. It is a way to avoid any harmful affects that may occur due to incorrect practices of the breathing exercises.