Research shows that yoga for high blood pressure may be an effective type of exercise to improve blood pressure control.
Shavasana yoga for high blood pressure was researched by Sundar S et al (1) in a study which included 25 patients with hypertension. Individuals performed 6 months of yoga, and either received no antihypertensive drug treatment (n=20, Group A) or took antihypertensive drugs (n=5, Group B). Both groups had a significant reduction in average systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In group B, there were significant reduction in the amount of antihypertensive drugs. In group A, 65% of patients’ blood pressure was controlled without the use of medication. Unfortunately, after practicing yoga for high blood pressure, it returned to pre-Shavasana levels.
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Patel C et al (2) randomly assigned 34 patients with hypertension to 6 weeks of either yoga relaxation exercise or placebo using general relaxation. The yoga for high blood pressure was reported to have significantly decreased on average, from 168/100 to 141/84 mm Hg. The placebo group lowered blood pressure from 169/101 to 160/96 mm Hg. When the placebo group switched to yoga relaxation, their blood pressure fell further.
Siu PM, et al (3) randomly assigned 182 patients with metabolic syndrome an average of 56 years old to 1 year of yoga or a control group. The intervention was found to reduce central obesity and showed a trend towards lower blood pressure.
Not All Research Shows a Benefit of Yoga for High Blood Pressure
Wolf, M et al (4) randomly assigned Kundalini yoga for high blood pressure to 95 hypertensive patients to be done at home for 15 min twice daily for 12 weeks and were compared to a control group. A reduction was seen in both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure for both groups (-3.8/-1.7 mm Hg for yoga and -4.5/-3.0 mm Hg for control groups, respectively). The reduction of blood pressure was seen in both groups, but the yoga group’s blood pressure was not worse than the control group. The study was not clear on the amount of blood pressure medication used and depended on compliance of patient reporting.
Cohen D et al (6) randomized subjects with pre-hypertension or hypertension to one of 3 groups. These included a yoga only group, a group educated in diet and exercise, and a 3rd group combining yoga, diet, exercise, plus education. Baseline blood pressure was obtained, and then repeated again at 12 weeks and 24 weeks. The findings included mild lowering of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in all 3 groups at 12 and 24 weeks. The lowering of blood pressure in the groups which performed yoga was not any better than the groups with
How Does Yoga Work to Lower Blood Pressure?
Cramer H. (5) reported that the breathing and meditation component rather than the physical exercise of yoga for high blood pressure. The author reported that the mechanism of action by yoga for high blood pressure is an increase in parasympathetic activation and GABA activity to counteract the sympathetic nervous system.