Can Meditation Lower Blood Pressure?

Meditate to De-escalate, Maybe Lose Weight, but not Elevate: Can we lower blood pressure that’s dangerously high via meditation, not medication?

Handy trick: rest your hand on the Omron monitor container to get the suggested 90 degree elbow angle

• If high blood pressure is partly created by stress, and
• if stress is reduced by meditation,
• then can meditation help reduce elevated blood pressure?

1. Turns out the answer might be “no.” 
2. Or “perhaps.” 
3. Or even “yes, indeed.”  Arrrgggh!

I really want the answer to be “yes.”  Turns out it might be, just not as directly as I’d envisioned. Don’t give up on meditation or mindfulness training if you want to bring your blood pressure levels down. Keep reading this post to see the probable connection so you can avoid medication. More to the point, so you can minimize your odds of stroke or heart attack.

In my own case, I needed to try something in addition to all the usual blood pressure lowering advice if I wanted to see my numbers come into the safe ranges. (See my prior post on wanting to solve the surprising mystery of being Stage 2 Hypertensive) 

Stay Calm, Meditate, and Monitor Your Blood Pressure

How to Lower Blood Pressure?

I already exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, keep caffeine and alcohol to extremely low limits, monitor salt intake (popcorn, I still love you!), and don’t smoke. That left “reduce stress,” “sleep soundly,”and “lose weight” as the three remaining pathways to venture down. Given that stress is most likely what caused my weight gain and poor sleep in the first place, I thought I’d tackle these three options via one solution  – committing to a daily meditation practice. (Of course that brings up the next question – can meditation help you lose weight? And sleep better? Um, yeah! Start to learn more about that here. 

As well, I committed to taking frequent  blood pressure readings, courtesy of the EVOLV cuff Omron offered my sister and me. Disclaimer alert: This post is appreciatively sponsored by Omron; opinions sponsored by me and life’s experiences; elevated blood pressure sponsored by …stress???

Thanks Calm and Omron for 39 sessions, and more than 6 hours and 16 minutes of meditation

Combine any of these apps with the Omron EVOLV monitor to reduce stress and blood pressure levels

Meditation Instead of  Medication

As the calendar image shows, I have devoted about 10-15 minutes a day to meditation for more than a month. Most of the time I used the free guided meditations from Calm. Other apps added variety to my listening and mind calming endeavors. Also, I spent a week guest teaching at Rancho la Puerta Fitness Resort, where I attended the meditation classes when my teaching schedule did not conflict.

Hard as it is for me to sit still and quiet — and even harder as it is to quiet my mind, thoughts, and mental chatter — I do find the practice helpful. If you are thinking about mindfulness training to improve your health and happiness, try some of the apps shown in the image from my cell phone. Also, be sure to take readings so you can avoid the silent killer known as high blood pressure.

If you are NOT considering taking up meditation or monitoring your vitals, perhaps reconsider. For one, other than using time, neither meditation nor taking your blood pressure and heart rate readings has a downside.

Can Meditation replace Medication if you have high blood pressure?#ad #Omron #EVOLV
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Benefits of a Mindfulness Practice

• Improves cardio and immune health. Speaks right to my key goal – lowering my blood pressure.
• Induces relaxation, which triggers constricted blood vessels to open, subsequently helping drop blood pressure.  Yes, seeing a pattern here.
• Helps with weight loss .
• Increases self awareness, focus, concentration.
• Slows aging, specifically cognitive decline and telomere shortening. Certainly aids longevity if I don’t keel over from hypertension.
• Encourages following a healthy lifestyle.

In other words, meditation leads to habits and a mental state that drive one to make good life choices such as eating well, moving, staying calm, and so on. At some level, I really don’t care if the connection is a direct cause and effect or an indirect one. I meditate, which prompts me to follow a healthy lifestyle and reduce stress, which in turn may bring my blood pressure back into healthy ranges. 

What ultimately matters is my first and most important question: does meditation lower blood pressure? In my case, it seems to be heading me in the right direction.  Much as I want instant gratification and clear cut results, this process is one of subtleties.  My sleep has substantially improved; my weight has come down a few pounds; my blood pressure still really vacillates. I plan to continue using my EVOLV monitor, tracking the results on the free Omron Connect app, and giving myself more time to bring my readings down as I sleep better and stress less.

To lower blood pressure, try meditation (plus monitoring your blood pressure levels) #ad #Omron #GoingforZero #EVOLV
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ACTION: To find out more about your blood pressure risk level, take a look at our prior posts in this series. Click on the images below.

Going for Zero: No More Strokes or Heart Attacks

Your Blood Pressure: Should You Be Worried?

Your Loved Ones Want You to Be Healthy

Loving Kindness Meditation: Easy and Accessible

Live Better with Meditation, Menopause, and Memory

by Kymberly Williams-Evans, MA

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