Stress Management: An Essential Lifestyle Change to Control High BP

We are all well-aware of how unhealthy eating habits, stress, a sedentary lifestyle, and other habits like smoking or drinking can affect the blood pressure levels of a person. As a result, lifestyle changes are the first thing a doctor recommends to anyone with high BP. The need for immediate management of hypertension cannot be overstated – in addition to the hypertension medication you will be prescribed, stress management is one of the best ways to improve your lifestyle and help your hypertension treatment.Stress can make your heart beat faster and increase your blood pressure as well. There are several ways through which you can manage, control, and deal with stress. Let’s take a look at some of them.

1. Yoga – You must have all heard of how yoga is a great form of exercise to keep your body in shape and mind at peace. Half an hour of yoga every day can be the perfect workout for your body and mind. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, you’ll feel and see the benefits of yoga. Yoga has proven to be a useful therapy to control the mind and help you deal with stressful situations.
2. Meditation – Meditation is an extremely effective stress reliever and also carries many health benefits. While meditation can seem to be a challenge for many, consistent efforts can help you concentrate and get better. Meditation basically helps keep your mind calm and thus helps in effectively lowering blood pressure. There are several types of meditation and separate techniques for beginners. All you have to do is find one that works for you best.
3. Music Therapy – Music therapy has long been used as a pain-relieving therapy in hospitals, as a factor that promotes healing. If you listen to the right kind of music, it has shown to relieve stress by calming the senses of the mind and body. And it has other health benefits too. Studies suggest that listening to the music you like or playing your favourite musical instrument can have a positive effect on your physiology and aid in lowering blood pressure. Include music in your daily life and you’ll find it to be beneficial in more ways than you can expect.
4. Breathing Exercises – Breathing exercises can be performed virtually anywhere and especially when you find yourself caught up in the stressful situations we talked about earlier. Breathing is the most basic function of the human body but also the most important. Therefore, focusing on your breathing and doing it right can relieve stress, lower blood pressure, and maintain overall health. Reach out to the right people to help guide you through these breathing exercises.
5. Tai Chi – This ancient form of martial arts and self-defence has gradually gained importance as an effective technique for stress management. Through coordinated movements involved in this form have been known to calm the mind and benefit the body as well. It’s however necessary to get the right training for this through expert instructors.

Besides the techniques mentioned above, there also exist other methods like Qi Gong (literally meaning energy cultivation), acupuncture, and biofeedback amongst others that help to maintain a stress-free life.

Remember, while these techniques and methods for lowering stress and blood pressure are beneficial, there is no substitute for advice, diagnosis, and treatment by a licensed physician. If you are affected by hypertension, you should seek immediate medical care and consult your doctor before opting for any medicine or treatment or making any lifestyle modifications as well.

Learning to manage your stress, both physical and mental, with tried and tested methods can help control blood pressure to a great extent. As mentioned before, hypertension can be harmful to your overall health. To control it, you need to make certain modifications in your daily lifestyle like cutting down salt and sugar intake, avoiding saturated fats, and the like – we’ve outlined an Indian Diet plan for high blood pressure in this blog post. If you wish to know more of what needs to be done in order to manage high blood pressure, reach out to our expert cardiologists at BPinControl.

Note of caution: This article is for information purpose only. Always consult your doctor in case of any blood pressure or other health related problems.