← Yoga & breathing

Calm for raised blood pressure

A deliberately quiet practice for people managing raised blood pressure, with no inversions, no forceful breathing and no breath holding anywhere. It leans on slow movement and long, smooth exhales, which many people find helps them feel less wound up. It sits alongside medical care and monitoring rather than replacing either.

18 min · 11 steps · Beginner · best anytime · for high blood pressure, stress

See a clinician rather than practising if:
  • readings stay very high, for example 180/110 or above, or your usual control changes suddenly
  • chest pain, breathlessness at rest, or palpitations that do not settle
  • sudden severe headache, visual change, confusion, one-sided weakness or slurred speech, which need emergency care

Before you start

  • keep taking any medication as prescribed and know your recent readings
  • a chair or bolster, a folded blanket and a block
  • avoid practising straight after a large meal or strong coffee

0 of 11 done — tick each step as you go

  1. Abdominal (diaphragmatic) breathअधम प्राणायाम2 minutes

    sit comfortably; breathe low and slow, never holding at either end

    Breath · avoid with do not push the belly out forcefully — the movement should be effortless, recent abdominal surgery or hernia: keep the movement small and painless, in later pregnancy practise seated or side-lying rather than flat on the back · how to do it

  2. Mountain Poseताडासन1 minute

    Asana · wall · avoid with low blood pressure (rise slowly), severe balance issues · how to do it · watch

  3. Shoulder Rotationsस्कन्ध चक्र10 rounds each direction

    Asana · chair · avoid with recent shoulder dislocation or shoulder surgery, acute frozen shoulder pain, recent rib or collarbone fracture · how to do it

  4. Standing Side Bendकोणासन4 rounds each side

    keep the reach modest and the breath even

    Asana · chair, wall · avoid with acute low back injury, sacroiliac joint instability, vertigo or dizziness (keep the gaze forward, not up) · how to do it

  5. Cat–Cowमार्जरी–बितिलासन8 rounds

    Asana · blanket, chair · avoid with wrist injury · how to do it · watch

  6. Extended Child's Poseबालासन90 seconds

    rest the forehead on stacked fists or a block if head-down feels pressured

    Asana · bolster, blanket, block · avoid with knee injury, late pregnancy · how to do it

  7. Reclining Bound Angleसुप्त बद्धकोणासन2 minutes 30 seconds

    generous support under the thighs and behind the chest

    Asana · bolster, blanket, block · avoid with knee/groin injury (support well) · how to do it

  8. Anulom Vilomअनुलोम विलोम9 rounds

    gentle alternate nostrils, no retention

    Breath · avoid with blocked nose, never strain · how to do it

  9. Extended-exhale breathदीर्घ रेचक8 rounds

    lengthen the exhale gradually; back off if it feels effortful

    Breath · avoid with shorten the exhale if the following inhale becomes a gasp, stop and breathe normally if you feel light-headed or tingly, not a replacement for prescribed blood-pressure or cardiac medication · how to do it

  10. Humming-bee breathभ्रामरी6 rounds

    Breath · avoid with ear infection, avoid straining the voice · how to do it · watch

  11. Corpse Poseशवासन3 minutes

    head slightly raised on a folded blanket

    Asana · bolster, blanket · avoid with late pregnancy (lie on the side) · how to do it · watch

Cautions for this sequence

  • no inversions, no forceful breathing and no breath retention in this practice; leave them out even if you know them
  • come up slowly from every forward shape, and skip child's pose if the head-down position feels pressured
  • if you feel light-headed on standing, hold a chair back when you move between positions
Cautions carried in from the individual practices (23)
  • Abdominal (diaphragmatic) breath — do not push the belly out forcefully — the movement should be effortless
  • Abdominal (diaphragmatic) breath — recent abdominal surgery or hernia: keep the movement small and painless
  • Abdominal (diaphragmatic) breath — in later pregnancy practise seated or side-lying rather than flat on the back
  • Mountain Pose — low blood pressure (rise slowly)
  • Mountain Pose — severe balance issues
  • Shoulder Rotations — recent shoulder dislocation or shoulder surgery
  • Shoulder Rotations — acute frozen shoulder pain
  • Shoulder Rotations — recent rib or collarbone fracture
  • Standing Side Bend — acute low back injury
  • Standing Side Bend — sacroiliac joint instability
  • Standing Side Bend — vertigo or dizziness (keep the gaze forward, not up)
  • Cat–Cow — wrist injury
  • Extended Child's Pose — knee injury
  • Extended Child's Pose — late pregnancy
  • Reclining Bound Angle — knee/groin injury (support well)
  • Anulom Vilom — blocked nose
  • Anulom Vilom — never strain
  • Extended-exhale breath — shorten the exhale if the following inhale becomes a gasp
  • Extended-exhale breath — stop and breathe normally if you feel light-headed or tingly
  • Extended-exhale breath — not a replacement for prescribed blood-pressure or cardiac medication
  • Humming-bee breath — ear infection
  • Humming-bee breath — avoid straining the voice
  • Corpse Pose — late pregnancy (lie on the side)

Source: Ojastha editorial — classical hatha yoga and modern therapeutic yoga practice

Reviewed by hraovvs@gmail.com

Educational yoga and pranayama guidance, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing a diagnosed condition, check with your clinician and learn these practices with a qualified teacher.