Siobhan Fitzgerald is a well-established Yoga Therapist using movement, prescriptive breath work, and Ayurveda in a very bespoke way. She is the founder of Prana for Life education, and has a book on its way “The Breath Code”. She wants everyone to own ways to fill the void and transform their life.
Knock your hypertension symptoms on the head. These game-changing habits help dramatically! It is the number one disease in the Western world, closely followed by diabetes. Hypertensive people, once diagnosed and on medication, are often told, “This is you for the rest of your life!” Aside from the obvious need to bring your blood pressure down, what are the main issues with this scenario for people who suffer from HBP?
Medication puts stress on your organs. But what is the cause of your hypertension? Have you been given any strategies to keep it down aside from the drugs?
In a busy world, we want a quick fix in order to keep going. We try various hypertensive medications to get things under control, and if one stops working, we try another. Yet, the underlying cause of your hypertension is still there.
Our modern age is fast and furious (if you will excuse the movie tagline); we have less time to stop. But most of what we are doing is keeping our BP up!
My advice in this article is to naturally take steps for prevention and relief alongside those medications, if you are already on them. It is guaranteed to serve you well.
What is causing your hypertension?
Mental tension leads to agitation, a shorter fuse, stress, and anxiety.
Hereditary factors from parents and some races that are more sensitive, such as those of Caribbean origin.
Diet, with obesity being a direct cause due to cholesterol buildup in the arteries and additional pressure on the heart.
A serious lack of exercise can contribute heavily to pressure on the circulatory system. So, how long do you sit each day?
Emotions and personality traits, such as being quick to anger or having a nervous disposition. Highly strung, suppressive, and repressed characteristics are common.
Medication can put a lot of pressure on vital organs, including the kidneys.
So, how can we improve our internal environment and offset what’s going on? Yoga therapy is the best way we can adjust our internal mechanisms and baroreflexes, which elicit change in the body and reduce sympathetic nervous system activity. Tapping into our baroreceptor reflex mechanisms helps regulate BP.
Reduce your hypertension naturally and bring great relief
1. Diet
An obvious one, but incredibly important on many levels. Reducing your salt intake alone will immediately lower your BP. Elevated BP is aggravated by an acidic environment, according to Ayurvedic principles. Some foods cause more distress when consumed regularly:
Red meat products, which raise acidity levels in the blood compared to plant-based protein options.
Acidic foods like oranges, tomatoes, peppers, cheese, and yogurt.
Foods that create more heat (guaranteed your internal thermostat is already up!). Seafood, cold-water fish, chilies, garlic, onions, and alcohol are all big no-nos.
Make the switch to alkalizing and cooling foods:
Protein sources: Lentils, dhals, soya, chicken, or turkey.
Vegetables and fruits: Beetroot (high in nitrates that convert to nitric oxide, widening arteries and improving blood flow), cooling salads like lettuce, cucumber, and radishes (high in potassium, helping control blood vessel damage and increasing oxygen in the blood), carrots, apples, and pears.
Other cooling options: Milk and cream (or coconut milk if vegan); herbs like coriander, cumin, saffron, and cardamom.
For drinks, reduce caffeine and add more lemon juice, which is highly alkalizing. Try coriander seeds (mineral-packed and anti-inflammatory) or fenugreek seeds (break down cholesterol and are rich in flavonoids and polyphenols). Leave a tablespoon of seeds in your water bottle overnight, remove them in the morning, and sip the water throughout the day.
2. Sleep
For every individual, a healthy sleep cycle promotes a better mindset, allows us to heal and repair, reduces stress in the body, and helps us have a more productive day.
The key factor for HBP is controlling hormone levels during wake and sleep rhythms. We want to reduce cortisol and turn down sympathetic activity. Science shows that getting up at 4 a.m. for yoga, breathwork, or meditation is optimal for eradicating HBP. Serotonin levels peak at 6 a.m., so waking up fresh at this time is ideal. Getting to bed between 9 and 10 p.m. helps avoid the next cycle, which could keep you awake longer during the night.
3. Massage your throat
We know the benefits of a good massage: relaxation, calmness, and healing. Here, I’m referring to daily self-massage of the sides of your throat.
Follow the corner of your jaw down to your neck and feel for two nodules at the sides of your throat that feel like ball bearings. These little balls should move under your fingers. Stay on them and massage them. These are your carotid sinuses. Massaging them communicates with the heart and reduces your BP immediately.
Imagine helping yourself relax and reducing tension every day at the source it’s powerful.
4. Breathwork
If you want to rewire your inner world and get on top of HBP for good, traditional pranayama practices are key. Not fads or trends, but science-based, ancient techniques.
Some great practices I use include Kapalabhati, Anuloma Villoma, Ujjayi, and Sitali pranayama. When performed correctly, these techniques gradually change how your system works.
Kapalabhati is controversial, as some believe it raises BP. However, hear me out: it significantly increases heart rate variability (HRV), and good HRV is hugely important! The key is in the approach. Done slowly, gently, and gradually, Kapalabhati has a strong and positive impact on the parasympathetic nervous system, tidal lung volume, arterial congestion, and HRV tone. The calm that follows this practice is a wonderful thing.
Anuloma Villoma, Ujjayi, and Sitali pranayama are also proven to reduce hypertension and provide immense relief.
By incorporating these habits, you can take control of your hypertension naturally, support your body alongside medications if needed, and create a healthier, more balanced internal environment.
Anuloma viloma is alternate nostril breathing. When practiced in the correct ratios, it lowers BP significantly. These two together also start to rewire the nervous system for the better.
Ujjayi is a breath practice with an exaggerated vibration on the glottis. This, in turn, affects the carotid sinus, bringing purification and calm. Both the vagus nerve and the carotid sinus lie side by side and get a gentle massage every time you breathe like this, gradually reducing your resting heart and pulse rate.
Other beneficial practices are Chandra Bhedan (moon breath, which is cooling) and Bramhari (bee breath, which is extremely calming for the mind).
Pranayama also increases the oxygen levels in the blood, helping you heal and relax easier. It increases carbon levels, which strengthens the nervous system, and the mind is relaxed, damping down sympathetic activity. I can’t speak highly enough of the importance of having a regular breath practice for anyone! It is a total and complete game-changer when you learn from a traditional lineage. You should always try to find someone who is well-versed in pranayama to teach you.
If all of the above is overwhelming, my advice is to start by counting a normal exhale, then halve that number for your inhale. Find a quiet spot and just observe the flow of breath in and out of the nostrils. It must be the nostrils, as this produces more of that delicious nitric oxide that helps our BP situation. Now slowly count out the inhale, say three counts, and the exhale, perhaps four or five counts, aiming to comfortably get to six. So the ratio is 1:2, or your exhale is double your inhale. This breaks the stress mechanism. If you can pay attention to your abdomen during the breaths, it should gently move in towards the spine on the exhale. In the beginning, focus on just the exhale, and over time, as you get really good, try belly engagement on both cycles. This alone works.
A note: Do not engage in breath-holding. It is enough without this added practice, which, for HBP, could put things back into reverse. The advanced pranayamas are prescriptive and highly effective. Stage one will lower your heart rate; stage two will affect your physiological make-up; and stage three will fully restore your limbic rhythm.
5. Soundings or vibrations
Singing, chanting Om, and bee breathing, vibrate in the throat area and directly over the carotid sinus and vagus nerve, a double whammy of tranquility for the body and mind. Destress and feel happier by taking a daily dose of humming, singing in the car on the way to work, or even practicing on your yoga mat in the morning, evening, or anytime of day. It is just plain easy to fit this one in, and it's totally free! So, no excuses, ever. Just do it and see how you feel.
6. Yoga
Yoga practices really make a difference and are life-changing. Yoga can and will rewire your system over time. It will reset the limbic system and is the best practice on all levels for high blood pressure.
You just need to take it in daily doses; the effects last around the clock. You will gain balance back in your autonomic nervous system a nervous system reset. When the body is strong, the mindset is too. Yoga brings calm, and meditation comes easier. Slow sun salutations, restful poses, and, over time, flow yoga can help. You will also reduce your waistline and tone the entire body.
Another hugely beneficial part of yoga is learning the stillness of the mind, which gives great relief for HBP. Look for a Yoga Nidra class; these will change your outlook on life.
Conclusion
So there you have it. There are many ways to tackle HBP head-on. This is not a message to drop your medication. It is a message to start making changes to reduce all the symptoms that underlie and are tied to this condition. We can go miles towards significantly reducing BP, and for pre-hypertensive people, what have you got to lose? It's all free, and there are no side effects.
In my twenty years of working with a great research center in India, I have been authorized to teach in this lineage. Ayurvedic medicine sees each health condition through a lens that breaks the makeup of each individual into a combination of five elements. People with hypertension have some of these five elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) in higher amounts. The key in treatment and prevention is to live a life eating foods and herbs that offset the imbalance (foods have their own elements too), using breathwork and meditation (which offset the internal condition to balance), and practicing yoga postures to create a synergy of lifestyle changes that all work together in a reduction approach. Reducing the elements that are causing the problems and, on a daily basis, creating what the body craves most: homeostasis.
You can find Siobhan Fitzgerald here, Yoga therapist and lifestyle educator.
Visit or learn more about the research center and receive treatment by Ayurvedic doctors here.
Read more from Siobhan Fitzgerald
Siobhan Fitzgerald, Yoga Therapist and Breath Master
Siobhan Fitzgerald is a lifestyle educator focused on filling our void through rewiring our brain using breath and yoga therapy. A fusion was unique for every soul. Working with a one-hundred-year-old lineage, the practices lead to a life free from emotional pain and a hollow void we are compelled to try and fill. Her goal is to liberate us from that mindset and give us transformational tools that change and evolve with you. Healing her trauma this way after failing on so many other levels. Her mission: To invoke positive change within and your window on life.
