Blood Pressure and Meditation

It is unfortunate in some ways that for many people, meditation smacks of Eastern mysticism for which some form of special spiritual path as to be learned, absorbed and followed.

However, over the course of the twentieth century meditation has, in a sense, been westernised. Teachers and researchers have extracted and separated the mystic from the practical.

True, for many, even in the West, meditation is part of a journey, and given the amount of literature available on the subject, one could be forgiven for feeling a little put off by some of the more mystical properties and terms alluded to.

However, much research has been done in the West which confirms some of the positive benefits meditators have claimed as true for thousands of years.

One of the main benefits concerns blood pressure.

It is certainly true that meditation calms the body and mind and reduces stress. There have been many scientific studies that prove this is fact.

"The Lancet", the famous British medical journal, published a report concerning a group of twenty patients who were suffering from hypertension.

These hypertension patients were taught a number of holistic techniques, including yoga, breath meditation, meditation concentration and muscle relaxation.

After 12 months their systolic blood pressure had fallen by an average of more than twenty points.

Another study published in the "New England Journal of Medicine", involved fourteen patients who suffered from hypertension. They were taught a very simple meditation technique that consisted of counting their breaths for a certain time daily, for a period of six months. At the end of the period it was found that their average systolic blood pressure had gone down by an average of fifteen points.

This certainly does not mean that patients should stop taking medication. However, it does show that meditation can be an effective addition to medication, with no side effects whatsoever.

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