Yoga For Your Health

It wasn’t that long ago that my doctor informed me that suffered from heart disease and high blood pressure. I knew that I dealt with a lot of stress in my life but I always thought that I could handle it. It seems that the stress was handling me instead.

I had recently turned fifty and had often joked that fifty was the new thirty. So what happened to 30, I asked my doctor? According to me, I had many years to go. Not so much according to my doctor if I didn’t do something to change my health.

The standard approach is to prescribe blood pressure medication or beta blockers. I researched the effects of beta blockers and other typical medications but felt uncomfortable going down that road. I really believed that this was something that had been brought on by my behavior and somehow, by modifying my behavior, I could change it.

My initial focus was on lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. I worked on eating the right foods and slowing increasing the amount of walking I was doing. While I felt better in general, the effect on my blood pressure was minimal.

Then I found out about meditation. There was a workshop being held in my neighborhood and I decided to give it a try. I had tried everything else after all. I did some research and read how meditation is proven to improve ones health in a variety of aspects. One of the most important ways in which meditation helps is in relieving stress. That sounded right for me!

The results of meditation were astounding. As soon as I began working on calming my mind and body and focusing on my breath I could literally feel my pressure lower. It took some work on my part and many times as I began learning to meditate I suffered from, what is referred to as, monkey mind or those endless distracting thoughts of a busy mind that tends to swing from one place to another without any apparent direction or destination. I was encouraged to continue trying however and as I did I found it easier and easier to enter into that place of calm and tranquility.

Because of the meditation, I am happy to say that my blood pressure is currently under control. Granted, I needed to take a global approach to tackle my overall health issues but the most important step I took was to begin meditating. I can’t say enough about the overall health benefits of this timeless and simple approach to healthy and conscious living.