The history of yoga stretches back as far as ancient India when people practised it to increase their tranquillity and spiritual insight. Today, many people enjoy it to help them relax and increase their flexibility — and may even improve their heart health.
Traditional yoga is done by slowly stretching the body into a variety of poses while focusing on breathing and meditation. “Yoga is designed to bring about increased physical, mental and emotional well-being,” said M. Mala Cunningham, Ph.D., counselling psychologist and founder of Cardiac Yoga. “Hand in hand with leading a heart-healthy lifestyle, it really is possible for a yoga-based model to help prevent or reverse heart disease. It may not completely reverse it, but you will definitely see benefits.”
Why yoga?
As part of an overall healthy lifestyle, yoga can help lower blood pressure, increase lung capacity, improve respiratory function and heart rate, and boost circulation and muscle tone. It can also improve your overall well-being while offering strength-building benefits.
Yoga also has proven benefits for those who have faced cardiac arrest, heart attack or other heart event, according to Cunningham. “The acute emotional stress of such an event certainly has a significant and adverse effect on the heart,” she said. “That’s where yoga can be a tremendous benefit to manage the stress.” For example, Cunningham said that half of bypass surgery patients go through depression, facing emotions ranging from anxiety to grieving. “All these things come into play when you’ve got a potentially chronic disease to manage for the rest of your life.”
The calming benefits of yoga may help with that — and you may see benefits right away. After your first yoga class, your blood pressure will likely be lower, you’ll be relaxed and you’ll feel better.Long-term, sustained yoga may play a role in improving overall health.
Practice yoga and pranayama to remove your heart blockages
Pranayama (Breathing exercise) in the morning is said to remove your heart blockages. Pranayama is a powerful and effective breathing exercise to improve your blood circulation. Practice seven Pranayama daily in the morning. But those who are suffering from serious heart problems should practice slowly and should not overdo. Doctors also recommending pranayama for heart patients. Yoga is the perfect and a good solution to prevent heart attack and keeps your heart healthy.
Some studies also show that those heart patients that follow yoga treatment for 30 days, show excellent improvement in the function of heart than those follow standard medical therapy. Yes, your dedication and positive approach will cure your heart problems easily.
