Blood Pressure and Meditation

Blood Pressure and Meditation

Many of the blood pressure medications, the "alpha and
beta-adrenergic inhibitors" work by interrupting the
activity of adrenalin, which excites the body to
"fight or flight," and can raise the blood pressure,
in many people. Meditation works in much the same way.
While one is meditating, one has a respite from those
jumbled thoughts and anxieties experienced in normal,
daily life that cause the body to produce adrenalin,
and other excitatory physic-chemicals. The body has
the respite to return to homeostasis, that is, to
rebalance. If one meditates once or twice every day,
the rebalancing effect is greatly enhanced.

The mind is often and correctly called "a drunken
monkey," because of the constant clamor of disorderly
thought and internal dialogue. Meditation quiets the
monkey, giving the body the ability to heal itself.

Some decades ago, a Westerner, a physician, I think,
wrote a book called "The Relaxation Response."
He noted that people who meditated on the word "one"
enjoyed lower blood pressure, among other physical
and emotional benefits. This was treated as a
significant medical discovery.. which was funny,
since Easterners have employed this technique for
many millennia.

Of course, the primary benefit of yoga meditation is
the elevation and expansion of consciousness,
sometimes to a divine degree. It is often said that
when one prays, one speaks to God, but when one
meditates, one listens to God. 

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