https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28384004

Both low blood pressure and high blood pressure can cause significant difficulties for a person's health and wellbeing. We are delighted to share this new systematic review with you today, which looked at the blood pressure response to meditation and yoga.

13 studies are extensively reviewed here. 7 examined meditation, and 6 examined yoga. The meta-analysis indicated that meditation and yoga appeared to decrease both systolic and diastolic BP, which were within similar baseline ranges, and the reduction was statistically significant. In particular, meditation played a noticeable role in decreasing the BP of subjects older than 60 years of age, whereas yoga seemed to contribute to the decrease of subjects aged less than 60 years.

Authors of this review, whilst acknowledging the limitations of this research due to the differences in BP and the participants' ages, conclude that meditation and yoga are demonstrated to be effective alternatives to pharmacotherapy. Given that BP decreased with the use of meditation and yoga, and this effect varied in different age groups, scientifically measured outcomes indicate that these practices are safe alternatives in some cases. Pretty cool eh?!

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