I am sure you have made a few New Year’s resolutions for 2011. For some of you its “get healthy” or, “lose weight”. Since one in three adults in the United States have high blood pressure (HBP) according to the American Heart Association, many of you (or your loved ones) have such HBP condition or prehypertension. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) states that high blood pressure was listed as a primary or contributing cause of death for 326,000 Americans in 2006. Also it says that in 2010, high blood pressure will cost the United States $76.6 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work. So, if you have HBP, one of your New Year’s resolutions should be lowering it. Yes, diet and exercise are very important factors , but adding the following activities (or movements) in to your daily life will help lower HBP too!
1.Feet Up
If you see a Doctor for HBP one of the first things they prescribe is a diuretic (medicine to increase urination). However, instead of using a diuretic, you can do this simple exercise: lay on your back with your feet and legs up against a wall. Your hips should be within 1 foot of the wall. While staying in this position for 15 minutes, stretch and move the feet. This will naturally increase your urination.
2.Standing Exercise on the train
Stand with your feet pelvis width apart.. Your feet should be parallel. Slightly bend your knees, and keep the weight on the back of your feet. You can hold onto a pole if you need to, but its better if you don’t. When you start feeling strain in the insides of your leg muscles, your blood pressure goes down.
3.Seated
While you are sitting in your chair at work, lift your feet up from the ground and hold for 5 minutes. Breathe from your abdomen. You can do this every hour.
4.Bathing
Take a long bath in a hot tub. The water temperature should not be higher than 42 Celsius (108 F).
Source: Masanori Kabashima
Your Body, Your Health, Your Life 