Breatheasy slow breathing exercises - review

High blood pressure is on the increase among citizens of the Western world and according to researchers it is quickly reaching epidemic portions.

Now hang on. Don't panic. High blood pressure isn't contagious. It's the result of a number of factors.On top of that, controlling high blood pressure can be accomplished using natural methods, like Breatheasy exercises, without the need for medications.

The biggest cause of hypertension (another word for high blood pressure) is 'unknown'. Other contributing factors include bad diet, lack of exercise, obesity, smoking, and genetics. That's right. High Blood Pressure tends to run in families.

So why are people so concerned about high blood pressure if so many of our kinsmen have it? Because it wears out the body faster than need be leading to premature disability of death through stroke or heart attack. And who wants that?

So off to the doctor we go and usually come out with a prescription to control blood pressure. But there are major problems with blood pressure medications such as:

• They don't always work.



• They can have undesirable side effects - like coughing, loss of energy and libido,among other things.



• They don't 'cure' high blood pressure - just control it - which means you have to take them for life. Yep you become a blood pressure medication junkie.


Thankfully there are a number of ways to achieve high blood pressure control. Simply by reducing your stress levels you can help bring your blood pressure back to safe levels.

The most popular form of stress reducing exercise is slow breathing. This exercise consists of consciously regulating and slowing your breathing to approximately 6 breaths a minute for around 15 or so minutes.

I try to take off 15 minutes a day to do this exercise. The benefits are many including enjoying a calmer and focussed mind and lower blood pressure.

If you have a blood pressure monitor try this for yourself:

Take your blood pressure reading then do a 15 minute slow breathing exercise taking 6 or so slow, deep breaths a minute.

Try to stay focussed on your breathing but if you get distracted by other thoughts just let them pass by like clouds in the sky without getting too attached to them.

After 15 minutes take your blood pressure again. It will often be up to 10 points lower with your heartbeat much slower too.

Now what's the sense of only temporarily lowering your blood pressure - you ask? Theory has it that if you practice this kind of stress relieving exercise 15 minutes everyday it will have a cumulative effect in reducing your blood pressure permanently.

Practice seems to bear that theory out for me. Since starting slow breathing exercises I have seen my blood pressure drop over 50 points and stay in the healthy range.

Of course I also improved my diet and engaged in physical exercise so I can't say categorically that slow breathing exercises are solely responsible for my permanent drop in blood pressure. But I believe it has had an overall beneficial influence - not just for my blood pressure but my overall sense of well-being.

To assist me in my slow breathing I listen to David O'Hara's Breatheasy tapes. His audio program includes some 50 plus tracks of different kinds of music with breathing cues each lasting 15 minutes.

It's easy to regulate your breathing by listening to these tracks and given the wide variety of accompanying music there's bound to be something for everyone. I have a few favorites. You can check out some samples on his website www.highbloodpressurehq.com.

Another version of the slow breathing is a machine they called RESPaRATE. It's a little box with headphones that can help you do breathing exercises and lower your blood pressure. I haven't tried one of these machines so I can't give them a users review but I can vouch for the principle and effects of slow breathing exercises.