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Friday, January 25, 2008

Low blood pressure and eat/drink before an early AM yoga class

We have a rule to not eat and drink 2-3 hours before starting yoga practice. In my own experience if I have an early morning class I eat a small snack to engergise the body, especially a piece of fruit and some indian chai. Any caffienated drink is bound to increase your blood pressure so I would certainly take advice of a medical doctor about consuming caffiene drinks if you have low BP before an exercise routine.

Here are some of the poses that Mr. Iyengar recommends for folks with low BP. I would suggest the following as a strarter:
1. Paschimottansan
2. Virasana
3. Padmasana (you could try sidhasana instead)
4. Baddhakonasana

If you are intermediate or advanced add the following:
1. Salamba Sirsasana I
2. Chair supported Hallasana
3. Salamba Sarvangasana

Then end it with:
Savasana or a Supta Badhakonasana

Exercise does tend raise the blood pressure, so I would imagine any exercise that doesnt force your blood to gush down is going to be good. Again I am no expert, I follow Mr. Iyengar's recommendations in his book "Light on Yoga". Please try it and comment here if it helps you. I have the opposite problem, I have high blood pressure, so I practice a different set of poses. If you are a novice, please consult your yoga teacher, or take a yoga class.

Also check out
http://www.yogajournal.com/ for details on the suggested yoga poses.

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