Research indicates that meditation, including mindfulness practices, may help reduce blood pressure. The American Heart Association suggests meditation could be used with traditional treatments for hypertension, but notes that more data is needed for a formal recommendation. This is supported by studies on mindfulness-based stress reduction, which found it significantly lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in individuals with prehypertension.

Mindfulness Can Lower Blood Pressure

- Below 120/80 (normal blood pressure)
- Systolic ranging 120-129 and diastolic below 80 (elevated blood pressure)
- Systolic ranging from 130-139 or diastolic ranging from 80-89 (stage 1 hypertension)
- Systolic pressure is 140 + or diastolic pressure is 90 + (stage 2 hypertension)

Blood Pressure Ranges

- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Stroke 
- Dementia
- Aneurysm 

Complications of Uncontrolled High Blood Pressure

- Obesity
- Diabetes 
- Genetics
- Diet (too little potassium and too much salt)
- Stress
- Heavy drinking 
- Age

Risks Factors For High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is when one’s blood pressure, or the force of blood that flows through one’s blood vessels, is too high.  Systolic blood pressure represents the pressure that blood exerts against the walls of the artery. Diastolic blood pressure represents the pressure between the heart’s beats 

University of Delaware

- Anxiety
- Current depression
- Depression relapse risk
- Stress
- Chronic pain
- Emotional distress
- Parkinson's Disease
- High blood pressure
- Sleep problems
- Psychopathy
- Antisocial Behavior
- Antisocial Personality Disorder

Conditions Mindfulness Can Help Alleviate/Treat

The facts about high blood pressure. www.heart.org. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure.

The Facts About High Blood Pressure

Rapaport, L. (2019, February 28). Yoga linked to lowered blood pressure with regular practice. Reuters. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-yoga-blood-pressure/yoga-linked-to-lowered-blood-pressure-with-regular-practice-idUSKCN1QH2MK


Yoga linked to lowered blood pressure with regular practice

Mindfulness practice has the potential to help alleviate eating disorders through its effect on maladaptive cognitive and affective processes. Dysfunctional cognitions fuel negative ideas of personhood or self-worth (such as, negative thoughts of personal weight and shape). These negative thoughts can lead to negative eating behaviors such as binging, purging, or restricted eating habits. Mindfulness techniques are then used as a means of expressing to the individuals that their thoughts are only temporary and do not require immediate self-intervention to mend. Therefore, mindfulness reduces the impact of dysfunctional cognitions on individuals, and thus alleviates/treats some of the mechanisms that support eating disorders.

Alleviates/Treats Eating Disorders

Generally speaking, anxiety is a reaction by the body that ensues negative internal experiences such as negative thoughts or feelings. Physical changes may also follow, such as an increase in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, trembling, and so on.

Anxiety

Generally speaking, depression is an overall feeling of sadness. More specifically, those with depression tend to experience several things such as: an increase or decrease in weight, troubles with concentration, feelings of meaninglessness or worthlessness, thoughts of death or suicide, and so on. 

Depression

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder. It is caused when the nerve cells that produce domaine in one’s brain die.

Parkinson's Disease 

High Blood Pressure 

Antisocial behavior can be defined as delinquent or criminal behavior such as manipulation, lying, and criminal activity such as stealing and assault.

Antisocial behavior

Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by impaired emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls, which most often leads to antisocial deviance and criminal behavior.  It is commonly defined by using three main categories: interpersonal, affective, and behavioral traits.

Psychopathy

According to the DSM-5, antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a complete disregard for the rights and feelings of others. This disregard manifests in several ways, including repeatedly engaging in illegal acts, deceiving or conning others, acting with impulsivity and recklessness, showing irritability and aggression, and failing to fulfill responsibilities like paying debts. Specific examples of these behaviors include involvement in illegal enterprises, cruelty toward others, abandoning jobs with no alternative plans, having multiple sexual partners, getting into frequent fights, and showing reckless disregard for safety, such as through repeated arrests for driving while intoxicated. Individuals with this disorder feel no remorse for their actions and will manipulate, exploit, or abuse others without any sense of guilt.

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