Yoga is an exercise well-known for reducing stress and anxiety, bringing calm and grounding through lowering blood pressure and cortisol, whilst increasing the all the lovely feel good hormones; oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins and dopamine.
That’s brilliant for the soul and mental wellbeing, but can yoga help with heart health, in real terms?
- Reducing stress
As already mentioned, yoga can help reduce stress, which is a major factor in heart disease.
- Regulating blood pressure and cholesterol
Yoga also helps improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels, again, risk factors of heart disease.
- Strengthening heart muscles
Regular movement such as practising Vinyasa, exercises the heart making it stronger.
- Improving sleep
And anyone who has joined me in a Nidra class knows how yoga can help improve sleep quality, keeping cardiovascular functions and anxiety in check.
Basically, to lower blood pressure, blood cholesterol, heart rate and bonus – blood glucose – practise yoga for heart health!
Yoga poses that are best for heart health
All of these poses are uncomplicated and can be held in your own time without supervision. You will be familiar with them all, except maybe the Sanskrit names…
Cobra pose (Bhujangasana)
Part of our regular Vinyasa after lowering to the floor, you can modify the intensity of the backbend to suit how you feel at the time.
This one is great to open the chest and heart, increasing blood flow to the heart and lungs. Cobra pose is especially beneficial for people with desk jobs or sedentary lifestyles. Just remember to squeeze the glutes to protect your lower back.
Bridge pose (Setu Bandhasana)
You can clearly see how Bridge opens the front of the body, allowing a free-flowing supply of freshly oxygenated blood to the heart. This pose is great for improving circulation and lowering blood pressure but also helps calm the nervous system.
Triangle pose (Trikonasana)
Triangle pose, and indeed any yoga pose that twists the body to open the chest (lunge with easy twist and side angle pose for example), is a heart-opening pose that allows energy to flow into the heart. Physically speaking it increases the circulation and heart rate to improve cardiovascular health.
Reverse Warrior (Viparita Virabhadrasana)
Another heart-opener, Reverse Warrior is a big move for the legs too, which raises the heart rate and therefore circulation, again great for cardiovascular health.
Cat Pose (Marjaryasana)
You may have noticed that these poses are all quite strong for the back and involve bending it backwards. Whilst Cat isn’t necessarily considered to be good for the heart, it is good for balancing out all that work and bending the back in the opposite direction for a while.
Then of course, we finish with a little lie-down…
Corpse pose (Savasana)
Savasana is how I end all my yoga classes. After being active and raising the heart rate, circulation and breathing rate, this easing pose helps quiet the body and mind, reducing stress and promoting overall well-being.
If you’d like to try yoga for heart health, the first class is free (remember to bring a mat or ask me for one), or if you’d like to book for the next Yin and Nidra session, which is made up of a series of strong stretches, followed by deep relaxation there is a class on Monday 31st March to celebrate National Bed Month and Stress Awareness Month.