One of the most common illnesses among people in the 21st century is high blood pressure. It is estimated that 1 in every 3 adults in the US have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The center also states that money spent on to cure the disease exceeds over US$46 billion a year, and that women are more affected than men under the age of 45, while men are more affected than women over the age of 65.
Here at Qiful Living, we never discourage someone to deviate from their doctor’s recommendation or prescribed medical path, but we would like to point out some easy exercises that have been known to help people recover from this illness that are free of charge and can be done easily from the comfort of your home. These practices may seem unrealistic, but in fact are direct massage techniques linking to the body’s core energy centers associated with blood pressure. For every part of the body it has an energy channel that connects to various other channels in the body and related organs, so understating this connection and approaching blood pressure healing techniques in a holistic method is necessary.
The Practices
To begin, massage the middle point of the palm, which can be more precisely reached by curving your middle finger down. Use your thumb of the other hand to press down and massage this in a circular pattern for about 2 minutes on each hand. The point has a strong connection to the heart and brain, and is good for people with high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
The next exercise you can do is probably one of the most recommended exercises from Spring Forest Qigong in its Head to Toe Healing book, and can be used to either increase or decrease blood pressure. Take one hand at a time and massage the forefinger and ring finger. If you have high blood pressure start from the base of that finger and massage downwards while saying to yourself, “All my channels are open, my blood pressure is down to normal.” Do this for both fingers and alternate hands after each hand has been massaged for about 2 minutes. To increase blood pressure, massage upwards from the base of the fingers. The heart channels are located in these two fingers, and blood pressure has a lot to do with your heart in addition to the kidneys and liver.
Another key area that runs along energy channels affecting high blood pressure is a spot about 4 inches above your navel. With your middle finger, press into this point and massage firmly in a circular direction either way for about 1-3 minutes. In addition to helping alleviate high blood pressure, this can also help with nausea, stomachaches and insomnia, as the stomach channel runs through here as well.
Western medicine in fast agrees kidney diseases affect blood pressure, as do lack of exercise and irregular diet. Exercising daily and eating healthy are two great ways to improve this, and we also recommend one of the many active Qigong exercises from Spring Forest Qigong’s Level 1 Book to help you stimulate your body’s energy. Qigong is a great way to get the blood moving, which in turn can help the body’s energy get cranking and perhaps even persuade you to be more active. Qigong is very good for the kidneys and liver, and doing various tapping exercises in these areas helps the body stimulate energy there.
Meditation meanwhile is also a great way to combat high blood pressure as it releases stress. Many Western medical experts agree that stress is linked to high blood pressure so using techniques such as Mindfulness Meditation with deep breathing are a great way to calm the mind and hence reduce stress and anxiety. From the perspective of many schools of meditation, emotions only exist as so much as an individual allows and perceives them to exist in the mind, so if combatted with mind techniques that see through and alleviate the afflictions causing such illness than an individual can improve both his or her mental and physical state of being. If combined with Qigong exercises both in the massage and active exercise format, in addition to improved diet and exercise, we think you will definitely benefit.
For more info on how to meditate or how to practice SFQ Qigong exercises, make sure to check out the Qigong and meditations sections for more info.