Qigong for hypertension

[Apech]

Can anyone link me to (or describe) any useful techniques for dealing with hypertension (high blood pressure) - a friend of mine is trying to come off drugs with nasty side effects. I am a practitioner but my teacher has gone back to Taiwan.

 

Thanks.

[emily]

hey

 

i don't know of any qigong for hypertension specifically but my dad had problems with this last year. he went to the doctors due to headaches and his blood pressure read 200. the doctor recommended medication but my dad refused.

 

he now swears by apple cider vinegar. hes consistently 120-130 now, ocasionaly in the 140s when hes had a stressful day but that is quite normal for a man in his 60s apparently.

 

he takes a tablespoon of cider vinegar and a tablespoon of manuka honey with hot water each morning.

 

also watches diet, still drinks some wine but not too much. certain foods can aggrevate it like ginger and licorice, ginseng also raises his levels.

 

id recommend your friend to do as much research as possible BEFORE coming off the drugs, as the reason my dad didn't want to start taking them is they can be extremely difficult to come off safely and in some cases can apparently be fatal.

 

as far as qigong goes i think anything that produces a highly relaxed state would ease hypertension. im using spring forest qigong and really enjoy that because its very simple which is preferable when teaching yourself, so perhaps a simple method like that would be best as overloading with complicated techniques could just add stress.

 

yoga nidra i think would be fantastic. you buy cds or books (probably a torrent or two out there too ). its the most relaxing practise ive ever done, totally switches off the body and mind, just left with a calm awareness. in the book i have its said to be brilliant for people with stress related conditions as it allows them to relax beyond the level they would intially achieve with meditation.

 

hope this is of use

[Jedi777]

I second the ACV it works!!

[mjjbecker]

..

Edited June 29, 2009 by mjjbecker

[Apech]

Emily,

 

Thanks for the cider vinegar idea I've been looking that up on the internet. I actually meant to ask about diet tips as well in my OP.

 

My friend has made up her mind to get off the meds because they made her feel terrible. I've checked this too and it seems that its common for coughs, moods swings and so on. She's going to give natural therapy a try.

 

I agree about relaxing Qigong but I think I've read somewhere about specific practices (might be long breathing) - I take your point mjjbecker but I am assuming that over a period of time Qigong is going to lower blood pressure - surely because of increased balance and energy circulation. I wasn't thinking of anything too powerful anyway just gentle beginners stuff.

 

Jedi777 - thanks for your confirmation of ACV - do you know someone who's used it?

[Jedi777]

Yes I did --ACV with a clove of garlic and a few oz of water and some honey blended up and drank everyday

Also magnesium will do wonders for highBP---google magnesium and high bp

[karen]

High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol--The Fallacies

[Apech]

Thanks for all your suggestions - Apple Cider Vinegar is being purchased as we speak.

[freesun]

If the bloodpressure "jumps" meaing that it keeps moving from high to low and back, he could have problems with entities. Not to worry though.

[Apech]

If the bloodpressure "jumps" meaing that it keeps moving from high to low and back, he could have problems with entities. Not to worry though.

 

 

Freesun could you expand on the entities - what do you mean? I think her blood pressure does go up and down - and why not to worry????

[freesun]

Freesun could you expand on the entities - what do you mean? I think her blood pressure does go up and down - and why not to worry????

 

This was the case with a family member. She had high blood pressure that would constantly pass 200 and any meds she took showed almost no effect at all, barley pushing it in the 180 range. Apperantly a spirit that got attached to her acted like a second heart of sorts and messed things up. She recieved a clearing and the effect was instantaneous, the blood pressure dropped to normal levels immediatly.

I said not worry, because to have spirits/entities attached to oneself is not uncommon at all, although they don't always have such a profound physically noticeable effect.

[Apech]

My friend came off meds and blood pressure shot up. So she is now back on at double the dose. Current approach is to take the ACV + honey and meds both at once. Then if pressure goes down phase out the meds.

 

I would still be interested if anyone knows of breathing exercise and/or qigong (or anything) that might help cos she wants to manage her blood pressure by natural means.

 

Thnx.

[karen]

First of all, remember that the numbers we've been told are dangerous may not be. After the natural functions have been supprsesed by drugs, it's expected that the body will react at first. What is safe for a particular person needs to be judged on an individual basis, by the kind of practitioner who isn't biased by the medical establishment's tactics to get everyone on drugs, but can see the situation more objectively.

 

There are many things that can help the symptom, but you're not removing the cause by addressing the symptom. In some cases hypertension might be caused by a simple imbalance - for example, a mineral imbalance or dehydration, then that's fairly simple to corret. But usually there are deeper mental/emotional/spiritual issues that need to be addressed to remove the cause, and that can be done by a skilled homeopath and can take some time to work through the layers.

 

Remember that any program to correct a chronic condition must be individualized, so beware of testimonials that say "this protocol cured my high blood pressure." Maybe it helped that particular person, but on that basis alone you don't have a clue as to what it will do to the next person.

 

That said, there are some things that are safe to try on her own, but best under the guidance of a good naturopathic type practitioner. Don't make too many changes at once - start with just one intervention like EFT.

• Learn EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) for on-the-spot anxiety management.
  
• Optimize water intake, use purified, unfluoridated water
  
• Get on a diet that's correct for her typology. Correct insulin resistance and remove anything interfering with mineral absorption (whole grains and beans unless they're presoaked or sprouted)
  
• Correct dietary fats
  
• No soy unless fermented as in miso or tempeh
  
• Remove processed foods and anything containing hidden sources of MSG or aspartame (see http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/MSG.htm)
  
• Remove refined salt from the diet and use a whole salt like Himalayan crystal salt or Celtic salt.
  
• Any kind of relaxation exercises that induce the relaxation response - can be Dr. Stoll's "skilled relaxation," Buteyko breathing, qigong belly breathing, or others
  
• Vitamin D (cod liver oil)
  
• Magnesium taurate or glycinate
  
• CoQ10 - best formulation is the hydrosoluble Ubiquinol.
  
• Look at unresolved emotional issues, especially related to "pressures"
  

Professional:

• Traditional Chinese Medicine for herbs and/or acupuncture
  
• Heilkunst homeopathy, www.homeopathy.com/clinic
  

[Apech]

Karen,

 

Many thanks for your lengthy reply. It was very helpful. Many of these things she is already doing and I agree 100% about the medical profession's emphasis on getting everyone on drugs. I am trying to encourage her to use feedback to manage her condition so she can find out what works for her. There seems to be some congenital effect because other members of her family have high BP.

[karen]

There seems to be some congenital effect because other members of her family have high BP.

 

Yup. Sometimes you see these things in families because they have the same dietary habits and it's not really inherited. But other times it is, and in homeopathy we call those inherited predispositions miasms. They can be cleared. High blood pressure is often part of the Sycotic miasm (not psychotic :-).

[Upfromtheashes]

Yup. Sometimes you see these things in families because they have the same dietary habits and it's not really inherited. But other times it is, and in homeopathy we call those inherited predispositions miasms. They can be cleared. High blood pressure is often part of the Sycotic miasm (not psychotic :-).

 

Hey Karen in regards to whole grains and mineral issues can one eat say a meal of whole grains and then have the ability to absorb the minerals from a piece of meat eaten 4 hours later?

Thanks

[Apech]

Yup. Sometimes you see these things in families because they have the same dietary habits and it's not really inherited. But other times it is, and in homeopathy we call those inherited predispositions miasms. They can be cleared. High blood pressure is often part of the Sycotic miasm (not psychotic :-).

Karen,

 

I looked this up and found:

 

"The sycotic miasm refers to another venereal disease, gonorrhea. The primary symptom of gonorrhea was figwarts, cauliflower shaped skin growths."

 

I don't think I am brave enough to mention this to my friend

 

Do think homeopathy might be a way forward? Is there an obvious remedy or should we consult?

[karen]

Karen,

I looked this up and found:

"The sycotic miasm refers to another venereal disease, gonorrhea. The primary symptom of gonorrhea was figwarts, cauliflower shaped skin growths."

I don't think I am brave enough to mention this to my friend

 

Hehe, yeah, I don't blame you There's also syphilis, tuberculosis, and psora (scabies) miasms to name a few other lovelies. These are originally infectious diseases which our ancestors had, and which now manifest chronically in most of us in a very different non-infectious form. The miasms are latent until triggered by traumas. This is a reason why people often get sick after suffering some kind of traumatic experience.

 

Do think homeopathy might be a way forward? Is there an obvious remedy or should we consult?

 

Not homeopathy per se, because that's really just a tiny corner of the complete system of medicine that Dr. Hahnemann developed, called Heilkunst. Usually the whole system is needed for chronic issues. I use the word homeopathy in some contexts to get a certain idea across when it's too cumbersome at the moment to explain what the heck Heilkunst is .

 

And yes, Heilkunst is a way forward, which is why I'm spending four years to train in it. It has a high success rate for chronic illnesses of any kind, because it understands the principles behind chronic disease. And those go beyond the model of disease as imbalance that we have in the natural medicine field.

 

To treat for the miasms requires a skilled practitioner working through the case in a systematic way. Usually there are many traumas to treat for first before deeper layers can be addressed, according to what the person's own life force is ready to tackle.

 

Here's a good article on the meaning of the miasms.

 

Anyone interested to read about Heilkunst can look at Hahnemann Clinic for Heilkunst, and the intro articles What is Heilkunst. and Heilkunst Treatment. I also have an intro article on my site, What is Heilkunst.

 

-Karen

Edited June 11, 2008 by karen

[Apech]

Thanks Karen for the helpful explanation and links. Seems there's a lot of good things in Canada - I am going to research similar in UK.

[karen]

Thanks Karen for the helpful explanation and links. Seems there's a lot of good things in Canada - I am going to research similar in UK.

 

Actually, there is only one school for Heilkunst, in Ottawa, and practitioners mainly in Canada and a few in US. But everything they do can be done at a distance! (consults by phone, remedies sent by mail, studies and classes online). I don't think there are any Heilkunst practitioners in the UK yet, but this way you have a much bigger group to choose from.

[Apech]

OK Karen, thanks again.