Article from Harvard Health Publications website. Published November 1, 2010. Accessed February 12, 2015.
This general article about yoga briefly reviewed the ways that yoga can potentially benefit cardiovascular health, including reducing high blood pressure, enhancing cardiac rehabilitation, and lowering cardiovascular risk factors. According to the Harvard Health Publications website, “Taking fewer but deeper breaths each minute temporarily lowers blood pressure and calms the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for generating stress hormones.”
“Taking fewer but deeper breaths each minute temporarily lowers blood pressure and calms the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for generating stress hormones.” -Harvard Health Publications
Carol Krucoff, a yoga therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine, was quoted in the article. She recommended that persons interested in starting yoga, particularly if over 30 years of age, should choose a class that offers “the full package”–poses, breathing, and meditation–over one that includes simply “yoga-flavored exercise.”
Summary by Louise Fecher
Sunflower Photo: Wendy Peragine