Yoga Poses To Avoid With High Blood Pressure: The Best And Worst Poses

If you live with high blood pressure, you’ve probably been advised to try yoga, and with good reason. Yoga is one of the most therapeutic and safe exercises that can be done by those with hypertension. However, before you register for the next available yoga class close to you, we want to advise you to proceed with caution.

Despite all of its benefits, not all poses are high blood pressure safe. In this article, we’ll outline which yoga poses to avoid for those with high blood pressure. Being aware of such poses can help you avoid a disaster while in class. If you’re using a personal yoga instructor/trainer, letting them know about this could also help them structure the class in a way that suits your concerns.

What Is Yoga and How Does It Help with High Blood Pressure?

Is yoga bad for high blood pressure? Yes and no. But before we get into this, let’s first understand what this is and how it works.

Yoga is a mind and body therapy practice that falls into the same category as some age-old practices such as tai chi, qigong, and meditation. The roots of this practice can be traced back to India where many people used it for spirituality.

Today, the practice has grown in popularity past India’s borders and is now used in the West to help promote physical and mental well-being. This is done through a combination of yoga’s gentle movements with controlled, focused breathing, and meditation (7, 13).

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So how does it benefit people with high blood pressure? This is due to two reasons:

1. It’s a gentle exercise – If you’ve ever watched people doing yoga, either in real life or online, then you will have noticed how gentle and fluid their movements are. This fluidity and gentleness is what makes this practice almost perfect for people with HBP because you’re not overexerting yourself, which spikes your heart rate. In fact, this fact was stated in a study published in 2016 where the research referred to Hatha yoga as a mostly light-intensity form of calorie-burning aerobic exercise (2).
2. It’s a great way to reduce stress – The meditation part of the practice is what’s to thank for this benefit. Several studies have shown that meditation helps reduce stress, soothes your nervous system, and helps you relax (4,, 8).

Read more: Best Chair Yoga For Weight Loss: 8 Poses That Work

Yoga for High Blood Pressure: Which Is the Best Position to Lower Blood Pressure?

If we’ve convinced you to try out this mind and body therapy, here are the best poses for anyone who is suffering from hypertension. Your body position can influence your blood pressure. 

• Balsana aka Child’s pose

This pose is said to help with calm and relaxation and improve circulation in the body. Physically, the child’s pose also helps you open and lengthen the hips and spine. Here’s how to do it:

1. Start by getting on your hands and knees on a soft but firm surface. Bring your big toes together to touch and widen your legs slightly wider than hip-distance apart.
2. Exhale and slowly sit back on your knees. Your torso should be erect and between your knees and your palms should rest at the top of your thighs.
3. On another exhale, slowly lower your torso between your knees. Make sure your outer ribs are resting comfortably on your inner thighs.
4. In relation to your arms, you can either extend them back alongside your torso with your palms facing down or push them forward far beyond your head on the ground with your palms facing down.
5. Make sure to tuck your chin in slightly to lengthen the back of your neck and rest your forehead on the floor.
6. With each inhale, feel your ribcage expand out to your thighs, and with each exhale, let your body relax toward the floor. Sink into the position as much as you can.
7. Hold this position for as long as you can – anywhere from one to three minutes.

Quick facts to note:

1. If you can’t get your forehead all the way to the ground, use a thin pillow to support your head.
2. If you’re having difficulty getting your bum to reach your heels, place a rolled-up blanket between your thighs and calves.

• Viparita Karani aka Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose

In addition to helping you relax and calm down, this pose is said to stretch your hamstrings, glutes, pelvis, and the muscles that support the spine and hips. Here’s how to do it as a beginner:

1. Start by lying on your side on the floor – one side of your body, either the right or left side, should be perpendicular to the wall with your bum touching the wall.
2. Slowly lower your shoulders and head to the floor and lie on your back. As you roll onto your back, stretch your legs up the wall.
3. Ideally, at this point, your feet should be hip-distance apart, but place them apart at whichever distance feels most comfortable to you.
4. Adjust your position and make sure your lower body from hips to feet is in a straight line.
5. Keep your arms up and comfortable on either side of your head and just breathe, releasing everything and all stress.
6. Remain in this position for up to 3 minutes (or longer depending on how you feel) before bending your knees and rolling to your side to get up.

• Savasana aka Corpse Pose

Simply lying down can help quickly lower your blood pressure temporarily.

1. Start by lying down on your back with your legs straight and your arms resting alongside your body.
2. Tuck your shoulder blades underneath you and draw your chin in slightly.
3. Allow your legs and feet to relax and turn out. This allows you to feel the entire length of your spine relaxing along the floor.

You can remain in this position for as long as you want. However, according to Yoga Journal, you should aim to stay like this for up to 20 minutes as this allows your body and mind to fully relax.

• Baddha Konasana aka Bound Angle Pose

This is the post that is widely used during meditations. It helps open up your hips.

1. Take a seat on the ground with your legs straight.
2. Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together, allowing your knees to fall open.
3. Your hands can rest on the floor behind you to provide support for your spine, or you can gently hold your feet. With an inhale, lengthen the spine, reaching up through the crown of your head.
4. Slide your shoulder blades down and lengthen the back of your neck.
5. Stay for 3 to 5 breaths, feeling each inhale expand the ribs outward.

• Setu Bandha Sarvangasana aka Bridge Pose

This pose is believed to help relieve hip and lower back aches while strengthening your core, hamstrings and glutes.

1. Lie on your back in the center of your mat, your knees bent, with your legs and feet parallel and hip-distance apart.
2. Move your feet closer to your buttocks and press down firmly through both of your feet. Inhale as you raise your hips. Make sure to lift from the pubic bone rather than the navel.
3. You have two options for what to do with your hands – either clasp them under your back or leave them on either side of you on the floor.
4. Broaden your collarbones and get on top of your shoulders. This helps support your upper body while you’re in this position.
5. Firm the outer shins and roll your upper thighs inward. Press down firmly through your heels and lift the back of your thighs and the bottom of your buttocks even higher while keeping your thighs parallel.
6. To finish, exhale, release your hands, and lower to the floor. Allow your back to rest in a neutral state as you observe the spaciousness within your chest.

Other positions that may help with high blood pressure include ones where the muscles are relaxed or gently stretched and ones that aren’t too physically challenging.

Which Poses Aren’t Good for High Blood Pressure?

Now that you know the ideal yoga positions for blood pressure, which positions should you possibly avoid? As previously mentioned, yoga – for the most part – is a gentle practice that is highly recommended to all people who are living with HBP.  However, some poses aren’t ideal if you have hypertension.

If your routine calls for positions that involve excessive straining, long-held postures, or those that are taught without the supervision of a certified yoga instructor, you may want to speak to your doctor first. Pick a routine that doesn’t have such poses or try other similar exercises. According to experts, positions where the head is below the heart may raise your blood pressure. You should also avoid fast-breathing practices and aggressive chin-to-chest poses as these contract the throat. 

Examples of such poses include the Shirshasana headstand, peacock, and Kumbhaka breath retention poses.

Read more: 9 Seated Chair Yoga Poses You Can Do at Home

What Are Some Tricks to Lower Blood Pressure Instantly?

Those who live with high blood pressure know just how bad the symptoms of rising pressure can be. With sudden fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, headache, palpitations or irregular heartbeats, and confusion, it’s a challenging condition to manage every day.

There’s no quick fix to lowering your blood pressure and it isn’t a switch you can turn on and off at your leisure. However, with some simple tricks (and a dash of patience) you can slowly lower your BP to a more stable and safe level.

Here are some simple ways to lower your blood pressure

• Take a walk

The next time your blood pressure shoots up, try and take a walk. Regular exercise such as walking has incredible benefits, particularly in relation to high blood pressure.

Earlier this year, the AAFP Foundation published an article that stated that walking can help lower systolic blood pressure by 4.11 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure by 1.79 mm Hg, and resting heart rate by 2.76 beats per minute (3).

In 2018, another study also showed that walking works great as a way of reducing high blood pressure. While this experiment took a longer time frame – about six months – researchers found that this simple activity can help reduce your BP by anywhere between 2.6 mmHg and 21.3 mmHg (11).

• Manage stress

Whether you’re living with hypertension or not, it’s true that stress is a common stressor of high blood pressure in many people (9). Stress causes the body to produce a surge of hormones, which causes your heart rate to go up and constricts the blood vessels. It’s known as the “fight or flight” response in the body.

If you’re in a highly stressful situation, stop and walk away. Allow yourself to take time away and practice mindfulness. Not only will this likely help pull your blood pressure levels back down to normal/safe levels, but also chances are that taking a step back from the issue will help you think critically and find a solution.

• Listen to music 

This is a great way to help soothe away any stressful thoughts you may have.

• Talk to a friend 

Be it via a phone call, facetime, or a quick lunch, being with your friends and loved ones is a fantastic way to relieve stress that can help reduce blood pressure.

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• Meditate

If walking, being outside in nature, and listening to music aren’t working for you, try meditation. According to Harvard Health, meditation is a set of relaxation techniques that are intended to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention. If you’re unsure about how to use meditation to lower blood pressure, this practice comes in many forms such as transcendence meditation, gratitude meditation, mindfulness, mantra meditation, and many more. Find one that works for you.

For those who are doubtful that meditation to lower blood pressure actually works, scientific studies have shown that this ‘new age’ practice does more than we give it credit for.

Harvard Health mentions one study that was done on elderly subjects, which showed that those who practiced meditation were more likely to be able to control their blood pressure – so much so that they were ultimately able to reduce their intake of and even eliminate their blood pressure medications (6).

In 2017, a review that looked at perspectives of meditation on lowering blood pressure found that this practice does as it claims and that techniques such as transcendental and mindfulness meditation had the most success in producing clinically significant reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (4).

It should be noted that while these tips may help you lower your blood pressure quickly, they only offer short-term results. If you want better control over your BP in the long term, you’re advised to (5):

1. Be more active
2. Lose weight if you’re obese or overweight
3. Reduce your refined carbs and sugar intake
4. Stop smoking and/or drinking
5. Eat less salt and processed foods

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is downward dog bad for high blood pressure?

That depends on who you ask. While Yoga Journal states that this pose is perfectly safe for people with high blood pressure (12), most sources claim that this inversion pose must be avoided by anyone with hypertension. It places your head below the heart, which isn’t considered safe for people with blood pressure issues.

• Does your BP increase after yoga?

As previously mentioned, research has shown that doing yoga will lower and not increase your blood pressure. However, to be on the safe side, you should avoid all positions that put your head below your heart.

• Is hot yoga bad for people with high blood pressure?

No, it isn’t. According to the American Heart Association, a study published in 2019 proved that hot yoga can actually lower blood pressure. The 12-week study revealed that this practice reduced the average diastolic pressure of participants from 82 to 79 (10).

The Bottom Line

For people with hypertension, yoga isn’t a practice to be afraid of. If it’s done in the right way, it may lower your blood pressure and can also relax you and even burn a few extra calories. It’s important to remember that yoga poses to avoid with high blood pressure are those that require your head to be anywhere below your heart or cause excessive muscle strain. That aside, you should always pay attention to your body. If you start to feel odd in any position – even those that are considered safe – you should stop immediately and speak to your doctor.