Phase 1 · Six Breaths a Minute

Part of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Healthy Blood Pressure

10 Minute Yoga Sequence for Blood Pressure

The short daily one. Consistency does more here than length, and every review of this literature says so.

One of the more useful findings in this research is that longer programmes were not reliably better than shorter ones. What mattered was doing it. This is the session for the days between the longer ones, and for after the twelve weeks are over. Four minutes of slow breathing, three gentle positions, and a rest.

10 min · Level 1

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When it helps

On the days between the longer sessions, and afterwards for as long as you like. Ten minutes, a cushion, a wall and a blanket. This is an addition to your medical care and any blood pressure medication, not a replacement for either. Do not hold your breath at any point, and leave out full inversions such as headstand and shoulderstand.

Breath

Four minutes at roughly six breaths a minute, which is the shortest dose of the mechanism worth doing.

Physical effect

Movement tied to the breath, and one chest opener with no strain in it.

Consistency

The evidence here favours regular practice over long practice. A short session you keep is worth more than a long one you drop.

Ten minutes, most days

Short enough that it happens, which is the whole point of this one.

Sukhasana

4 min

Easy Pose

Alternate nostril breathing. In for five, out for five, no pauses.

Roughly six breaths a minute. The mechanism does not need long to engage.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Marjaryasana

45 sec

Cat Pose

Hands and knees, rounding the back as you breathe out.

Movement tied to the breath, and it keeps the same slow rhythm going.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

45 sec

Cow Pose

Chest forward as you breathe in. Move between this and the last one, eight rounds, slowly.

Cat and Cow at the speed of the breath is the gentlest movement in the program.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

45 sec, twice

Bridge Pose

A small hip lift, breathing evenly, never holding.

The chest opens and the legs do a little work, without anything strenuous.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Viparita Karani

2 min

Legs Up the Wall

Legs up the wall.

Two minutes that settle things faster than lying flat.

Learn more about Viparita Karani

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

Flat, quiet, breathing at its own pace.

Every session in this program ends here.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Six Breaths a Minute, the first phase of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Healthy Blood Pressure. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

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Integration

On most days, throughout the twelve weeks and after. If a day is short, do the four minutes of breathing on its own. That still counts.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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