(This post is out of the flow of my usual subject matter, but I wanted to put an update in Notes and needed a fuller post to which to link.)
Back in March I shared Example story/scene: "A matter of the heart," part 1 and part 2. It’s the true account of my cardiac experience at the time that I wrote in such a way it could be presented as fiction because it gives a sense of the kind of mystical realism that I’m looking for in stories.
Although part 2 ended with a surety of devotion, the physical side of the equation—my heart health—wasn’t so certain. In the days that followed my blood pressure, in fact, was still elevated in the 144/102 range, occasionally higher. But I’m happy to report that I’ve had no recurrence of arrythmia and have brought my blood pressure back to normal without medications, as shown in the chart below.
I’ll share what steps I took in a moment—but first a bit of follow-up timeline:
As I mentioned at the end of part 2, I saw a nurse-practitioner the next day (March 12th) and my EKG was normal.
Blood work a few days later was normal.
Lacking other symptoms, I got scheduled for a Holter monitor on April 4th
I wore the monitor for two days and the cardiologist report came back normal as well, so we scheduled a follow-up with my regular doctor on April 29th.
A Holter monitor is device that records EKG data over a longer period, typically 48 hours. While wearing it, you make note of any anomalies you feel physically so a cardiologist can match those events to the data. (In my case there were none.)
The device itself is small; the ungainly part are the five wires going to the electrodes that they stick to your chest and sides.
The monitor isn’t waterproof, which means no bathing for 48 hours and two nights’ sleeping with it. I’m mostly a stomach sleeper, but fortunately the electrodes are quite flat and didn’t bother me. I just had to be mindful when rolling over to avoid tangling myself in the wires.
In advance of my April 29th appointment, I decided to employ some simple and natural interventions for hypertension and track their effects:
Reducing sodium intake. Sodium increases water retention in the blood, which increases BP. I switched to using several unsalted foods (peanut butter and canned tomatoes, for example) and swapped out regular salt for potassium salt (which you can buy at a grocery store; it’s carried next to regular salt).
Consuming more celery and parsley. These are natural diuretics that draw water from the blood, thereby lowering BP. I use a NutriBullet to juice a carrot, a handful of spinach, 1-2 stalks of celery, and a handful of parsley, into which I stir some protein powder and a spoonful of plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt.
Taking 600mg of the enzyme CoQ10 (on the advice of my chiropractor/naturopath), which can help lower BP.
Walking two miles 5-6 times a week (or engaging in equivalent exercise).
Practicing 30-45 minutes of yoga postures with deep relaxation at least 5 times a week, for which I like to play J. Donald Walter’s album, Life is the Quest for Joy.
I did a Level 1 Yoga Teacher Training some years ago so can easily practice yoga posture on my own. I also did a Level II certification called Yoga of the Heart that specialized in yoga postures for people with heart disease. I never thought I’d need all that training for myself, but now I’m glad I completed it!
Yoga of the Heart is headed by Nischala Joy Devi (second from the left in the back of the photo). She designed the yoga portion of Dr. Dean Ornish’s famed Program for Reversing Heart Disease, which also includes diet, exercise, and social connection.
Of those four components, various studies showed that the yoga postures—and deep relaxation in particular—are the greatest contributor to healing heart disease. The reason for this is perhaps highlighted in a recent AARP report that isometric exercises, which includes yoga postures, are the most effective of all forms of exercise for hypertension.
Isometric exercise may offer an extra benefit because when you hold a muscle contraction, you restrict blood flow to those muscles, [Kerry Stewart of Johns Hopkins] says. Then, when you stop the exercise, “you get a big surge of blood” to the area, he explains. That extra blood flow stimulates the lining of your arteries to produce nitric oxide, which causes the blood vessels to relax and widen, which ultimately reduces blood pressure, he says.
The report recommends wall squats because they involve the largest muscles in the body (legs and glutes) and also because anyone can do them at home without any specialized training or equipment. For my money, though, yoga postures, if you can do them, work many other muscle groups and bring other secondary benefits. I certainly enjoy them better than squats!
I was delighted that by the time I saw my doctor on April 29th, my BP was down to 135/85. He, too, was pleased with the efficacy of my interventions and agreed that I could continue them and didn’t need any medications for the time being. We’d check in again during my annual physical on July 23rd.
By then, as you can see from my chart, my BP was back to normal, even dipping under the 120/80 standard. My doctor was again pleased, as I was, to skip the meds. He also asked to keep the printout of my tracking chart because I think he wanted to encourage other patients to take an active interest in lifestyle changes rather than pharmaceuticals.
After all, the side effects of meditations often force lifestyle changes of their own, including further medications to counter the original side effects and so on down the line. I’m much happier taking walks, eating well, and doing yoga postures!