High Blood Pressure
& Heart Disease

Treat high blood pressure and heart disease with a combination of diet, lighting, meditation and qigong. No one treatment is enough to effectively treat hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Traditional qigong (a.k.a. chi kung) has always taken diet, Chinese medicine, lifestyle, as well as exercise into consideration. Therefore, any effective qigong regimen must include all of these.

A major cause of hypertension and other heart disease is stress. Stress can be aggravated by diet, inadequate rest and exercise, and pressures at work, home and/or school.

Everything you eat can affect you physiologically and neurologically, either in a positive or negative way.

If the food you consume does not agree with your mind and body, it can add stress to your body, creating toxins and adverse reactions such as allergies, hyperactivity, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.

1. Reduce your meat intake. What is interesting to note is that no vegetarian has ever suffered from high blood pressure.

2. Cut down on salt and other condiments. Keep your intake of caffeine, alcohol, animal fats, red meat, internal organs, sugar and artificial sweeteners to a bare minimum, if you consume them at all.

3. For vitamins and minerals, increase your consumption of potassium-rich foods, such as bananas, avocados, dates and figs. Consume calcium and vitamin C in whole foods rather than taking them in pill supplements.

   Also include foods rich in magnesium, such as soy, legumes, seeds, whole grains, as well as many fruits and vegetables. And include plenty of foods rich in Omega-3 oils: fish oils, flaxseed, soy, canola oil and nuts.

4. Increase your fiber, as found in whole grains and vegetables. Also Chinese fungi, shitaki mushrooms, mung beans, onions, garlic and blueberries. Replace sugar and other sweeteners with raw honey in moderate amounts. Try to vary your diet — not everyone responds to foods the same way.

5. Herbs that help fight or prevent high blood pressure and heart disease? Red sage, panax noto-ginseng, coenzyme Q10, hawthorn, dandelion, gingko biloba and chrysanthemum. Consult with an herbalist or someone trained in Chinese medicine for advice on herbal preparations.

   My father recently had a major stroke, shortly after a major heart attack last year. Since he never believed in qigong, had a hereditary history of cardiovascular disease in his family, and loved his meat and fatty foods, his poor health came as little surprise.

   What was surprising was that three stroke specialists told us it was a miracle that he could fully recover, with only a week in the hospital what normally takes several months of rehabilitation! Few people in his condition, they said, would recover use of their limbs and faculties, and only after several months of rehabilitation.

   When he first had his stroke, his right arm and facial muscles were almost completely paralyzed, and he couldn't walk or talk. During his stay at the hospital and afterwards, my mother gave him acupressure to help him recover, and when he returned home, fed him around the clock with Chinese herbs.

   Now, with some qigong exercise, my father has regained almost all his strength back. In fact, a friend had commented how much more spry my father is after the stroke than he was before! No one who looks at him believes that he just recently suffered a major stroke.

6. Flush your body of toxins: Drink lots of water purified by distillation or reverse osmosis. Pure water lubricates, moistens and cleanses the body. Water also provides much needed oxygen circulated in the bloodstream to vital organs, such as heart, kidneys, lungs and especially the brain.

7. Expose yourself to at least two hours under full spectrum lighting (FSL). Because of its many health benefits, some schools and workplaces in my home province even have FSL installed to reduce ADHD, increase health, concentration and productivity.

   Place two four-foot fluorescent tubes 45 degrees above eye level. Do not place any screen, even transparent ones, that will filter any part of the light out. For the same reason, do not wear any eye lenses, but let your eyes take in the light directly.

   Full spectrum lighting can boost the immune system, increase your vitamin D absorption and lower high blood pressure. The more you can expose yourself to this light, the better.

8. Get adequate uninterrupted rest and exercise. The saying "Early to bed, early to rise" holds true for high blood pressure: yang energy rises in late sleepers, causing higher stress levels and high blood pressure.

   Exercise will lower production of stress hormones, increase your endorphin hormone production and help flush out toxins through increased circulation and perspiration.

Qigong goes a step further by cultivating healing chi energy that circulates throughout the body to strengthen bones, muscles and organs, and prevent various disorders such as strokes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases. Here's a program specially targeted at hypertension, strokes and heart disease:

1. Begin with yogic breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing increases the efficiency of your breathing and your oxygen intake. It promotes relaxation, cultivation of chi energy, detoxification and smooth circulation of both blood and chi.

2. When you are well-practiced in diaphragmatic breathing, switch to Huxi Liao Fa or Three-Breath Qigong Therapy to help tonify and detoxify the body. Combine this with Chang Shou Qigong or Longevity Qigong, which strengthens the heart, lungs and kidneys to promote health and longevity.

3. Include Songchi Qigong or Loosening Exercises for Tai Chi Chuan and San-Yao-Er Jingluo Duanlian Fa or Three-One-Two Meridian Qigong.

   The Loosening Exercises will help lower high blood pressure, increase relaxation and improve blood and chi circulation preventing strokes and other cardiovascular diseases.

   312 Meridian Qigong is a proven medical qigong aimed specifically at treating hypertension, diabetes and strokes.

   Practice both qigong exercises for a minimum of thirty minutes in total. If you find the exercises too rigorous, begin with ten minutes and increase gradually.

4. Include half an hour to an hour of still meditation. Studies on meditation have shown it to be very beneficial for all kinds of cardiovascular diseases, particularly high blood pressure.

   Highly recommended is the Xin Gan Changwei Baojian Liao Fa or Heart, Liver & Gastrointestinal Health Preserving Qigong Therapy.

   Practice the two meditation techniques that focus on strengthening the heart and regulating the liver. Chinese medicine views high blood pressure to be caused by too much yang energy in the liver and too weak kidneys. Therefore, qigong that strengthens the kidneys and regulate liver activity helps reduce hypertension.

   If you suffer from high blood pressure, practice the liver meditation for at least half an hour every day. For other cardiovascular diseases, practice the heart meditation.

   If you are new to meditation or find it difficult to still your mind, you can meditate with music or by listening to Holosync. Holosync will also increase the effectiveness of your meditation.

   The longer you can sit in quiet meditation, the more beneficial to your health. Meditation will not only relax you and reduce production of stress hormones, but increase cultivation of healing chi, as well as boost the immune system and, in the case of Xin Gan Changwei Qigong, strengthen blood and chi circulation.

5. Conclude your qigong exercise and meditation with Baojian Changshou Qigong or Longevity and Health Preserving Qigong Exercises.