Preksha Dhyana Self Awareness by Relaxation

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 38

the arteries to the brain become obstructed, strokes may occur. Thus continuous high blood-pressure or hypertension is the indirect cause of major causes of death : heart-attack and stroke.
Causes for 90 to 95 percent of hypertension called essential hypertension, are not known. Stress is a generally accepted explanation of the disease. Though it is commonly accepted that anger, fear or anxiety play an important role in causing hypertension, the subject has been inadequately studied by the medical profession. Stressful' situations which can be defined as situations leading to continuous behavioural adjustment may underlie the development of hypertension which cannot be explained.
It is natural to question whether we know how to check the dangerous results that inevitably follow the hypertension. Is there an innate physiological response that is diametrically opposite to the stress mechanism?
The answer is yes. We do possess an innate response to counter the effects of stress response. When activated, this can positively reduce the blood-pressure without any drug. The victims of hypertension can be taught to trigger the protective inechanism and lower their blood-pressure. The use of the technique of relaxation described in the next chapter is not only a therapy to lower the blood-pressure but that it has been part of the cultures of man throughout the ages.
As stated earlier, the risk of developing the hardening of the arteries is directly proportional to the level of blood pressure and anything that lowers B.P. without injurious side-effects is beneficial. Anti-hypertensive drugs inhibit the activity of the sympathetic nervous system thus lowering the blood pressure. But the drugs could create dangerous side-effects and may create more serious problems. Relaxation is a safe way to lower the blood-pressure by the same means as
1. See Chapter 1 for discussion on stress.
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