The Brain Is Responsible

Now researchers have discovered that hypertension is not disease of the heart. This is not new and now it has been substantiated. Yoga scriptures has written about this for thousands of years. Yoga postures (asanas), particularly the head and shoulder stands, bring blood to the brain to counter gravity that brings blood to our lower body parts the whole day long. Many critical faculties, such as the pituitary and peneal glands that control secretion of hormones to maintain balance of our wellness,are located in our brain center. As we age, these glands become smaller and hormonal secretion decreases as a result of lesser activation of these glands. Such vital glands become increasingly dormant if we do not activate them constantly causing degenerating wellness conditions such as Parkinson's disease.

Therefore, yoga asanas, meditation and proper breathing (pranayama) bring proper and adequate activation to these vital glands. When the glandular system is activated and the nervous system is strong, the energies of the two systems combine to create -

1. a movement or flow in the spinal fluid
2. a sensitivity in the nerve endings. The "brain in its totality receives signals and integrates them."

What is the result?

1. A new clarity expands our perceptions.
2. We understand the effect and impact of an action before we take it.
3. We are at choice whether to act or not to act.
4. Awareness brings choice.
5. Choice brings freedom.


Life inevitably presents us with a wide array of emotions, both positive and negative. While most of us embrace feeling happy, in love, or peaceful, we often resist what we label negative emotions, such as fear, anxiety, and grief. Although in the West we often turn to psychotherapy, medication, or even addictive behaviors to help overcome or cope with negative emotions, yoga offers us both a philosophy and a set of practical tools to ease the innate challenges of being human.

The Root of Depression and Anxiety

Yogis believe that we are born whole, but due to various life experiences, we forget this state of wholeness, or who we really are. We start thinking of ourselves as alone and alienated. Likewise, Buddhists believe that we are essentially good. Like a gold coin buried in a pile of dust, our sense of our innate goodness and completeness gets lost beneath our physical and emotional reactions to life. Both schools of thought advocate clearing the emotions and becoming aware of our thought patterns so that we can reconnect to our pure essence and essential goodness.

The separation from our completeness occurs differently for each person. According to Amy Weintraub, a Kripalu Yoga teacher and author of Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga, some people disconnect early in life in response to inappropriate care from parents or caregivers. These people tend to carry their underlying grief in the tissues of the body and develop lifelong symptoms of depression. Others, faced with some sort of trauma or loss—whether relatively small or something major like a natural disaster, terrorist incident, or violent personal assault—develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This syndrome can include symptoms of irritability, anxiety, detachment, and feeling emotionally numb or depressed, along with physical tension and difficulty sleeping. Then there are the dozens of difficult emotions we feel every day in response to living in a fast-paced and stressful culture.

Fortunately, regardless of whether a mood is a lifetime issue or a response to a current situation, yoga, including asanas, pranayama, and meditation, can help us regain our sense of connectedness to Self.

Most important of all...bring a structure of self-centeredness to ourselves so that we would never fear problems, negativity and challenges. This ability reduces tension and stress.

Well...below is the research discovering that our brain is central to getting rid of hypertension.

'Brain, not heart, causes hypertension'

April 15 2007 at 11:25AM

London - The brain, not the heart is responsible for high blood pressure, according to details of a study by British researchers released on Sunday.

The scientists said that hypertension, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and kidney damage, is an inflammatory vascular disease of the brain rather than the heart, as previously thought.

They discovered that a protein located in the brain, JAM-1, trapped white blood cells, which can then cause inflammation and obstruct blood flow, leading to poor oxygen supply to the brain.

Professor Julian Paton, from Bristol University, western England, said the findings could lead to new ways of treating the condition.

"We are looking at the possibility of treating those patients that fail to respond to conventional therapy for hypertension with drugs that reduce blood vessel inflammation and increase blood flow within the brain," he added.

"The future challenge will be to understand the type of inflammation within the vessels in the brain, so we know what drug to use and how to target them.

"JAM-1 could provide us with new clues as how to deal with this disease."

Conventional treatment for reducing high blood pressure includes eating low fat food, reducing salt intake and regular exercise.

The associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, Professor Jeremy Pearson, said: "This exciting study is important because it suggests there are unexpected causes of high blood pressure related to blood supply to the brain.

"It therefore opens up the possibility of new ways to treat this common, but often poorly managed condition."

About one in three people in Britain and more than 600 million people worldwide are thought to suffer from hypertension.

The findings are to be published in the next edition of medical journal Hypertension. - AFP