Breathe: Slow Paced Breathing to Lower Blood Pressure

Overview

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of the physiological reasons for the decreases in resting blood pressure that can result from systematic practice of computer-guided breathing exercises or meditative relaxation.

In this randomized clinical trial, persons with moderately elevated blood pressure were trained in either computer-guided breathing exercises or meditative relaxation to breathing. The computer-guided breathing exercise involves listening to tones of ascending and descending pitch to which breathing is entrained to low frequencies over a 15 minute interval. The meditative relaxation involves passive attention to natural breathing for the same duration. Participants will perform these breathing exercises daily at home for four weeks. Before and after the intervention, respiratory, cardiovascular, and urinary endogenous digitalis-like factors will be systematically recorded to determine the extent to which chronic neuroendocrine changes underlie the reductions in blood pressure.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes