{"id":12507,"date":"2025-10-31T18:12:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/?p=12507"},"modified":"2025-10-31T18:12:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:12:48","slug":"benefits-of-yoga-for-heart-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/benefits-of-yoga-for-heart-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Yoga for Heart Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>There are many aerobic exercises that can increase the heart rate and help prevent or manage heart disease. However, calming exercises such as yoga are good for the heart as well. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoga is a mind-body activity that involves moving through a series of body poses and breathing exercises that can improve strength, flexibility, balance, and relaxation. There are dozens of different formats, or practices of yoga, such as hatha, anusara, and ashtanga, that emphasize different focuses, such as toning, strength training, or meditation. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of yoga\u2019s clearest benefits to the heart is its ability to relax the body and mind. Emotional stress can cause several physical effects, including the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which can narrow the arteries and increase blood pressure. The relaxation response that yoga provides not only slows the heart rate and lowers blood\u00a0pressure;\u00a0it\u00a0may also reduce inflammation and promote favorable changes in blood vessel function that protect the heart.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, practicing yoga can help lower blood cholesterol and blood glucose levels.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As\u00a0mind-body\u00a0practices, yoga encourages people to slow down and be more mindful about heart-healthy behaviors, such as eating well and getting enough sleep. These habits, along with positive emotions that some forms of yoga aim to inspire, such as compassion and gratitude, may also help foster cardiovascular health.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent studies support the benefits of yoga for heart health. One study has shown that blood measurements and waist circumference, which are signs of heart disease, improved in middle-aged adults with metabolic syndrome who practiced yoga for three months. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another study has shown that attending slow-paced yoga classes twice a week reduced the frequency of atrial fibrillation episodes in patients with that condition. Additionally, in another report, patients with heart failure who went through an eight-week yoga\u00a0program\u00a0showed improvement in exercise capacity and quality of life. They also had lower blood levels of markers for inflammation, which contributes to heart disease.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Research has also\u00a0indicated\u00a0that yoga may be a useful tool in helping smokers quit, as smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you would like to learn about other ways to be heart healthy, you can\u00a0schedule an appointment at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center\u2019s\u202f<\/span>Cardiology Department<\/span><\/a>\u202fby calling (718) 206-7100.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter. PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.<\/strong> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many aerobic exercises that can increase the heart rate and help prevent or manage heart disease. However, calming exercises such as yoga are good for the heart as well. \u00a0 Yoga is a mind-body activity that involves moving … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5,1,22,61,14,63,4],"tags":[493,2245,84,961,27,85],"class_list":["post-12507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cardiology","category-general-health","category-health","category-hypertension","category-lifestyle","category-mens-health","category-mental-health","category-womens-health","tag-yoga","tag-benefits-of-yoga-for-heart-health","tag-blood-pressure","tag-cardiology","tag-heart-disease","tag-heart-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12509,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12507\/revisions\/12509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}