Kapalbhati And Bhastrika Results in Lightheadedness And High Blood Pressure

by Vikram Singh
(Montreal, Canada)

I've started doing Pranayama for about 2 weeks now. Initially, I was feeling very active and more energetic, but was always getting lightheadedness and headaches sometime. I have high B.P around 140/95. I have left Kapalbhati and Bhastrika and am only doing Anulom Vilom and feeling quite good with that and NO lightheadedness. I do want to do Kapalbhati and even with 2 minutes of doing it, my B.P. still keeps going up. Please advise.

Answer

Do not do Kapalabhati and Bhastrika pranayama, it is not advisable for high blood pressure patients. Seek guidance of your doctor and take proper medicine for blood pressure.

You need to do yoga to de-stress and relax the body. Do not do strenous yoga poses. Avoid inverted yoga poses. You need to focus more on relaxation (shavasana and yoga nidra) and pranayma (rhythmic breathing, anulom vilom, ujjayi and bhramri).

You can have a look at a similar post
Hypertension and Pranayama

Hope this helps

Namaste
Daljit