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African-American health and yoga: A lifestyle worth exploring |
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Written by SHANNON JOHNSON
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 The statistical data regarding African Americans and diabetes, hypertension and heart disease is chilling.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.2 million, or 13.3 percent of all African Americans over 20 have diabetes, and forty-three percent have been diagnosed with hypertension.
Cardiovascular disease is the number-one cause of death in the African-American community. Recent data collected by the American Heart Association indicates that among blacks over the age of 20, 49 percent of African-American women and 44 percent of African-American men have cardiovascular disease.
Communal risk factors for these diseases include obesity, stress, lack of physical exercise and diet. Of all factors, stress is the deadliest because of its widespread impact on a person’s overall health.
In fact, science indicates that diabetes, hypertension and heart disease begin as psychosomatic disorders where physical symptoms result from the body being under large amounts of mental and emotional stress.
As such, it makes sense to treat the stress as well as the physical symptoms. To that end, yoga can be fundamental to achieving physical, mental and spiritual health.
Modern yoga is built upon five basic principles: proper relaxation, proper exercise, proper breathing, proper diet and positive thinking and meditation. Done regularly, yoga has an unprecedented ability to significantly reduce stress and reverse its detrimental effects on your body.
Western medicine is just beginning to comprehend the total benefits of practicing yoga, such as: lowering blood sugar, easing pain, losing weight, boosting the immune system and increasing mental agility.
Recent studies have established that adhering to basic yoga principles can dramatically improve the health of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease sufferers.
YOGA HELPS DIABETICS
Most African-American diabetics suffer from type- two diabetes, in which the pancreas produces an insufficient amount of insulin. This can lead to a host of other medical complications such as blindness, poor circulation and strokes.
Studies have found that yogic therapy can have up to a 65-percent beneficial effect on increasing insulin production. First, muscle exertion required to perform poses (asanas) reduces blood sugar levels. Next, the combination of certain asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing), increases blood and oxygen flow to the pancreatic cells, basically jump-starting insulin secretions.
YOGA HELPS REVERSE HEART DISEASE
Yale University School of Medicine conducted a six-week study on yoga and its benefits for patients with heart disease. The medical findings were astounding.
Some of the study participants had up to 70 percent improvement in blood vessel functioning, an important indicator of heart disease because progression of the disease causes blood vessels to lose their ability to constrict and expand. The participants also exhibited a five point decrease in their systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements.
The participants practiced yoga and meditation three days a week, including 40 minutes of asanas, 20 minutes of deep relaxation, 15 minutes of pranayama and 15 minutes of meditation.
Yoga is an excellent alternative and supplement to traditional cures for disease. The practice is superior to alternate forms of physical exertion because it also focuses on spiritual and mental well-being.
True harmony, health and wholeness can only be achieved when we realize that our physical, mental and spiritual health are inextricably intertwined. As a yoga practitioner, I can attest to the many benefits yoga has had in all aspects of my life.
Considering the low risk and the high payoff - it is worth your time and effort to give yoga a try.
For more information, questions or to share your experiences with yoga, please feel free to contact me at
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Photo: Shannon Johnson
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