If you suffer from high blood pressure, most physicians will try to get you on blood pressure medication right from the get go and sometimes focus on other ways of dropping your blood pressure more as an afterthought than anything else. The thing that doctors don’t always tell you is that there are plenty of ways to lower your blood pressure that don’t involve taking heart medications which can end up doing more damage in the long run. While diet is a major part of controlling your blood pressure, exercise can also play a major role in lowering and maintaining a healthy blood pressure. The Blue Heron Blood Pressure Exercise Program is targeted directly at people who suffer from high blood pressure and are looking for a safe and natural way to lower their blood pressure without the use of blood thinners and other medications.
About the Author
The Blue Herron Program was created by Christian Goodman. Christian Goodman is a natural health researcher with numerous published articles, and discovered this system while trying to find a natural solution to his own hypertension, or high blood pressure. Determined to avoid medications with nasty side effects, he eventually developed the Blue Herron method for dealing with hypertension. The best part about all of Christian Goodman’s methods is that he never recommends anything without first trying it out for himself.
What’s Included
The Blue Herron Blood Pressure Exercise Program comes with a variety of materials to walk you through every step. The bulk of the program is the 13-page manual detailing all of the exercises, explaining how they help with lowering blood pressure, as well as detailed guides on how to correctly perform each exercise for maximum effectiveness. There are also audio versions of these instructions for those who would rather listen to the instructions while performing the exercises rather than reading from a manual. Lastly, there is a supplemental guide to maintaining a healthy diet for dealing with high blood pressure, including foods, supplements, and herbs that should be included in your diet as well as what to stay away from.
An In-Depth Look
The exercise program itself is surprisingly easy to follow, so much so that even those with little to no exercise experience should have little trouble making the Blue Herron Program a part of their daily routine. Each exercise comes with detailed instructions to ensure you are doing the movements properly. As with any exercise, proper form is extremely important since incorrect form can not only lessen the effectiveness of any given exercise, but can actually be dangerous in many cases, especially when weights are involved. Between the written guide and the audio tutorials, the Blue Heron Program clearly walks you through every step of each exercise. The Blue Heron Program is broken down into a series of set exercise types. These exercises are as follows:
-Walking Exercises
Yes, something as simple as walking is one of the exercises, but it goes a bit deeper than just your normal walking. The Blue Herron Program teaches you the proper form for rhythmic walking, teaching you to not only walk at a steady pace, but also to work other parts of your body as well as help understand how to fully engage your body in an exercise through synchronizing your arm swings and keeping a steady breathing pattern. Whether you’re walking in place, or through the park, this first exercise is something you can take with you wherever you go. Studies also show that exercises like walking which focus and cardio and increasing your heart rate help with hypertension and overall cardiovascular health. If you are unable to walk, there is an alternative exercise involving synchronized toe touches which offers many of the same benefits. The program recommends doing these exercises for about 9 minutes per day to get the most out of it.
-Emotional Release Exercises
While a bit of a departure from traditional exercises, these emotional release exercises focus on breathing, meditation, and stress relief. Since tension and high stress are major contributors to high blood pressure, these exercises can help mitigate hypertension caused by high stress situations, and can even help calm you down in a pinch if you’re ever thrown into a high stress situation. The main focus of these exercises is on maintaining a steady rhythm of deep breathing, as well as including some principles of meditation to help relax your body. Christian recommends you perform these exercises just prior to lunch if you are doing all of the exercise types daily, as it will help you feel refreshed and ready to handle the rest of your day.
-Traditional Relaxation Exercises
The final type of exercises are relaxation exercises. These exercises focus on breathing much like the emotional relaxation exercises, but more to help relax your muscles. Many of these exercises also include classic stretches and body movements proven to loosen muscles and joints, and alleviate tension. The additional pressure caused by increased blood flow to tightened muscles is another factor that can contribute to hypertension, so getting those muscles nice and relaxed can go a surprisingly long way in helping reduce your blood pressure. These are best done right before bed, as they will relax your body and mind, helping your get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer.
The best part about the exercises included in the Blue Herron Program is that they are all things you can do just about anywhere without any complicated equipment or exercise gear. This makes the program extremely accessible to people of all ages and skill levels regarding their familiarity with exercising.
So What Causes Blood Pressure in the First Place?
While the exact cause of hypertension isn’t always a clear cut answer, there are a lot of factors that contribute to hypertension, which may vary from person to person. These factors aren’t always treatable, but can be mitigated and counteracted by various means. Some of the contributing factors to high blood pressure are:
- Smoking
- Excessive Alcohol Consumption (more than 1 or 2 drinks daily)
- Being overweight or obese
- Lack of physical activity
- A diet high in salt content
- Old age
- Genetic factors
- Family history of high blood pressure
- Chronic kidney disease
- Adrenal disorders
- Thyroid disorders
- Sleep apnea
As you can see, there are a lot of things that can contribute to high blood pressure, and this isn’t even a full comprehensive list. The good news is many of these factors can be removed from the equation, such as a diet high in salt, smoking, and a lack of physical activity. Between the exercise guide as well as the supplemental dietary guide, the Blue Herron Program aims to control and mitigate the factors that are more based on poor eating habits and lifestyle choices. Even if some of the contributing factors can’t be simply cured, such as genetics or disorders, the techniques in Christian’s program can at least help mitigate some of the high blood pressure caused by these conditions.
The Upsides
The biggest advantage of the Blue Heron Program is its accessibility and ease of use. Without the need for specialized expensive workout gear or a gym membership to really make it work, all you need to actually spend money on is the program itself. It’s extremely easy to follow, and generally takes around 30 minutes per day to do all three exercises, so it doesn’t require any major lifestyle changes to fit it in. The additional dietary guide will also help you attack your high blood pressure on two fronts, by exercising and improving your cardiovascular health as well as by improving your diet and reducing risk factors that could make your condition worse. The program itself is also very inexpensive, only costing around $49 for the 13-page guide, audio guide and dietary guide all together. Lastly, it comes with a 60-day money back guarantee as well.
The Downsides
As great as this program is, it does have its disadvantages. First off, the entire program is completely digital. This means that if you have a poor internet connection or no internet at all, the download speeds may get in the way of actually accessing the program. There is a CD you can order of the audio guide for an additional $2 but you’d still be missing out on both the written guide as well as the supplementary diet guide. Another issue is that the program requires dedication. Due to the somewhat relaxed nature of the exercises, you must follow the plan almost religiously. If you don’t have the dedication required to make this program a part of your daily routine, it also may not be for you. Lastly since there are so many causes of high blood pressure, your results with the program may vary. This is why they can’t 100% guarantee your success when using the Blue Heron Blood Pressure Exercise Program. If you have too many factors leading to high blood pressure outside of your control, for example a combination of genetics and thyroid disorders, the diet and amount of exercise suggested might not be enough to counteract your natural blood pressure.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Easy to understand
- Instantly accessible
- Physical CD is available
- No need for expensive equipment
- Exercises can be done when and where they’re most convenient for you
- Naturally holistic, emphasizing a switch from medications to lifestyle management
- Moneyback guarantee
- Inexpensive
- Bonus content
Cons:
- All digital so internet access is required
- Requires dedication and consistency in order to be effective
- Might not work for everyone
Final Thoughts
The Blue Heron Blood Pressure Exercise Program can be an effective solution to high blood pressure for those who don’t want to take medications or are trying to get off of medications they are already taking. Proper diet and exercise have been proven to help relieve hypertension and promote cardiovascular health, and this program offers a way to get the minimum amount of exercise needed to start promoting that health when combined with the recommended diet in the bonus materials. In addition to the science behind promoting cardiovascular health, Christian Goodman is also a recognized natural health researcher who has performed various other studies, so the science backing the techniques in his program is sound. The program also offers various overall health tips to keep you healthy, and includes Christian’s contact information where he is willing to answer any questions or concerns you might have about the program. The Blue Heron Program has also received mostly positive and glowing reviews, many of the followers of the Blue Heron Program being thankful to Christian for giving them such an effective option for holistically dealing with their hypertension.
While the program might not be for everyone, the 60-day money back guarantee along with the low price of $49 for the entire package makes it worth at least trying out, especially when considering the alternative of taking expensive medications with potentially dangerous side effects. You can find more information on the main page for the Blue Heron Blood Pressure Exercise Program, as well as a purchase link where you can get immediate access to the program.