- New research links mindfulness, optimism, and gratitude with lowered blood pressure.
- Doctors stress using mindfulness as one tool in combination with other parts of a blood pressure management plan.
- There’s not just one way to tap into it—there are many ways you can work mindfulness into your day.
Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure, a condition that raises your risk of serious complications like heart attack and stroke. Unfortunately, most adults with high blood pressure don’t have it well controlled, which can lead to damage to arteries and blood vessels over time.
While blood pressure management is complicated and often includes a combo of lifestyle changes and medication, new research suggests there’s a surprising natural option that can also help get your numbers down: mindfulness.
Meet the experts: Sanjiv Patel, M.D., interventional cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA; Thea Gallagher, Psy.D., clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and cohost of the Mind in View podcast
The study, which was published in the journal Cardiology Clinics, analyzed data from 18 randomized controlled trials that looked at positive psychology and mindfulness interventions that were designed to improve the participants’ mental or physical health. Each program varied; some involved journaling, others used apps, and some relied on in-person group sessions. Most interventions lasted six to 12 weeks.
The results of each program varied too, but the researchers discovered a common thread—those that included gratitude exercises, optimism training, and mindfulness-based practices led to “consistent improvement” in cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure. These practices also encouraged healthy behaviors that could further improve cardiovascular health.
Here’s what researchers found to be most effective, plus how to slot this practice into your existing blood pressure management plan.
Which practices were the most effective?
Again, the study looked at a range of programs designed to boost mindfulness, optimism, and gratitude. But the researchers found that a 12-week spirituality-based digital intervention had one of the biggest impacts on systolic blood pressure (the top number, which measures the maximum pressure in your arteries when your heart beats and pumps blood). This reduced systolic blood pressure by 7.6 points.
There were also behavioral improvements from some interventions that can indirectly lower blood pressure. An effective one was an eight-week program given over WhatsApp that combined weekly sessions with daily “microtasks” that encouraged the participants to move more, follow a healthier diet, and take their medication as prescribed.
One program that relied on motivational interviewing—a technique designed to help motivate people to change their behavior—helped increase the participants’ levels of physical activity by 1,800 steps a day. Other mindfulness programs boosted activity levels and healthy eating.
Overall, the researchers found the most consistent improvements in blood pressure were in people who did a daily mindfulness practice, along with different weekly sessions over eight to 12 weeks. But they also noted that over time, people may need “less-intensive contact” to change behaviors that can lower blood pressure.
This study builds on prior research linking mindfulness to lower blood pressure
Research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in 2023 randomized 201 adults with elevated blood pressure to either participate in an eight-week mindfulness program or to receive standard of care, which included monitoring their blood pressure at home and reading education material on blood pressure. The researchers found that the participants in the mindfulness group had an average drop in systolic blood pressure of 5.9 mm Hg, compared to the 1.4 mm Hg drop experienced by people in the usual care group. People in the mindfulness group also reduced their sitting time by an average of 351 minutes per week compared to those in the standard-of-care group.
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A 2022 study also found that women who underwent a 12-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program had a “significant reduction” in both their systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
What’s behind the link between mindfulness and better blood pressure control?
The latest study didn’t explore why mindfulness (or gratitude, or optimism training) led to lower blood pressure, but there are a few theories.
One is that regularly practicing these mental health techniques can help you better manage stress when it surfaces, according to Sanjiv Patel, M.D., interventional cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA. “This can decrease inflammation in the body overall and help to relax your muscles, which could lower your blood pressure,” he says.
Practicing mindfulness, gratitude, and optimism also helps to lower the odds your body will switch into fight-or-flight mode when you’re faced with a stressful situation, per Dr. Patel. “Your body may be better at de-escalating situations,” he says. “When you reduce the fight-or-flight response, you tend to reduce your blood pressure as well.”
And, as some of the interventions found, there can be an indirect effect of mindfulness on blood pressure as well, according to Thea Gallagher, Psy.D., clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and cohost of the Mind in View podcast. “It can make people more aware of their stress patterns and daily habits,” she says. “When we can notice tension or anxious thoughts without immediately reacting to them, we may recover from stress more quickly and make more intentional choices around sleep, movement, eating, alcohol, and medication adherence.” All of those combined can help to drive down blood pressure, she explains.
How to put this into practice
Mindfulness focuses on anchoring your attention in the present moment, Gallagher says—say, by noticing the way the air feels on your skin or the rhythm of your steps, she explains. “That kind of attention helps interrupt rumination and reduces the sense of being mentally ‘stuck,’” she says.
Mindfulness is focused on experiencing the world as it actually is, not how you interpret it, Gallagher says. “Then, when people who practice mindfulness have a real crisis, they tend to handle it better than they think they would,” she says.
As for fostering optimism, it “isn’t about seeing the world through rose-colored glasses,” Gallagher says. “It’s about believing that even when life is hard, your choices today can positively influence tomorrow.” It can be strengthened over time, too. Gallagher suggests challenging catastrophic thoughts, practicing gratitude, reflecting on times you’ve successfully navigated adversity, and focusing on what’s within your control rather than what isn’t.
And a gratitude practice can be as simple as journaling about what you’re thankful for, writing it down on your phone, or thinking about it daily, Gallagher says. You can also try to follow negative thoughts with something you’re grateful for, like “I’m feeling really stressed today, but I’m grateful I can meet up with friends later to talk about how I’m feeling.”
Helpful as tapping into mindfulness, optimism, and gratitude may be, it shouldn’t be the only thing you do to lower your blood pressure, our experts stress. “It’s not a replacement for medical treatment, but it can be a helpful tool alongside it,” Gallagher says.
Think of mindfulness as one more thing you do to reduce your blood pressure and keep it lowered, Dr. Patel says. It may even allow you to scale back on blood pressure-lowering medication, he says. “Hopefully, practicing this will lead to positive change to create a long-term gain, not just a short-term solution,” Dr. Patel says.
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