Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) Intervention Development - Stage 1 Single Arm Trial

MB-BP (Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction) customizes Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to participants with prehypertension/hypertension. MB-BP will consist of nine 2.5-hour weekly group sessions and an 7.5-hour one-day session. Some of the unique areas of MB-BP are education on hypertension risk factors, hypertension health effects, and specific mindfulness modules focused on awareness of blood pressure determinants such as diet, physical activity, antihypertensive medication adherence, alcohol consumption, and stress reactivity. Students learn a range of mindfulness skills including body scan exercises, meditation and yoga. Homework consists of practicing skills for ≥45 min/day, 6 days/week.