Effect of yogic exercise on resting heart rate variability- a study in central India

Abstract

Yoga is a science that facilitates homeostasis, also alters the autonomic nervous system as well as cardiovascular functioning. It is recommended as a non-pharmacological tool for managing stress by “National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine India. Heart rate variability (HRV) a temporal variation in consecutive heart beats measured from a standard electrocardiogram. Being non-invasive technique has increased its use to measure the work load of individual. We assessed the effect of yogic exercise on resting HRV by using HRV software (AD-Instrument) in 20 healthy males of 18–20 years age both pre and post interventional. Practice of yogic exercise consist set of physical postures (asana), breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation (dhyana). These were practised 35mins, 5times /wk for 6 months guided by certified yoga trainer. Analysis done by Student’s paired ‘t’ test of HRV revealed that all time domain parameters were increased while frequency domain parameters like low-frequency (LF) and LF/HF ratio were found to be decreased after practice of yogic exercise. Practicing yogic exercise has shown better improvement in autonomic balance by shifting towards parasympathetic predominance as suggested by resting HRV