1 416 130 BODY TEMPERATURE AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE DURING AND AFTER YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES TRADITIONALLY DESCRIBED AS COOLING. BACKGROUND IN TRADITIONAL YOGA TEXTS, SHEETALI AND SITKARI PRANAYAMAS ARE DESCRIBED AS COOLING. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS AIMED AT RECORDING THE SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE, OXYGEN CONSUMED, AND CARBON DIOXIDE ELIMINATED BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER PERFORMANCE OF SHEETALI AND SITKARI PRANAYAMAS. MATERIAL AND METHODS SEVENTEEN HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS WITH AGES BETWEEN 19 TO 25 YEARS (AVERAGE AGE 20.7+/-1.8 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED IN 4 SESSIONS, VIZ. SHEETALI PRANAYAMA, SITKARI PRANAYAMA, BREATH AWARENESS AND QUIET LYING, ON 4 SEPARATE DAYS, IN RANDOM SEQUENCE. THE AXILLARY SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE (TRUSCOPE II, SCHILLER, CHINA) AND METABOLIC VARIABLES (QUARK CPET, COSMED, ITALY) WERE RECORDED IN 3 PERIODS: BEFORE (5 MINUTES), DURING (18 MINUTES), AND AFTER (5 MINUTES), IN EACH OF THE 4 SESSIONS. THE HEAT INDEX WAS CALCULATED IN THE BEFORE AND AFTER PERIODS, BASED ON RECORDINGS OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING SPSS (VERSION 24.0). RESULTS BODY TEMPERATURE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING SHEETALI AND SITKARI (P<0.05, P<0.01; RESPECTIVELY) WHILE IT DECREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS AND QUIET LYING DOWN (P<0.01, P<0.001; RESPECTIVELY) WHEN COMPARED WITH RESPECTIVE POST-EXERCISE STATES. OXYGEN CONSUMPTION INCREASED BY 9.0% DURING SHEETALI (P<0.05) AND BY 7.6% DURING SITKARI (P<0.01) WHILE IT DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING (P<0.05) AND AFTER (P<0.01) QUIET LYING DOWN COMPARED TO RESPECTIVE PRE-EXERCISE STATES. CONCLUSIONS THE RESULTS DO NOT SUPPORT THE DESCRIPTION OF THESE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES AS COOLING. THESE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES MAY BE USED TO INDUCE A MILD HYPERMETABOLIC STATE. 2020 2 417 55 BODY TEMPERATURE IN PRACTITIONERS OF A YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUE CONSIDERED TO BE HEAT GENERATING. CONTEXT: SURYABHEDA PRANAYAMA IS TRADITIONALLY DESCRIBED AS "INCREASING THE INNER FIRE" AND IS BELIEVED TO BE HEAT GENERATING. AIMS: THE PRESENT STUDY AIMED AT DETERMINING WHETHER THE SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE WOULD INCREASE AFTER SURYABHEDA PRANAYAMA PRACTICE COMPARED WITH SITTING QUIETLY FOR THE SAME DURATION AS A CONTROL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: NINETEEN PARTICIPANTS WITH EXPERIENCE OF SURYABHEDA PRANAYAMA PRACTICE (GROUP MEAN EXPERIENCE +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 30.2 +/- 22.8 MONTHS) WERE ASSESSED IN 3 SESSIONS ON SEPARATE DAYS. THE SESSIONS WERE (I) SURYABHEDA PRANAYAMA WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL LOCKS OR BREATH RETENTION, (II) SURYABHEDA PRANAYAMA WITHOUT PHYSIOLOGICAL LOCKS OR BREATH RETENTION, AND (III) QUIET SITTING (CONTROL SESSION). THE AXILLARY SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE WAS MONITORED IN ALL THREE SESSIONS BEFORE (5 MIN), DURING (15 MIN), AND AFTER (5 MIN) THE INTERVENTION. AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY IN THE RECORDING CABIN USED FOR TESTING WERE NOTED. FROM THE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY, THE HEAT INDEX WAS DERIVED. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSES OF VARIANCE WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE VALUES BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE 3 SESSIONS, USING SPSS VERSION 24.0. RESULTS: THE SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE INCREASED DURING AND AFTER SURYABHEDA PRANAYAMA WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL LOCKS (P < 0.001; P < 0.001), SURYABHEDA PRANAYAMA WITHOUT PHYSIOLOGICAL LOCKS (P < 0.01; P < 0.001), AND QUIET SITTING (P < 0.001; P < 0.001) COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE BEFORE VALUES. CONCLUSION: THE CONTROL (I.E., QUIET SITTING) AND EXPERIMENTAL SESSIONS (I.E., SURYABHEDA WITH LOCKS AND SURYABHEDA WITHOUT LOCKS) SHOWED A COMPARABLE INCREASE IN THE SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE. HENCE, THE INCREASE IN SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE DURING AND AFTER EXPERIMENTAL SESSIONS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO THE PRANAYAMA TECHNIQUES. THE POSSIBLE FACTORS WHICH MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO INCREASED SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE IN THE CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL SESSIONS HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED. 2020 3 2855 27 YOGA-AN ALTERNATIVE FORM OF THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH BLUNT CHEST TRAUMA: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: YOGA AS ALTERNATIVE FORM OF THERAPY HAS SHOWN POSITIVE IMPACT ON PULMONARY FUNCTIONS, EXERCISE CAPACITY, BEHAVIORAL CHANGES, AND INFLAMMATION IN NON-TRAUMA PATIENTS. HOWEVER, THE EFFICACY OF YOGA HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED IN CHEST TRAUMA PATIENTS. METHODS: THIS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED AT LEVEL-1 TRAUMA CENTRE. ISOLATED CHEST INJURY PATIENTS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO EITHER STANDARD PHYSIOTHERAPY OR YOGATHERAPY GROUPS. PATIENTS IN PHYSIOTHERAPY GROUP RECEIVED CONVENTIONAL CHEST PHYSIOTHERAPY AND YOGATHERAPY GROUP RECEIVED A SET OF YOGIC EXERCISES IN ADDITION TO CONVENTIONAL CHEST PHYSIOTHERAPY. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE WAS CHANGES IN PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTS (PFT) AT 4 WEEKS OF DISCHARGE. SECONDARY OUTCOMES WERE CHANGES IN QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL), RESPIRATORY MUSCLE STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE, CHEST WALL MOBILITY, AND LEVELS OF CYTOKINES AT 4 WEEKS. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING STATA V14.0. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 89 ELIGIBLE PATIENTS WERE RANDOMIZED TO PHYSIOTHERAPY (N = 46) AND YOGA THERAPY (N = 43) GROUPS. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS WERE COMPARABLE IN BOTH THE GROUPS. THERE WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN PFT IN THE YOGATHERAPY GROUP COMPARED WITH PHYSIOTHERAPY WITH AN INCREASE IN FORCED VITAL CAPACITY (P = 0.02) AND FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME (P = 0.01) AT 4 WEEKS. IN ADDITION, THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN PHYSICAL COMPONENT OF QOL, RESPIRATORY MUSCLE ENDURANCE (P = 0.003) AND AXILLARY CIRTOMETRY (P = 0.009) IN THE YOGATHERAPY GROUP. HOWEVER, NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE TRENDS OF CYTOKINE MARKERS SEEN BETWEEN THE GROUPS. CONCLUSION: YOGA WAS FOUND TO BE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING PULMONARY FUNCTIONS AND QOL IN PATIENTS WITH CHEST TRAUMA. (TRIAL REGISTERED AT CTRI.NIC.IN/CLINICALTRIALS/LOGIN.PHP, NUMBERREF/2016/05/011,287). 2021 4 1610 55 METABOLIC AND VENTILATORY CHANGES DURING AND AFTER HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING. BACKGROUND PRACTICING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) INDUCED A HYPERMETABOLIC STATE IN A SINGLE SUBJECT DURING THE PRACTICE BUT THE EFFECT HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED IN MULTIPLE PRACTITIONERS. MATERIAL AND METHODS HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS (N=47, GROUP MEAN AGE +/- S.D., 23.2 +/- 4.1 YEARS) WERE RECRUITED AS AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP AND ANOTHER TWENTY VOLUNTEERS WERE RECRUITED AS A CONTROL GROUP. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP PRACTICED EITHER HFYB (BREATH RATE 1.0 HZ) OR BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) ON TWO SEPARATE DAYS. THE SEQUENCE WAS REVERSED FOR ALTERNATE PARTICIPANTS. THE CONTROL GROUP WAS ASSESSED UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS WHILE SITTING AT EASE. THE BREATH RATE (RR), TIDAL VOLUME (VT), VENTILATION (VE), VO2, VCO2, ARTERIAL PCO2 AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE (EE KCAL/DAY) WERE ASSESSED FOR 35 MINUTES USING AN OPEN CIRCUIT OXYGEN CONSUMPTION ANALYZER. THE ASSESSMENT PERIOD WAS DIVIDED INTO BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER CONDITIONS. REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSES OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) WERE USED TO COMPARE DATA RECORDED DURING AND AFTER THE TWO PRACTICES WITH DATA RECORDED BEFORE. BEFORE-AFTER COMPARISONS IN THE CONTROL GROUP WERE WITH PAIRED T-TESTS. RESULTS THE MOST RELEVANT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE INCREASES IN VE, VO2, VCO2 AND EE DURING HFYB, WHILE THE SAME VARIABLES DECREASED DURING THE CONTROL PERIOD. HOWEVER AFTER HFYB THERE WAS NO CHANGE IN VO2 OR EE, ALTHOUGH VE DECREASED AS IT DID AFTER THE CONTROL PERIOD. CONCLUSIONS HFYB INDUCES A HYPERMETABOLIC STATE FOR THE DURATION OF THE PRACTICE WHICH RETURNS TO BASELINE AFTER HFYB SUGGESTING A POSSIBLE APPLICATION FOR HFYB IN HYPOMETABOLIC STATES. 2015 5 411 40 BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY DURING YOGA-BASED ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING PRACTICE AND BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS SHOWN A REDUCTION IN BLOOD PRESSURE (BP) IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRACTICE OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) IN NORMAL HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS AND IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS OF BOTH SEXES. THE BP DURING ANYB HAS NOT BEEN RECORDED. MATERIAL/METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE 26 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/-SD, 23.8+/-3.5 YEARS). WE ASSESSED (1) HEART RATE VARIABILITY, (2) NON-INVASIVE ARTERIAL BP, AND (3) RESPIRATION RATE, DURING (A) ANYB AND (B) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) SESSIONS. EACH SESSION WAS 25 MINUTES. WE PERFORMED ASSESSMENTS AT 3 TIME POINTS: PRE (5 MINUTES), DURING (15 MINUTES; FOR ANYB OR BAW) AND POST (5 MINUTES). A NAIVE-TO-YOGA CONTROL GROUP (N=15 MALES, MEAN AGE +/-SD 26.1+/-4.0 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED WHILE SEATED QUIETLY FOR 25 MINUTES. RESULTS: DURING ANYB THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA) IN SYSTOLIC BP AND RESPIRATION RATE; WHILE RMSSD (THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE MEAN OF THE SUM OF SQUARES OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADJACENT NN INTERVALS) AND NN50 (THE NUMBER OF INTERVAL DIFFERENCES OF SUCCESSIVE NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS GREATER THAN 50 MS) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED. DURING BAW RESPIRATION RATE DECREASED. IN CONTRAST, RESPIRATION RATE INCREASED DURING THE CONTROL STATE. ANYB AND BAW WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT (2-FACTOR ANOVA) IN RMSSD AND RESPIRATION RATE. BAW AND CONTROL WERE DIFFERENT WITH RESPECT TO RESPIRATION RATE. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT VAGAL ACTIVITY INCREASED DURING AND AFTER ANYB, WHICH COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE DECREASE IN BP AND CHANGES IN THE HRV. 2014 6 442 37 CEREBROVASCULAR DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. AIMS: BREATH FREQUENCY CAN ALTER CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW. THE STUDY AIMED TO DETERMINE BILATERAL MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERIAL HEMODYNAMICS IN HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND SLOW FREQUENCY ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) USING TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY. METHODS: HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS WERE ASSESSED IN TWO SEPARATE TRIALS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER HFYB (2.0 HZ FOR 1 MIN, N = 16) AND ANYB (12 BREATHS PER MINUTE FOR 5 MIN, N = 22). HFYB AND ANYB WERE SEPARATELY COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) AND TO CONTROL SESSIONS. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: THE DATA WERE ANALYZED USING REPEATED-MEASURES ANOVA WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST HOC TESTS. RESULTS: DURING HFYB THERE WAS A DECREASE IN END-DIASTOLIC VELOCITY (EDV) AND MEAN FLOW VELOCITY (MFV) (P < 0.01 FOR LEFT AND P < 0.05 FOR RIGHT MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERIES; MCA) WITH AN INCREASE IN PULSATILITY INDEX (PI) FOR THE RIGHT MCA (P < 0.05). DURING ANYB, THERE WAS A BILATERAL DECREASE IN PEAK SYSTOLIC VELOCITY (P < 0.05 FOR LEFT AND P < 0.01 FOR RIGHT MCA), EDV (P < 0.01) AND MFV (P < 0.01 FOR LEFT AND P < 0.001 FOR RIGHT MCA) AND AN INCREASE IN PI (P < 0.01). DURING BAW OF THE TWO SESSIONS THERE WAS A DECREASE IN LATERALIZED FLOW AND END-DIASTOLIC VELOCITIES (P < 0.05) AND AN INCREASE IN PI (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CHANGES IN PEAK FLOW VELOCITIES AND PULSATILITY INDICES DURING AND AFTER HFYB, ANYB, AND BAW SUGGEST DECREASED CEREBROVASCULAR BLOOD FLOW AND INCREASED FLOW RESISTANCE BASED ON DIFFERENT MECHANISMS. 2022 7 1317 42 HEART RATE VARIABILITY CHANGES DURING HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: PRE AND POST COMPARISON AFTER ONE MINUTE OF HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) SUGGESTED THAT THE HFYB MODIFIES THE AUTONOMIC STATUS BY INCREASING SYMPATHETIC MODULATION, BUT ITS EFFECT DURING THE PRACTICE WAS NOT ASSESSED. METHODS: THIRTY-EIGHT MALE VOLUNTEERS WITH GROUP AVERAGE AGE +/- S.D., 23.3 +/- 4.4 YEARS WERE EACH ASSESSED ON TWO SEPARATE DAYS IN TWO SESSIONS, (I) HFYB AND (II) BREATH AWARENESS. EACH SESSION WAS FOR 35 MINUTES, WITH 3 PERIODS, I.E., PRE (5 MINUTES), DURING HFYB OR BREATH AWARENESS (15 MINUTES) AND POST (5 MINUTES). RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN NN50, PNN50 AND THE MEAN RR INTERVAL DURING AND AFTER HFYB AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS, COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE 'PRE' VALUES (P < 0.05) (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA FOLLOWED BY POST-HOC ANALYSIS). THE LF POWER INCREASED AND HF POWER DECREASED DURING AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS AND LF/HF RATIO INCREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THERE WAS REDUCED PARASYMPATHETIC MODULATION DURING AND AFTER HFYB AND INCREASED SYMPATHETIC MODULATION WITH REDUCED PARASYMPATHETIC MODULATION DURING AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS. 2011 8 462 42 CHANGES IN REACTION TIME AFTER YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING IN HEALTHY FEMALE VOLUNTEERS. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUSLY, YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING (BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA) REDUCED REACTION TIME (RT) OR REDUCED ANTICIPATORY RESPONSES IN MALE PARTICIPANTS OR A MIXED GROUP OF MALE AND FEMALE PARTICIPANTS. AIMS: THE PRESENT STUDY AS A CONTROL TRIAL AIMED TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING ON RT IN FEMALES EXCLUSIVELY. METHODS: THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 25 HEALTHY FEMALES, AGED BETWEEN 19 AND 32 YEARS (GROUP MEAN +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 22.8 +/- 3.5 YEARS). ALL OF THEM HAD PRIOR MINIMUM EXPERIENCE OF YOGA INCLUDING YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING OF 12 MONTHS. THE RT WAS ASSESSED IN EACH PARTICIPANT BEFORE AND AFTER THREE RANDOMIZED SESSIONS DIFFERED IN THE INTERVENTION GIVEN HELD ON THREE SEPARATE DAYS. THE SESSIONS WERE (I) YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING OR BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA(BHK), (II) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), AND (III) SITTING QUIETLY (CTL) AS A CONTROL SESSION. THE DURATION OF THE INTERVENTION WAS 18 MIN, AND THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED FOR RT BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. RESULTS: REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, POST HOC TESTS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTED SHOWED THAT THE TIME TAKEN TO OBTAIN A CORRECT RESPONSE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER 18 MIN OF BAW (P < 0.05) AND CTL (P < 0.05). HOWEVER, NO CHANGES WERE SEEN IN THE RT AFTER BHK. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT DIFFERENT INTERVENTIONS MAY OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE IN TASKS REQUIRING ATTENTION IN FEMALES COMPARED TO MALES. 2018 9 463 49 CHANGES IN SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY AFTER ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS IN ONE SESSION EACH. BACKGROUND YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES LIKE HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK. A PUBMED SEARCH OF THE LITERATURE REVEALED THAT ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL BREATHING HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTION TASKS, BUT THE EFFECT ON TACTILE PERCEPTION HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED. HENCE, THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS ON SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY. MATERIAL AND METHODS FIFTY HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS AGES 20-50 YEARS (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 28.4+/-8.2 YEARS) WERE RECRUITED. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN 3 SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY. THE 3 SESSIONS WERE (I) ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB), (II) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS), AND THE SEQUENCE OF THE SESSIONS WAS RANDOMLY ALLOCATED. THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK AND STATE ANXIETY WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS. REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (RM-ANOVA) FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS FOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS, WHICH WERE BONFERRONI-ADJUSTED, WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS USING SPSS VERSION 18.0. RESULTS THE ERRORS SCORES IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION AFTER THE ANYB SESSION (P<0.001). A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION WAS FOUND IN THE LEVEL OF STATE ANXIETY AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P<0.05) AND QUIET SITTING SESSIONS (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS THE PRESENT RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ANYB: (I) IMPROVES PERFORMANCE IN A TASK WHICH REQUIRES PERCEPTUAL SENSITIVITY AND FOCUSED ATTENTION, BUT (II) DOES NOT REDUCE STATE ANXIETY FOLLOWING THIS TASK. 2019 10 1353 38 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF SPECIFIC NOSTRIL MANIPULATING YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES ON AUTONOMIC AND RESPIRATORY VARIABLES. THE EFFECT OF RIGHT, LEFT, AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (I.E., RNYB, LNYB, AND ANYB, RESPECTIVELY) WERE COMPARED WITH BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) AND NORMAL BREATHING (CTL). AUTONOMIC AND RESPIRATORY VARIABLES WERE STUDIED IN 21 MALE VOLUNTEERS WITH AGES BETWEEN 18 AND 45 YEARS AND EXPERIENCE IN THE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES BETWEEN 3 AND 48 MONTHS. SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED IN FIVE EXPERIMENTAL SESSIONS ON FIVE SEPARATE DAYS. THE SESSIONS WERE IN FIXED POSSIBLE SEQUENCES AND SUBJECTS WERE ASSIGNED TO A SEQUENCE RANDOMLY. EACH SESSION WAS FOR 40 MIN; 30 MIN FOR THE BREATHING PRACTICE, PRECEDED AND FOLLOWED BY 5 MIN OF QUIET SITTING. ASSESSMENTS INCLUDED HEART RATE VARIABILITY, SKIN CONDUCTANCE, FINGER PLETHYSMOGRAM AMPLITUDE, BREATH RATE, AND BLOOD PRESSURE. FOLLOWING RNYB THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SYSTOLIC, DIASTOLIC AND MEAN PRESSURE. IN CONTRAST, THE SYSTOLIC AND DIASTOLIC PRESSURE DECREASED AFTER ANYB AND THE SYSTOLIC AND MEAN PRESSURE WERE LOWER AFTER LNYB. HENCE, UNILATERAL NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES APPEAR TO INFLUENCE THE BLOOD PRESSURE IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THESE EFFECTS SUGGEST POSSIBLE THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS. 2008 11 630 32 DIFFERENCES IN ENERGY EXPENDITURE DURING HIGH-SPEED VERSUS STANDARD-SPEED YOGA: A RANDOMIZED SEQUENCE CROSSOVER TRIAL. OBJECTIVES: TO COMPARE ENERGY EXPENDITURE AND VOLUME OF OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND CARBON DIOXIDE PRODUCTION DURING A HIGH-SPEED YOGA AND A STANDARD-SPEED YOGA PROGRAM. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED REPEATED MEASURES CONTROLLED TRIAL. SETTING: A LABORATORY OF NEUROMUSCULAR RESEARCH AND ACTIVE AGING. INTERVENTIONS: SUN-SALUTATION B WAS PERFORMED, FOR EIGHT MINUTES, AT A HIGH SPEED VERSUS AND A STANDARD-SPEED SEPARATELY WHILE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION WAS RECORDED. CALORIC EXPENDITURE WAS CALCULATED USING VOLUME OF OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND CARBON DIOXIDE PRODUCTION. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: DIFFERENCE IN ENERGY EXPENDITURE (KCAL) OF HSY AND SSY. RESULTS: SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED IN ENERGY EXPENDITURE BETWEEN YOGA SPEEDS WITH HIGH-SPEED YOGA PRODUCING SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER ENERGY EXPENDITURE THAN STANDARD-SPEED YOGA (MD=18.55, SE=1.86, P<0.01). SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE ALSO SEEN BETWEEN HIGH-SPEED AND STANDARD-SPEED YOGA FOR VOLUME OF OXYGEN CONSUMED AND CARBON DIOXIDE PRODUCED. CONCLUSIONS: HIGH-SPEED YOGA RESULTS IN A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER CALORIC EXPENDITURE THAN STANDARD-SPEED YOGA. HIGH-SPEED YOGA MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM FOR THOSE TARGETING CARDIOMETABOLIC MARKERS. 2016 12 1321 32 HEMISPHERE SPECIFIC EEG RELATED TO ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUSLY, FORCED UNILATERAL NOSTRIL BREATHING WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IPSILATERAL, OR CONTRALATERAL CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE CHANGES, OR NO CHANGE. HENCE IT WAS INCONCLUSIVE. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON 13 NORMAL HEALTHY PARTICIPANTS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING ON (A) CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE ASYMMETRY, AND (B) CHANGES IN THE STANDARD EEG BANDS. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO THREE SESSIONS (A) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB), (B) BREATH AWARENESS AND (C) QUIET SITTING, ON SEPARATE DAYS. EEG WAS RECORDED FROM BILATERALLY SYMMETRICAL SITES (FP1, FP2, C3, C4, O1 AND O2). ALL SITES WERE REFERENCED TO THE IPSILATERAL EAR LOBE. RESULTS: THERE WAS NO CHANGE IN CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE SYMMETRY. THE RELATIVE POWER IN THE THETA BAND WAS DECREASED DURING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) AND THE BETA AMPLITUDE WAS LOWER AFTER ANYB. DURING QUIET SITTING THE RELATIVE POWER IN THE BETA BAND INCREASED, WHILE THE AMPLITUDE OF THE ALPHA BAND REDUCED. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ANYB WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER CALMNESS, WHEREAS QUIET SITTING WITHOUT SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH AROUSAL. THE RESULTS IMPLY A POSSIBLE USE OF ANYB FOR STRESS AND ANXIETY REDUCTION. 2017 13 865 31 EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICES ON PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTS INCLUDING TRANSFER FACTOR OF LUNG FOR CARBON MONOXIDE (TLCO) IN ASTHMA PATIENTS. PRANA IS THE ENERGY, WHEN THE SELF-ENERGIZING FORCE EMBRACES THE BODY WITH EXTENSION AND EXPANSION AND CONTROL, IT IS PRANAYAMA. IT MAY AFFECT THE MILIEU AT THE BRONCHIOLES AND THE ALVEOLI PARTICULARLY AT THE ALVEOLO-CAPILLARY MEMBRANE TO FACILITATE DIFFUSION AND TRANSPORT OF GASES. IT MAY ALSO INCREASE OXYGENATION AT TISSUE LEVEL. AIM OF OUR STUDY IS TO COMPARE PULMONARY FUNCTIONS AND DIFFUSION CAPACITY IN PATIENTS OF BRONCHIAL ASTHMA BEFORE AND AFTER YOGIC INTERVENTION OF 2 MONTHS. SIXTY STABLE ASTHMATIC-PATIENTS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS I.E GROUP 1 (YOGA TRAINING GROUP) AND GROUP 2 (CONTROL GROUP). EACH GROUP INCLUDED THIRTY PATIENTS. LUNG FUNCTIONS WERE RECORDED ON ALL PATIENTS AT BASELINE, AND THEN AFTER TWO MONTHS. GROUP 1 SUBJECTS SHOWED A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT (P<0.001) IN TRANSFER FACTOR OF THE LUNG FOR CARBON MONOXIDE (TLCO), FORCED VITAL CAPACITY (FVC), FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN 1ST SEC (FEV1), PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE (PEFR), MAXIMUM VOLUNTARY VENTILATION (MVV) AND SLOW VITAL CAPACITY (SVC) AFTER YOGA PRACTICE. QUALITY OF LIFE ALSO INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT PRANAYAMA & YOGA BREATHING AND STRETCHING POSTURES ARE USED TO INCREASE RESPIRATORY STAMINA, RELAX THE CHEST MUSCLES, EXPAND THE LUNGS, RAISE ENERGY LEVELS, AND CALM THE BODY. 2012 14 1726 42 PERFORMANCE IN A CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK FOLLOWING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING OR BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES HAVE IMPROVED SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES. THERE HAS BEEN NO ASSESSMENT ON THE EFFECT OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) ON WORKING MEMORY AND SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES USING THE CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK (CBTT). OBJECTIVES: THE PRESENT STUDY WAS PLANNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) COMPARED TO A CONTROL SESSION ON PERFORMANCE IN A CBTT. METHODS: FIFTEEN PARTICIPANTS OF BOTH SEXES WITH AGES BETWEEN 18 AND 24 YEARS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 20.0 +/- 1.6 YEARS; 10 FEMALES) WERE RECRUITED FOR THE TRIAL FROM A UNIVERSITY IN NORTH INDIA. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN THREE SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THE THREE SESSIONS WERE (I) HFYB, (II) BAW, AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS). THE DURATION OF THE INTERVENTION WAS 18 MIN. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. REPEATED-MEASURES-ANALYSES OF VARIANCE FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. RESULTS: BAW RESULTED IN AN IMPROVEMENT IN BACKWARD TOTAL SCORES (P < 0.05) AND THE BACKWARD CORSI SPAN (P < 0.05; ONE TAILED). CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT BAW IMPROVES PRIMARY WORKING MEMORY, SPATIAL MEMORY, AND SPATIAL ATTENTION. HFYB DID NOT CAUSE ANY CHANGE. 2019 15 72 47 A FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY STUDY OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (BREATH RATE OF 2.0 HZ) HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN OXY-HEMOGLOBIN IN THE PREFRONTAL REGION OF THE BRAIN. THE PRESENT STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECTS OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AT 1.0 HZ ON FRONTAL OXY-HEMOGLOBIN (OXY-HB) AND DEOXY-HEMOGLOBIN (DEOXY-HB). MATERIAL AND METHODS FORTY HEALTHY MALE PARTICIPANTS WERE RECRUITED FOR THE STUDY. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP CONSISTED OF 20 PARTICIPANTS 23-40 YEARS OLD (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 26.4+/-4.7 YEARS) WITH AT LEAST 3 MONTHS OF EXPERIENCE PERFORMING HFYB (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 16.3+/-9.8 MONTHS). THE CONTROL GROUP CONSISTED OF 20 PARTICIPANTS AGES 23-38 YEARS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- S.D., 27.4+/-4.1 YEARS), WHO WERE SEATED QUIETLY FOR THE SAME DURATION AND THEIR AVERAGE EXPERIENCE OF YOGA PRACTICE WAS (+/-S.D.) 4.3+/-2.7 MONTHS. EACH PARTICIPANT IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WAS ASSESSED AT 2 SESSIONS (HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS [BAW]) ON ALTERNATE DAYS. HEMODYNAMIC CHANGES WERE ASSESSED USING A FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY SENSOR PLACED OVER THE FOREHEAD. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING REPEATED-MEASURES ANALYSES OF VARIANCE FOLLOWED BY POST HOC BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT. RESULTS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION WAS OBSERVED IN OXY-HB DURING AND AFTER HFYB ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES COMPARED TO VALUES BEFORE. WE ALSO FOUND A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DEOXY-HB DURING AND AFTER THE QUIET SITTING CONTROL SESSION COMPARED TO PRE-SESSION VALUES ON LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES. CONCLUSIONS THE DECREASE IN OXY-HB DURING AND AFTER HFYB SUGGESTS THAT THERE WAS NO FRONTAL ACTIVATION DURING HFYB WHEN PRACTICED AT THE RATE OF 1.0 HZ. 2016 16 1691 33 OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND RESPIRATION DURING AND AFTER TWO YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE WHICH COMBINES "STIMULATING" AND "CALMING" PRACTICES, BASED ON A STATEMENT IN ANCIENT YOGA TEXTS SUGGESTING THAT SUCH A COMBINATION MAY BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL TO REACH A STATE OF MENTAL EQUILIBRIUM. THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, BREATH RATE AND BREATH VOLUME OF 50 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE+/-SD, 27+/-6.3 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER SESSIONS OF CM AND SESSIONS OF SUPINE REST IN THE CORPSE POSTURE (SHAVASANA, SH). THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND THE ORDER WAS ALTERNATED. THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, BREATH RATE AND BREATH VOLUME INCREASED DURING THE "STIMULATING" PRACTICES OF CM, RETURNED TO THE BASELINE DURING THE "CALMING" PRACTICES, AND THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION DECREASED BY 19.3 PERCENT BELOW BASELINE VALUES AFTER CM. DURING THE SH SESSION THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, BREATH RATE AND BREATH VOLUME REDUCED; HOWEVER THE DECREASE IN OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AFTER SH WAS LESS THAN AFTER CM (I.E., 4.8 PERCENT). THE RESULTS SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT A COMBINATION OF YOGA POSTURES WITH SUPINE REST (IN CM) REDUCES THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION MORE THAN RESTING SUPINE ALONE DOES. 2006 17 2511 47 YOGA BREATHING THROUGH A PARTICULAR NOSTRIL IS ASSOCIATED WITH CONTRALATERAL EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL CHANGES. BACKGROUND: IN EARLIER STUDIES UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING WAS SHOWN TO INFLUENCE THE ACTIVITY OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES DIFFERENTLY, BASED ON (I) AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS RECORDED FROM BILATERAL SCALP SITES, AND (II) PERFORMANCE IN HEMISPHERE-SPECIFIC TASKS. BUT CHANGE IN P300 (EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL GENERATED WHEN SUBJECTS ATTEND TO AND DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN STIMULI) FROM BILATERAL SCALP SITES WHEN SUBJECTS WERE PRACTICING UNI- AND ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL BREATHING ARE YET TO BE EXPLORED. AIM: THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT IMMEDIATELY AFTER UNINOSTRIL OR ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING THERE WOULD BE A CHANGE IN THE ABILITY TO PAY ATTENTION TO A GIVEN STIMULUS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TWENTY-NINE HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS, WITH AGES BETWEEN 20 AND 45 YEARS WERE RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO FIVE SESSIONS, VIZ., (I) RIGHT-, (II) LEFT-, (III) ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, (IV) BREATH AWARENESS AND (V) NO INTERVENTION, EACH FOR 45 MIN ON SEPARATE DAYS. THE P300 EVENT RELATED POTENTIAL WAS RECORDED USING AN AUDITORY ODDBALL PARADIGM FROM SITES ON THE LEFT (C3) AND RIGHT (C4), REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES, BEFORE AND AFTER EACH SESSION. RESULTS: POST-HOC ANALYSIS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT SHOWED THAT THE P300 PEAK LATENCY WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER AT C3 COMPARED TO THAT AT C4, FOLLOWING RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING FACILITATES THE ACTIVITY OF CONTRALATERAL (LEFT) HEMISPHERE, IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE P300 TASK. 2012 18 98 36 A NONRANDOMIZED NON-NAIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF KAPALABHATI AND BREATH AWARENESS ON EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS IN TRAINED YOGA PRACTITIONERS. OBJECTIVES: THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO COMPARE THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS RECORDED BEFORE AND AFTER (1) HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND (2) BREATH AWARENESS. DESIGN: THE P300 WAS RECORDED IN PARTICIPANTS OF TWO GROUPS BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION SESSION (1 MINUTE IN DURATION). SETTINGS AND LOCATION: ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE RECEIVING YOGA TRAINING IN A RESIDENTIAL YOGA CENTER, SWAMI VIVEKANADA YOGA RESEARCH FOUNDATION IN BANGALORE, INDIA. SUBJECTS: THIRTY (30) MALE PARTICIPANTS FORMED TWO GROUPS (N = 15 EACH) WITH COMPARABLE AGES (WITHIN AN AGE RANGE OF 20-35 YEARS) AND COMPARABLE EXPERIENCE OF THE TWO TECHNIQUES, THE MINIMUM EXPERIENCE BEING 3 MONTHS. INTERVENTIONS: THE TWO GROUPS WERE EACH GIVEN A SEPARATE INTERVENTION. ONE GROUP PRACTICED A HFYB AT A FREQUENCY OF APPROXIMATELY 2.0 HZ, CALLED KAPALABHATI. THE OTHER GROUP PRACTICED BREATH AWARENESS DURING WHICH PARTICIPANTS WERE AWARE OF THEIR BREATH WHILE SEATED, RELAXED. OUTCOME MEASURES: THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL, WHICH IS GENERATED WHEN ATTENDING TO AND DISCRIMINATING BETWEEN AUDITORY STIMULI, WAS RECORDED BEFORE AND AFTER BOTH TECHNIQUES. RESULTS: THE P300 PEAK LATENCY DECREASED AFTER HFYB AND THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE INCREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS. CONCLUSIONS: BOTH PRACTICES (HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS), THOUGH VERY DIFFERENT, INFLUENCED THE P300. HFYB REDUCED THE PEAK LATENCY, SUGGESTING A DECREASE IN TIME NEEDED FOR THIS TASK, WHICH REQUIRES SELECTIVE ATTENTION. BREATH AWARENESS INCREASED THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE, SUGGESTING AN INCREASE IN THE NEURAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR THE TASK. 2009 19 1695 37 P300 FOLLOWING FOUR VOLUNTARILY REGULATED YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES AND BREATH AWARENESS. ATTENTION WAS INFLUENCED BY YOGA BREATHING IN PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED RESEARCH. EACH YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE UNIQUELY MODIFIES SPECIFIC BREATH CHARACTERISTICS. DIFFERENCES IN THE STUDY DESIGNS, ASSESSMENT METHODS AND INTERVENTIONS RESULTED IN DIFFICULTY IN COMPARING EFFECTS BETWEEN YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. THIS STUDY AIMED (I) TO COMPARE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES ON ATTENTION USING AN AUDITORY ODDBALL TASK AND (II) TO DETERMINE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENTION USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY. P300 EVENT RELATED POTENTIAL WAS RECORDED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH HEART RATE VARIABILITY BEFORE AND AFTER 18-MINUTE PERIODS EACH OF (I) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (WITH INCREASED BREATH FREQUENCY), (II) BELLOWS YOGA BREATHING (WITH INCREASED DEPTH OF RESPIRATION), (III) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (WITH ALTERNATE NOSTRIL PATENCY), (IV) BUMBLEBEE YOGA BREATHING (WITH PROLONGED EXHALE), (V) BREATH AWARENESS (WITH ATTENTION TO THE BREATH) AND (VI) QUIET SEATED REST AS CONTROL IN 38 YOGA EXPERIENCED MALES (AVERAGE AGE +/- SD; 24.08 +/- 4.01 YEARS). THE SIX SESSIONS WERE ON SEPARATE, RANDOMLY ALLOCATED DAYS. THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE RECORDED AT PZ WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AFTER FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES (BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST-HOC TESTS, REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA). NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE NOTED IN HEART RATE VARIABILITY FOLLOWING YOGA BREATHING OR CONTROL SESSIONS. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES INCREASE THE ATTENTIONAL NEURAL RESOURCES ENGAGED FOR THIS AUDITORY ODDBALL TASK, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE CHARACTERISTIC OF BREATH UNIQUELY REGULATED IN THE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. 2022 20 880 25 EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON HANDGRIP, RESPIRATORY PRESSURES AND PULMONARY FUNCTION. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE A NUMBER OF REPORTS ON THE EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON PULMONARY FUNCTIONS, VERY FEW STUDIES HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN ON THE EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON RESPIRATORY PRESSURES AND HANDGRIP ENDURANCE. HENCE THE PRESENT WORK WAS PLANNED TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON HAND GRIP STRENGTH (HGS), HAND GRIP ENDURANCE (HGE), MAXIMUM EXPIRATORY PRESSURE (MEP), MAXIMUM INSPIRATORY PRESSURE (MIP), FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME (FEV), FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME IN FIRST SECOND (FEV1) AND PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE (PEFR). 20 SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE AGE GROUP OF 12 TO 15 YEARS WERE GIVEN YOGA TRAINING (ASANS AND PRANAYAMS) FOR 6 MONTHS. 20 AGE AND GENDER-MATCHED STUDENTS FORMED THE CONTROL GROUP. YOGA TRAINING PRODUCED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (P < 0.05) INCREASE IN HGS AND HGE. MEP, MIP, FEV, FEV1 AND PEFR ALSO INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY (P < 0.001) AFTER THE YOGA TRAINING. IN CONTRAST, THE INCREASE IN THESE PARAMETERS IN THE CONTROL GROUP WAS STATISTICALLY INSIGNIFICANT. OUR STUDY SHOWS THAT YOGA TRAINING FOR 6 MONTHS IMPROVES LUNG FUNCTION, STRENGTH OF INSPIRATORY AND EXPIRATORY MUSCLES AS WELL AS SKELETAL MUSCLE STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT YOGA BE INTRODUCED AT SCHOOL LEVEL IN ORDER TO IMPROVE PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS, OVERALL HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS. 2003