Introduction: Yoga is defined as a practice consisting of three components: gentle stretching; exercises for breath control; and meditation as a mind-body intervention. At present, Yoga has become increasingly popular as a means of exercise and fitness training. Regular yogic practice has been shown to cause profound improvement in health conditions. It is possible that yogic practices might be influencing cardiorespiratory characteristics. Therefore, the present study has been undertaken to evaluate the effects of yoga on pulmonary function after female undergraduates performed yogic practice. Methods Eighteen healthy female undergraduates, 20.27±1.23 years of age, were randomly selected for the study. The subjects were divided into two groups. Group 1 subjects (6) served as control and performed routine aerobic exercise for 60 minutes three times weekly. Group 2 subjects performed only yoga and meditation, consisting of selected yogic asanas (yogic postures/exercises) for 60 minutes, yogic posture and breathing exercises in the afternoon 3 times weekly for 3 months under the supervision of qualified instructors. The parameters of pulmonary function, including ventilation function and mini-airway, were tested before and after yogic practices. Results (1) After 12 weeks of yogic exercise, the pulmonary parameters, including vital capacity (VC), ventilation volume (VE), tidal volume (VT), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), were significantly increased (P<0.05), and respiratory frequency (Rf) was significantly decreased in the yogic exercise group (p<0.05). However there were no differences in these parameters at baseline and end of the experiment for the control group. (2) After 12 weeks, the min-airway pulmonary parameters, including peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory flow after 25 (VMX25%), forced expiratory flow after 50 (VMX50%), and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) were significantly improved in both yogic exercise and control group (p<0.05). Discussion / Conclusions These observations suggest that the practice of hatha yoga can be used as a stimulus to cardiorespiratory function to increase ventilatory function, which, in turn, might be responsible for improved physical well-being.
© Copyright 2008 2008 International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport: Proceedings, Vol. III. Veröffentlicht von People´s Sports Publishing House. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.