Twenty-six (26) long-term yoga practitioners and 26 age- and sex-matched controls, free of cardiovascular disease.
Outcome:
Cardiac vagal outflow as assessed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA).
Results:
During unpaced (spontaneous) breathing, yoga practitioners exhibited augmented RSA compared to controls (yoga 364.8 ± 75.3 vs. 194.7 ± 46.0 ms2Hz−1, p = 0.03). However, during paced breathing at 0.25 Hz (15 breaths/min), which accounts for inter- and intravariability in breath rate, RSA did not differ between groups (yoga 224.8 ± 48.4 vs. 271.3 ± 59.7 ms2Hz−1, p = 0.98). Furthermore, the relationship between age and RSA, such that RSA declines with age, did not qualitatively differ between groups.
Conclusions:
Long-term practice of yogic slow breathing does not appear to augment cardiac vagal control nor prevent known age-related declines.
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