YOGA CALMS HEART PACE, CUTS ANXIETY

YOGA MAY BENEFIT PEOPLE WITH
ABNORMAL HEART RHYTHMS: STUDY

Orleans (AFP) - People who suffer from irregular heartbeat could see their episodes cut in half if they do yoga regularly, according to a study released in the United States.  Doing yoga three times a week also reduced depression and anxiety while boosting people’s opinion of their own social and mental well-being, said the research presented at a New Orleans cardiology conference on Saturday.  “It appears yoga has a significant impact on helping to regulate patients’ heart beat and improves their overall quality of life,” said lead study author Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, associate professor of medicine at the University of Kansas Hospital.  The study followed 49 patients who suffer from atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm condition that arises when the heart’s natural electrical signals fire off in a disorganized way, causing the heart to quiver.

   For the first three months of the trial, patients were allowed to engage in their usual exercise routine.  For the second three months, patients attended three yoga sessions per week with a certified instructor, and were encouraged to practice at home with an educational DVD.  All the patients in the study were new to yoga.  Researchers measured the subjects’ episodes of irregular heartbeats using portable monitors and log books where the patients recorded their own symptoms.  The yoga intervention “significantly reduced” irregular heartbeat episodes by about half on average, compared to the control portion of the study when patients did their own exercises, said the study. 

 

The list of benefits from regularly practicing yoga is very long. Researchers from the University of Kansas Hospital have further added to the list by revealing that doing yoga regularly is very beneficial to those who suffer from irregular heartbeat, known as “atrial fibrillation”, since it reduces the number of such episodes.  Yoga practices are now very popular throughout the world and they have become important alternative medical health care systems.  Asanas and Pranayama routines reduce depression and anxiety and furthermore, they are the gateways to the deeper concentration and relaxation of the mind.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Yoga prescribes physical, mental and spiritual disciplines which will free one from mental and physical diseases. ... Asana -”bodily postures”: This process of various exercises and bodily postures brings physical and mental steadiness as well as health and vigor.  Pranayama - “control of breath”.  Prana means life air and yama means to control.  It involves controlling the inhalation, exhalation and the retention of the air we breathe. ... Yoga practices are also meant for the holistic upliftment of mind, body and spirit.  By regularly practicing Yoga, Pranayana (breathing exercises) and by maintaining a natural life style in one’s eating, resting, work, etc., a person can be fully relaxed and free from tension and anxiety.  When a person maintains these practices properly, he or she will be free from heart diseases and mental anxiety.

T.D. Singh, Ph.D. - Śrīla Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Mahārāja :
“Science and Religion - Present and Future” - “Yoga”
Bhaktivedanta Institute -  http://www.scienceandscientist.org/
http://www.bhaktisvarupadamodara.com/lang1/pg002.html
http://krishnascience.info/   -   http://www.bhaktisvarupadamodara.com/