Physiological effects of yogic

practices – a research perspective

R. Hemamalini
 Keywords ‘yoga effects’
Yoga research – some statistics

2011-present

2000-2010
Period of publication

1990-2000

1980-1990

1970-1980

1960-1970

1950-1960

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

No. of research articles (PubMed)

Contribution by India Total research articles published

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 No. of Research Papers for keyword
'physiological effects of yoga'
Yoga research – some statistics

Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Czech Republic
Germany
HongKong
India
Iran
Italy
Japan
Korea
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Russia
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
UK
USA

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Yoga research – some statistics

Over 2000 research articles on ‘yoga’ in

PubMed, earliest in the year 1951.

Approx. 1000 research articles (only) since the

year 1956, keyword ‘yoga effects’.

Key word ‘physiological effects of yoga’ -

155 total articles in PubMed - USA and India.

Physiological basis of yoga well-established

through scientific research.

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Image courtesy 5
https://www.everydayyogaie.com/single-post/2017/02/15/Want-to-try-Yoga-but-Get-rid-of-the-buts
 Effects of Yoga

Cardio- Musculo- Mental Physical

Neuro Respiratory skeletal Endocrine
vascular ailments ailments

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Sleep
Anxiety levels
Cognitive functions
Brain blood flow
Brain metabolism
Gray matter & anatomical changes
Neurotransmitters
Neuro-hormonal activity
Autonomic Nervous System
Fine-coordinated movements
Right/Left hemisphere dominance

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Heart Rate Variability
Oxygen consumption
Fatigue onset
Blood pressure – systolic & diastolic
Parasympathetic activity
HDL-C

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Respiratory function
Inspiratory expiratory pressures
Breath holding time
Hand-grip strength
Sweating response
Respiratory rate
Forced vital capacity
Forced expiratory volume
Expiratory flow rate

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• Physical fitness
• Dexterity & strength
• Neuromuscular co-ordination
• Orthostatic tolerance
• Load bearing
• Gait functions
• Ideal body weight
• Anaerobic power
• Balance
• Hand grip strength
• Blood lactate levels

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Insulin

Luteinizing Hormone
Testosterone

Cortisol

Melatonin

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Special physiological conditions

Pregnancy
Menopause

Ailments – mental, physical

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 oral cancer
2epilepsy
diabetes type pelvic organ prolapse
polycystic
non-insulin ovarian syndrome
myopia
dependent diabetes
Yoga and physical ailments

cardiac arrhythmia
multiple sclerosis hypertension
psoriasisfatigue
obesity
restless leg
hypoxia syndrome
related anomalies in brain
sinusitis
lower urinary tract symptoms
infertility
frozen shoulder
metabolic syndrome
chronic pelvic pain
(post) myocardial infarction
sexual dysfunction
CKD
chronic migraine
irritable bowel syndrome
pre-menstrual syndrome
myofascialHIV-1
pain dysfunction
menopausesyndrome
infection
Parkinson’s
glaucoma cervicaldisease
spondylosis
post-operative pain
osteoporosis
surfer’s myelopathy
heart failure
systemic
chronic low-back lupus erythematosus
pain
asthma
paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

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Ouch! Isn’t there a
yoga pose for my
tooth ache?

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 mood disorders

anxiety

perceived stress

schizophrenia

Mental ailments
depression

bipolar affective disorder

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

insomnia

PTSD

eating disorders

panic disorder

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 Human groups studied

Children
Adolescents
Young adults
Middle aged adults
Elderly
Nurses
Female teachers
Medical students
Indian Military personnel
Indian Police personnel
Substance abusers
Visually impaired
Cancer patients undergoing conventional treatment
Industrial workers
Patients undergoing surgeries

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 Traits studied
Self compassion
Emotional regulation - mood states
Sleep quality
Cognitive Motor Interference
Aggression
Mindfulness Attention
Reaction time
Perceptual sensitivity
Primary working memory
Verbal memory
Spatial memory
Voice
Oxidant-antioxidant status
Response inhibition
Body composition
Quality of Life
Dynamic Balance Control
Core stability
Standing balance
Utero-Fetal- Placental circulation
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Parameters used

 ECG
 EEG
 PET
 fMRI
 Continuous Transcranial Doppler
 Body Mass Index
 Blood pressure
 Determination Test
 Heart Rate Variability
 Working Memory Capacity
 Cerebrovascular hemodynamics
 Oxidative Stress Markers (glutathione,
superoxide dismutase,
malondialdehyde)
 Leucocyte Telomere Length
 Questionnaires (Standardized Tests)

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Physiological mechanisms underlying yoga

Neuroplasticity, hypo-pituitary-pancreatic axis,

sympathetic nervous system, higher grey matter
density, structural changes in cardio-respiratory
control regions of brain, ascending reticular
activating system, autonomic centres

Lung tissue stretch, modification of inflatory and

deflatory lung reflexes, homeostasis.

Reduction in serum lipids and increase in glucose

utilization

Reduction in response time by rapid allocation and

relocation of attention

Increase in skin resistance

Rise in melatonin levels

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 References

1. Manjula Suri, Namita Saini and Shipra Gupta (2016) Exploring the Physiological
Effects of Yoga: A State of the Art Review. International Journal of Physical
Education, Sports and Health 3(2): 316-320.

2. Arndt Bussing, Andreas Michalsen, Sat Bir S. Khalsa, Shirley Telles, and Karen J.
Sherman (2012) Effects of Yoga on Mental and Physical Health: A Short Summary of
Reviews. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012, 165410.
3. Madanmohan Trakroo , Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani (2016) Physiological Benefits of
Yogic Practices: a Brief Review. International Journal of Traditional and
Complementary Medicine 1(1):0031-0043.
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

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 Highlights of research in the last decade in India

• BAW improves primary working memory, spatial memory, and

spatial attention. HFYB did not cause any change [Gupta et al.
2019].
• A structured IY intervention - 1 h/ day for 6 d/week for 4 weeks, led
to significant improvement in heart rate, blood pressure, stress,
depression, anxiety, and sleep quality among professional
caregivers of chronic neurological patients [Chuggani et al. 2018].
• High frequency yoga breathing - a short, useful school based
practice to improve attention and reduce anxiety, in pre-teen
children [Telles et al. 2019].
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• Prenatal yoga effective in reducing labor pain and improving birth
outcomes [Chethana et al. 2018].
• Bates Eye exercises and Trataka Yoga Kriya do not affect myopia
significantly [Tiwari et al. 2018].
• Bhramari pranayam improves pulmonary function in healthy
adolescents [Kuppusamy et al. 2017].
• Om chanting has the potential to mitigate the ill-effects of mobile
radiation on brain function and cognitive ability [Bhargav et al. 2016].
• Counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) has been tackled through
yoga interventions in industrial set ups [Dwivedi et al. 2015].

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 Yoga research highlights in the world

• Group in Brazil, found that a six month yoga

regime led to improvement of the memory as
well as psychophysiological parameters in
previously yoga naïve, healthy men [Rocha et
al. 2012].
• Surfer’s myelopathy (SM) - first-time surfers,
gymnastics, yoga, pilates, ballet – activities
involving sustained spinal extension [Gandhi et
al. 2019].
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 Cardio-respiratory system
• Decrease in heart rate and blood pressure
• Improves cardio-respiratory efficiency
• Improves exercise tolerance
• Balances Autonomic nervous system
• Modifies coronary artery disease risk factors
• Reversal of Heart disease

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 Musculo-endothelial system
• Scientific studies on yoga demonstrate that
yoga improves dexterity, strength and
musculo-skeletal coordination of the
practitioners.
• strengthens the bones and prevents age-
related weakening, thus helping in prevention
of osteoporosis.

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 Physical Fitness
• Yogic techniques are known to improve one’s
overall performance and work capacity

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 Nervous System
• Yoga has been reported to increase the quality of
sleep.
• A large number of studies show that the practice of
yoga can produce significant decrease in the basal
anxiety scores.
• Studies show that practice of yogic techniques
cause improvement in cognitive functions
• Alter brain blood flow and brain metabolism
• Regular practice of yoga and meditation alters
levels of various neuro-transmitters in the brain.
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 Yoga and Stress
• yoga is very effective for prevention as well as
management of all-pervading stress and stress-
related disorders. Modern medicine is very
effective in controlling infections, performing
surgeries and managing diseases. However, it has
limited role in stress-based, chronic degenerative,
old age and lifestyle related disorders which are
the bane of modern society. Yoga has been found
to be very effective in these conditions.

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 Endocrine and Reproductive System

• Studies have shown that practice of yoga

orchestrates fine tuning and modulates neuro-
endocrine axis which results in beneficial
changes in the practitioners.
• by pregnant women for one hour daily
resulted in an increase in birth weight,
decrease in preterm labor, and decrease in
IUGR either in isolation or associated with PIH,
with no increased complications
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 Aspects of yoga that have been researched
Breath Awareness (BAW) or Yogic Breath
Awareness (YBA)
Integrated Yoga (IY)
Yoga Breathing Practice (YBP)
Transcendental meditation
Kundalini yoga
Yogic meditation
Mind-Body therapy
Sudarshan Kriya
Laghu Shankha Prakshalana (LSP) Kriya
High Frequency Yoga Breathing (HFYB)
Alternate Nostril Yoga Breathing (ANYB)
Intermittent Breath Holding (IBH)
Pranayama practice
Hatha yoga
Trataka Yoga Kriya
Vamana-dhauti/Kunjal-kriya
Neti kriya – Jala neti

Neutral Spinal Bath (NSB) & Neutral Spinal Yoga nidra

Spray (NSS)
Mula Bandha Yoga Bahya Snehan
Yoga asanas Japa meditation
Om Chanting Mantra chant
Sahaj yoga Bahir Kumbhaka
Urotarpan Karamardadi yoga
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