Effect of Short-Term Practice of Anulom Vilom Pranayama on Cardiorespiratory Metrics in Healthy Adults

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a 3-weeks Anulom Vilom Pranayama regimen on cardiovascular and respiratory parameters in 50 healthy adults aged 18?58 years. Under the supervision of a certified yoga instructor, the participants were asked to practice pranayama for 20 min daily in the morning. A semiautomatic blood pressure monitoring instrument was used to measure blood pressures including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR). Respiratory function tests, including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), were assessed with a portable digital spirometer. The study found significant reductions in HR (mean difference: -11.51 bpm, p<0.001), SBP (mean difference: -9.58 mmHg, p<0.001), and DBP (mean difference: -6.51 mmHg, p<0.001) following the intervention. Additionally, significant improvements were observed in FVC (pre: 3.43 L, post: 3.66 L), FEV1 (pre: 2.88 L, post: 3.24 L), FEV1/FVC ratio (pre: 84.22%, post: 88.51%), and PEFR (pre: 427.80 L/min, post: 461.20 L/min). The results showed that short training in Anulom Vilom Pranayama is beneficial and brings about positive changes in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems of healthy individuals. These effects may be due to the increased parasympathetic control of the heart and changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. These results provide insight into the possibility of using this Pranayama technique as a complementary technique to promote cardiovascular and respiratory health.