A Pilot Study to Check Effects of Alternate Nostril Breathing on Heart Rate Variability in Indian Male Adults

Background and Aim: Alternate Nostril Breathing (ANB) modulates autonomic functions, and different breath-holding patterns improve Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Voluntary regulation of breathing with pauses between inspiration and expiration makes respiration rhythmic by modulating the autonomic nervous system. Materials and Methods: We studied the effects of two ANB methods with different inspiration-end inspiratory pause-expiration patterns on HRV in 30 healthy, untrained male medical students (18-25 years). After obtaining written voluntary consent and ethical approval, participants performed ANB-1 (4-6-6 sec) and ANB-2 (4-8-8 sec) for 8 min each. HRV parameters were measured before and after both methods using standard precautions. Results: Parasympathetic activity markers like HF nu and HF% significantly improved after both ANB methods. Significant improvements were observed in Mean HR, HF Power (Lomb statistics), HF Power, and LF/HF ratio (FFT statistics) in both ANB-1 and ANB-2. However, ANB-2 (4-8-8 cycle) showed more significant changes in HF Power and LF/HF ratio (Lomb statistics) and LF Power (FFT statistics) compared to ANB-1. Total HRV power increased in both methods but was not statistically significant. Conclusion: ANB with a slower breathing rate, prolonged end-inspiratory breath-holding, and extended expiration enhances parasympathetic dominance in young, yoga-naïve male medical students.