TY - JOUR
T1 - The Psychophysiological Profile and Cardiac Autonomic Reactivity in Long-Term Female Yoga Practitioners
T2 - A Comparison with Runners and Sedentary Individuals
AU - Lin, Jia Ru
AU - Wu, Pei Tzu
AU - Wu, Wen Lan
AU - Chang, Yu Kai
AU - Chu, I. Hua
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the Taiwan National Science Council grant number NSC102-2410-H-037-013 & NSC103-2410-H-037-010.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - Yoga practice, a means of stress management, has been reported to optimize psychophys-iological health; however, its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychophysiological profile and cardiac autonomic reactivity in long-term yoga practitioners and compare them to runners and sedentary individuals. Psychological health and aerobic fitness level were evaluated using self-reported questionnaires and a 3-min step test. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), and heart rate variability (HRV) parameters were recorded at rest, as well as during and following psychological stress, which was elicited by the Stroop color and word test and the mental arithmetic task. The yoga group demonstrated a lower RR (10.35 ± 2.13 bpm) as compared to the other two groups, and a lower HR (66.60 ± 7.55 bpm) and diastolic BP (67.75 ± 8.38 mmHg) at rest when compared to the sedentary group (all p < 0.05). HRV parameters following mental stress returned to the baseline in yoga and running groups, but not in the sedentary group. The anxiety level in the running group was significantly lower than that in the sedentary group (p < 0.05). These findings suggested that yoga practitioners may have a greater homeostatic capacity and autonomic resilience than do sedentary individuals.
AB - Yoga practice, a means of stress management, has been reported to optimize psychophys-iological health; however, its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychophysiological profile and cardiac autonomic reactivity in long-term yoga practitioners and compare them to runners and sedentary individuals. Psychological health and aerobic fitness level were evaluated using self-reported questionnaires and a 3-min step test. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), and heart rate variability (HRV) parameters were recorded at rest, as well as during and following psychological stress, which was elicited by the Stroop color and word test and the mental arithmetic task. The yoga group demonstrated a lower RR (10.35 ± 2.13 bpm) as compared to the other two groups, and a lower HR (66.60 ± 7.55 bpm) and diastolic BP (67.75 ± 8.38 mmHg) at rest when compared to the sedentary group (all p < 0.05). HRV parameters following mental stress returned to the baseline in yoga and running groups, but not in the sedentary group. The anxiety level in the running group was significantly lower than that in the sedentary group (p < 0.05). These findings suggested that yoga practitioners may have a greater homeostatic capacity and autonomic resilience than do sedentary individuals.
KW - cardiovascular reactivity
KW - heart rate variability
KW - running
KW - stress response
KW - yoga
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph19137671
DO - 10.3390/ijerph19137671
M3 - Article
C2 - 35805328
AN - SCOPUS:85132443017
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 13
M1 - 7671
ER -
