Yoga is a highly beneficial sport for those who practice it. Specifically, it is a practice that connects the body, breathing, and mind through physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation.
In this case, yoga, which was developed thousands of years ago, is today practiced by many people to obtain physical benefits and improve general health.
Different studies have tried to decipher, over the years, the different benefits that yoga brings to people.
It is said that yoga can improve the general level of our physical condition , as well as improve posture and flexibility. In addition, it can help us relax, improve our confidence, reduce stress, sleep better, have good digestion and even improve coordination and concentration.
On the other hand, a three-month pilot study has concluded that adding yoga to our daily routine could improve our well-being and benefit heart health.
What can be the benefits of practicing yoga daily?
According to a pilot study conducted in patients with hypertension, adding yoga to a regular training regimen supports cardiovascular health and well-being and is more effective than stretching exercises, according to the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
Specifically, the research indicated that incorporating yoga reduced systolic blood pressure and heart rate at rest and improved cardiovascular risk at 10 years.
To this day, there is “some evidence” that yoga interventions and exercise can be beneficial for our heart health. However, there is considerable variability in the types, components, frequency, session length, duration, and intensity of yoga.
With this, Paul Poirier, principal investigator of the study and an expert at Laval University, in Quebec, Canada, points out that the objective was “to determine if the addition of yoga to a regular exercise training regimen reduces cardiovascular risk.”
To do so, the experts sought to “apply a rigorous scientific approach to identify cardiovascular risk factors for which yoga is beneficial for at-risk patients and the ways in which it could be applied in a healthcare setting, such as a primary prevention program.” “.
How can the practice of yoga benefit us?
In all, the experts recruited 60 people with previously diagnosed high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome. All of them underwent a 3-month physical training program.
During this program, participants were divided into 2 groups, each of whom performed 15 minutes of structured yoga or stretching, plus 30 minutes of aerobic training 5 times per week.
All of these participants had their blood pressure, anthropometry, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, glucose levels, lipids, as well as Framingham and Reynolds risk scores measured both at the beginning and at the end of the study.
At baseline, there were no differences between the groups, however, after 3 months, there was a decrease in resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and heart rate in both groups.
Despite this, the experts found that systolic blood pressure fell by 10 mmHg with yoga, compared with 4 mmHg with stretching.
In addition, the yoga approach also reduced resting heart rate and 10-year cardiovascular risk assessed using the Reynold risk score.
With these data, experts believe that yoga can have a positive effect on people’s cardiovascular health , although it is not yet known what these improvements may be due to.
Thus, the study provides evidence for an additional non-pharmacological therapy option for cardiovascular risk reduction and blood pressure control in patients with high blood pressure, but some data remain to be analysed.
