The role of Yoga in Maintaining Heart Health

Written by: Colleen O’Neil, MS, RYT

Seasoned yogis and novice yoga enthusiasts typically rave about how they “feel like a million bucks” after their favorite classes. For some, the allure is the ability to stretch tired and sore muscles, for others it’s the time to relax a weary mind and body, and relieve anxiety, or insomnia. Still others get sheer satisfaction from the mastery of a challenging balance or seeing improvements in strength and stability. No matter what it is that draws one to the practice, we yogis are hooked! If you haven’t yet found yourself convinced to step on the mat, we’ve got one more reason you should give it a shot.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and continues to take the lives of 655,000 Americans each year. That’s 1 in every 4 deaths. It’s heart health month, so we want to share about the connection between yoga and heart health. A growing body of peer reviewed research indicates that a regular yoga practice yields a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk factors. Recent research indicates that yoga has an impact on heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood glucose, as well as mental health factors such as anxiety and depression.

The American Heart Association’s Recommendations for physical activity in adults calls for 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic activity or a combination of both moderate intensity and vigorous intensity aerobic activity. Plus, at least 2 days per week of muscle strengthening activity per week. So how, you may ask, does yoga fit into these recommendations? Vinyasa, power yoga, or flow yoga can be considered moderate intensity aerobic activity. Strength yoga (yoga with weights) can be classified as muscle strengthening activity.

Blood Pressure

Millions of Americans have high blood pressure, and about half of those individuals don’t have it under control. Uncontrolled blood pressure is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Yoga can help reduce participants’ risk of heart disease by reducing blood pressure. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic research followed a 12-week yoga intervention on 65 participants. The yoga sessions were 3 times per week for 60 minutes. At the end of this 12-week study systolic blood pressures, decreased from an average of 140.6 to 131.8, and diastolic blood pressures decreased from 98.2 to 84.9 in the yoga group (Krishna, 2014).

Cholesterol and Blood Glucose

Yoga is also connected with reducing cholesterol and blood sugar. Although diabetes is not a direct cause of heart disease, the two are frequently co-morbidities. A randomized, controlled study conducted in India of 100 participants (50 in control group, 50 in yoga group), were tested and performed yoga 5 times a week for one year. After 1 year of daily yoga, the yoga group reduced total cholesterol from an average 240 to 171mg/dl (down to the recommended range which is below 200mg/dl). The yoga group also saw a reduction in their fasting blood glucose, which dropped from 124 – 96 (normal range is less than 100) (Shanktakumari, et. Al, 2013).

Mental Health

Stress is a major risk factor for heart disease, and yoga is well known for its calming effects and is sometimes recommended in conjunction with more traditional mental health therapy and psychiatric therapies for anxiety management. The use of yoga in clinical settings is now growing, and is used in eating disorders treatment programs, addiction treatment centers, and mental health treatment programs. Some local examples of programs that use yoga in their therapy programs include: Melrose Centers for Eating Disorders, Hazelden-Betty Ford Addiction Treatment Centers, and Prairie Care Mental Health Centers, and many more.

We offer yoga classes at many of our AdvantageHealth sites, So, if learning to do Boat Pose didn’t previously excite you, maybe helping yourself maintain heart health is good motivation to “jump aboard.”

References:

Krishna, B. H., Pal, P., G.K., P., J., B., E., J., Y, S., … G.S., G. (2014). Effect of Yoga Therapy on Heart Rate, Blood Pressure and Cardiac Autonomic Function in Heart Failure. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research: JCDR, 8(1), 14–16. http://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2014/7844.3983 92

Shantakumari, N., Sequeira, S., & El deeb, R. (2013). Effects of a yoga intervention on lipid profiles of diabetes patients with dyslipidemia. Indian heart journal, 65(2), 127–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ihj.2013.02.010