Integrated Benefits of Combining Suryanamaskar Yoga with Ujjayi Pranayama on Heart Rate Variability and Resting Heart Rate

Yoga is a branch of Indian philosophical schools which describes it as the “science of sciences. Kriyas and Pranayama are the two main pillars of Yoga. The present study was conducted to determine the combined effects of Suryanamaskar and Ujjayi Pranayama on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (HR). Thirty healthy female volunteers (age range, 20 to 25 yrs) were randomly allocated to three groups, Group I (Ujjayi Pranayama) {n=10}; Group II (Integrated technique) {n=10} and Group III (Suryanamaskar) {n=10}. The training lasted for 4 weeks. A short-term HRV and Resting HR analysis (3 minutes) was done with the help of HeartSines (A Pulse Analysis System), before and after the training. The pre-test and post-test data for HRV and resting HR were compared using the Student's t-test was used for intra-group comparison and One-way ANOVA was used for inter-group comparison. There was a significant improvement in HRV (p=0.001) as well as Resting HR (p=0.001) for the Integrated technique group. The results suggest that Ujjayi Pranayama is better than Suryanamaskar alone but combining both of them into one technique gives more beneficial health effects as compared to the individual technique. Additionally, combining Suryanamaskar and Ujjayi Pranayama into one yogic technique is more beneficial in improving HRV and resting HR, when compared to performing them individually