BREATHING BEYOND THE BREATH: EFFECT OF DHEERGHA SWASAM INTEGRATED YOGIC PRACTICES ON CARDIAC FUNCTION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Young adults who are sedentary frequently have elevated resting cardiovascular loads. Although protracted diaphragmatic breathing or Dheergha Swasam is frequently added to yogic asana practice, its additional cardiovascular benefits over yogic practice alone are rarely separated in a controlled setting. Methods: Yogic practices with Dheergha Swasam (YPDSG, n = 30), yogic practices without Dheergha Swasam (YPG, n=30), or a no-intervention control group (CG, n=30) were randomly assigned to 90 healthy female college students (18 to 21 years old). For 12 weeks, intervention groups trained for 60 minutes five days a week. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and resting heart rate (RHR) were measured at baseline and after the intervention. The results were analyzed using a 3 (Group) × 2 (Time) mixed ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc tests. Results:  RHR, SBP and DBP showed significant Time × Group interactions (all p <0.001, partial η2 = 0.70 – 0.81). Both YPDSG and YPG showed significant pre to post reductions on all three outcomes (all p < 0.001), whereas the control group showed no significant change (all p = 1.000). At post-test, YPDSG showed significantly greater reductions than YPG on RHR, SBP and DBP (all p ≤0.031). Conclusion:  A 12-week structured yoga practice program significantly lowered resting heart rate and blood pressure in healthy female college students relative to an untrained control and the addition of Dheergha Swasam produced significantly greater reductions than yogic practice alone on all three cardiovascular measures. These results support systematic yoga practice, particularly when combined with extended diaphragmatic breathing, as an in expensive approach to early cardiovascular risk reduction in wellness programs for students.