A Comparison of Practice Guidelines for Yoga Breathing from the Traditional Texts and PubMed-Indexed Research.
Dipak Chetry, Shirley Telles, Jayaraman Mahadevan, Kumari Prasoon, Kumar Gandharva, Mahavir Agrawal, Acharya Balkrishna
International Journal of Yoga Therapy 2022 DOI: 10.17761/2022-d-22-00024 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Traditional Hatha yoga texts (Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita) and 73 PubMed-indexed studies on yoga breathing (25 bhastrika, 17 bhramari, 31 kapalabhati) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Animals Respiration Exhalation Breath frequency Pubmed-published research Breath phase duration Depth of breathing Traditional yoga texts |
| Key findings | Practice guidelines for bhastrika, bhramari, and kapalabhati pranayama differ between traditional texts and PubMed-indexed research, with reported differences in depth of breathing (bhastrika), relative breath phase duration (bhramari), and breath frequency (kapalabhati). The authors argue these differences could influence the physiological effects obtained and make it difficult to summarize effects of yoga breathing across studies. |
Abstract
Volitional yoga breathing techniques influence several physiological functions depending on the changes made in depth of breathing, relative duration of exhalation to inhalation, and breath frequency. The practice guidelines for three routinely practiced and researched yoga breathing practices (bhastrika pranayama [bellows breath], bhramari pranayama [bee breath], and kapalabhati pranayama [breath of fire]) were compared between the traditional written texts (i.e., Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gheranda Samhita) and published research indexed in PubMed (a total of 73 studies; 25 on bhastrika pranayama, 17 on bhramari pranayama, and 31 on kapalabhati pranayama). We compared the specifications for posture, time of day, location, and duration of practice; frequency, depth, and holding (kumbhaka) of the breath; speed and/or force and right or left nostril use for inhalation and exhalation; duration of inhalation relative to exhalation; thoracic or diaphragmatic breathing (or comparable terms in the traditional texts); mental state; physiological locks (bandhas) ; and hand gestures (mudras). Differences between the practice guidelines in the traditional texts and published research with respect to the depth of b reathing (bhastrika pranayama), relative breath phase duration (bhramari pranayama), and breath frequency (kapalabhati pranayama) are presented despite the findings being restricted to published studies from a single bibliographic database. Differences in the way yoga breathing is practiced could influence the physiological effects obtained, and differences between methods reported in published studies could make it difficult to summarize the effects of yoga breathing practice across studies.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |