Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

Om…some say it’s the most perfect sound. As I sit in my yoga class, my legs crossed, eyes closed, I repeat this single, syllable tone over and over again.  I soon begin to realize that this low, sustained sound is having an effect on me. The effect is subtle, but there. As I combine my Om with slow deep deliberate breaths, the stress of the day begins to melt away.

Any obstacles or challenges I had to tackle earlier are no longer present, and my complete attention and focus is only on my breath and my Om.  As the class progresses into several different poses, my muscles warm and stretch, leaving me feeling at the end of class as if I had a wonderful massage!

Being a former cardiac nurse and realizing how “de-stressed” I become using yoga, I wonder, can stretching do more than make you limber? According to the Yale University School of Medicine, yes it can! Findings show that people who practice yoga and meditation at least three times per week reduce blood pressure, pulse and most importantly their risk for heart disease.

After a six-week yoga-meditation program, healthy individuals improved the blood vessel function of the heart by 17%. However, study participants already diagnosed with heart disease had an astounding near 70% improvement in blood vessel function.¹

Another study of 71 participants diagnosed with coronary disease links yoga to the reversibility of heart disease.  Half of the participants added yoga to their medical care, the other half continued with their medical care only.

Those who practiced yoga had a decrease in serum cholesterol levels of about 23% versus 4% for controls.  In about 46% of the yoga participants, the progression in atherosclerosis was halted versus 33% for controls.  And in about 43% of yoga participants, disease regressed versus 31% for controls. Significant improvements in anxiety levels were also noticed in yoga practitioners.²

That’s just one small study, but it is significant because it included a comparison to controls.  A review of many more studies finds that overall, yoga does produce beneficial physical changes that are measurable, including lowered blood pressure and improved glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and lipid profiles,³ all of which should lower one’s disease risks.

Research continues to link stress as one of the most significant risk factors for the development of heart disease. Yoga and meditation have long been known as a way to relieve stress. But these studies confirm it also translates into reduced disease risks.

References

1. Pack, P. Yoga Reduces Heart Disease Risk. www.webmd.com.
2. Yogendra J. et al. JAPI. 2004;52:283-9.
3. Innes KE and Vincent HK. eCAM. 2006; doi:10.1093/ecam/nel 103.

[Ed. Note: Melissa Hawthorne, RN, BSN, CSCS is the owner of Priority Fitness Personal Training and Wellness.  She is a Master Trainer for the Resist-a-ball Company, ISCA Personal Training, Kick-boxing, and Beamfit.   Melissa serves as a fitness consultant for the LaValle Metabolic Institute.  To learn more, click here.]