A Comparative Study of Effect of Nadi-Shodhan Pranayama and Suryanamaskar on Pulmonary Functions

Abstract

During recent years, lot of research work has been done to show the beneficial effects of yoga. Hence the primary objective is to study the effect of Nadi-shodhana pranayama (NP) and Suryanamaskar (SN) on Pulmonary Functions (PFs). The secondary objective is the comparison between the effects of two. Fifty young healthy students (male and female) aged between 18–24 yrs of Government Ayurveda Medical College, Mysore were trained daily for 3 months. Students were divided into 2 groups of 25 each: Group I: students practising NP, 20 cycles for 20 min. Group II: students practising SN, 10 cycles for 20 min. Recording of Pulmonary functions {Vital capacity (VC), Forced expiratory volume at the end of first second (FEV1), Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) & Maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV)} were carried on computerized spirometer ‘MEDSPIROR’& Respiratory rate was measured clinically, at the end of each month and after three months of training. Findings showed improvement in all Pulmonary Functions and a significant decrease in Respiratory rate in both the groups, but a statistical significant improvement was observed in VC, FEV1 and PEFR in Group-I compared to Group II. Present study suggests, practising of both NP and SN for a short period can produce significant improvement in all PFs by increasing respiratory muscle strength and endurance.