ARTICLE IN PRESS

Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2007) 11, 91–95

Journal of
Bodywork and
Movement Therapies
www.intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/jbmt

EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY

Heart rate in yoga asana practice:

A comparison of styles
Virginia S. Cowen, Ph.D.a,, Troy B. Adams, Ph.D.b

a
Department of Health, Physical Education, and Dance, Queensborough Community College,
The City University of New York, 222-05 56th Avenue, Bayside, NY 11364, USA
b
Department of Exercise and Wellness, Arizona State University, USA

Received 11 March 2006; received in revised form 5 May 2006; accepted 3 August 2006

KEYWORDS Summary Yoga is often recommended for stress relief, yet some of the more
Yoga; fitness-oriented styles of yoga can be vigorous forms of exercise. The purpose of this
Mind-body; study was to investigate differences in heart rate during the physical practice of
Fitness; yoga postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation. Sixteen participants were led
Exercise through three different styles of yoga asana practice. Polar S610 heart rate monitors
were used to measure one minute average heart rates throughout each session.
Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that there was a significant
difference (Po0:05) in heart rate between astanga yoga (M ¼ 95, SD ¼ 12.84) and
the other two styles, but not between the hatha (M ¼ 80, SD ¼ 9.32) and gentle
(M ¼ 74, SD ¼ 7.41) yoga styles. These results indicate that there may be different
fitness benefits for different styles of yoga practice.
& 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction (Ives and Sosnoff, 2000). Yoga research has gen-

There are different approaches to yoga including
spiritual, therapeutic, and developmental (Herrick
and Ainsworth, 2000). However, the underlying
premise of mind–body exercise modalities—like
yoga—is that the physiological state of the body
can affect emotions, thoughts, and attitudes,
which in turn have a reciprocal affect on the body
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 718 631 6322;
fax: +1 718 631 6333.
E-mail address: gscowen@msn.com (V.S. Cowen).
erally indicated a positive impact of yoga practice
on a variety of outcomes, but much of the research
has focused on disease rather than fitness-related
outcomes (Raub, 2002). Traditionally, the purpose
of the postures is to prepare the body and mind to
sit in stillness for periods of contemplation (Collins,
1998). Fitness industry reports indicate growth in
yoga participation at health and fitness clubs
(Sports participation trends, 2002), which suggests
emphasis on the developmental approach to
yoga—the practice of yoga for physical fitness
benefits. Interestingly, widely recognized health

1360-8592/$ - see front matter & 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2006.08.001
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
92 V.S. Cowen, T.B. Adams

and fitness guidelines do not recommend yoga for Table 1 Descriptive characteristics.
fitness but rather for stress relief (Franklin, 2000).
Given the many different approaches to yoga Age
practice, the benefits and outcomes are likely Range 20–61
different depending on the style. Some of the more Mean (SD) 31.8
fitness-oriented yoga styles can be vigorous forms (11.96)
of exercise, while styles that emphasize focus Gender
and self-awareness may provide more subjective Female 11 68.8%
benefits. Male 5 31.3%
Research that has evaluated the energy expen- Race
diture of yoga indicates that yoga is essentially White 15 93.8%
equivalent to moderate forms of exercise. (DiCarlo Hispanic 1 6.3%
et al., 1995; Rai et al., 1994; Raju et al., 1986).
The available evidence suggests that the practice Previous yoga experience
Yes 10 62.5%
of yoga may be associated with an improvement in
No 6 37.5%
cardiorespiratory fitness (Prasad et al., 2001; Tran
et al., 2001), and both muscular strength and Practiced yoga during
endurance (Birch, 1995; Lidell et al., 1983). While previous week
promising, these studies have involved only a few Yes 8 50.0%
postures or exercises. A single study that evaluated No 8 50.0%
heart rate for standing yoga postures found lower
heart rate and higher rate of perceived exertion for
the yoga posture sequence compared to treadmill physical activity per day in the week prior to the
walking (DiCarlo et al., 1995). All of this suggests study. Eight participants had practiced yoga at least
the need for research on fitness-related outcomes once in the week prior to the study, 6 participants
associated with yoga practice. had never done yoga. The participants represented
In summary, while the existing evidence suggests a variety of physical fitness levels. Mean Body Mass
that yoga may qualify as moderate exercise, no Index was 22.3 (SD ¼ 3.36), mean systolic blood
research on energy expenditure or heart rate pressure was 114.5 (SD 13.0), and diastolic blood
response over an entire yoga asana session exists, pressure was 73.9 (6.5). Only two participants
nor has any study compared different styles of yoga ranked above the 60th percentile for age/gender
asana practice. Therefore, the purpose of this group in flexibility assessed with a sit and reach
study was to conduct a descriptive evaluation of box, and 9 ranked above average or higher for age/
the heart rate response among three styles of yoga gender graded cardiorespiratory fitness on an
all of which included the physical practice of Astrand-Rhyming submaximal predictive VO2 max
postures (asana), breathing exercises (pranayama), cycle ergometer test (Franklin, 2000).
and relaxation (savasana).

Methods
Participants
Potential participants responded to announcements
advertising the study and were screened via the
physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q).
Sixteen volunteer participants completed data
collection for all three yoga styles (see Table 1 for
descriptive characteristics). Prior to participating
in any of the study procedures, all participants read
and signed an informed consent approved by the
university’s human subjects institutional review
board.
The majority of the participants (N ¼ 12) re-
ported engaging in an average of thirty minutes of
Instrumentation
The primary data of interest was heart rate.
Wireless heart rate monitors that use chest
electrodes are considered reliable and valid mea-
sures of heart rate (Achten and Jeukendrup, 2003).
All participants wore Polar S610 heart rate monitors
for each yoga session. Each participant wore the
chest electrode transmitter and a wrist receiver
which recorded average heart rate in 1 min inter-
vals for the entire session. Participants were placed
approximately 5 feet apart to ensure that only their
heart rate was recorded by the receiver on their
wrist. Participants started and stopped the heart
rate monitors simultaneously. Polar Precision Soft-
ware was used to download data to computer for
analysis.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
Heart rate in yoga asana practice: A comparison of styles
Protocol
Participants were informed that the study would
involve lead yoga sessions rather than comprehen-
sive instruction in yoga asana. The postures,
breathing exercises, and meditation were timed
and lead from a script by the first author. Since
touch is known to affect physiological variables
such as heart rate (Field, 1998), only verbal
corrections were made to individual participants
if necessary to realign the body in a posture. Two
80-min sessions for each yoga style were held to
allow participants to become familiar with the
series of postures and exercises. The data from the
second session for each style were used for
analysis. Some advanced postures were included
in the sessions, and participants were instructed to
work to their own level of ability and to lie down
for rest when necessary. Three different styles of
yoga asana were used for the study: astanga,
hatha, and a gentle class. All sessions began with
a 5-min relaxation period and were adapted to fit
within an 80 min time period.
Astanga yoga
The astanga yoga session was based on a published
astanga yoga primary series (Birch, 1995; Swenson,
1999). In order to fit the session within an 80-min
time period, a few postures were omitted (pars-
vottanasana, trianga mukhaikapada paschimotta-
nasana, janu sirasana C, garbha pindasana, and
marichyasana D), and final relaxation (savasana)
was shortened. This session began with 10 min of
warm-up (surya namaskara A and B). Participants
were instructed to utilize ujjayi breathing (deep,
steady breaths that make a swirling or ‘‘aahhh’’
sound on exhalation as the air brushes the soft
palate on exhalation) throughout, and were in-
structed where to direct their gaze (drishti) while
sustaining each posture. Vinyasa (a series of move-
ments) was used between seated postures in the
series.
Hatha yoga
The hatha yoga session was also based on a
published yoga series (Lidell et al., 1983). This
session began with 9 min of warm up (surya
namaskara) and was adjusted for time by short-
ening the warm-up (surya namaskar) two breathing
exercises (kapalabhati and anuloma viloma), two
advanced postures (sirasana and sarvangasana),
and final relaxation (savasana). Participants
adopted a relaxation posture for 1 min after most
of the postures in the session.
93
Gentle yoga
A gentle session was created based on information
gathered from several sources (Farhi, 2000; Iyen-
gar, 1979; Mehta et al., 1990; Satchidananda, 1998;
Yee, 2002). This session was designed to be relaxing
in nature and suitable for individuals who might
have limitations but were able to get on and off the
floor without assistance. It did not include a warm-
up or any advanced postures, but instead empha-
sized breathing exercises, stretching, a few
strengthening postures, and a 15-min final relaxa-
tion (savasana) period.
Statistical analysis
Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 11.0).
Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA)
was used to compare heart rate for each yoga style.
The level of significance was set at Po0:05.
Results
A repeated measures ANOVA did not reveal a
significant difference for beginning relaxation heart
rate (measured during minute 4 of each session) or
final resting heart rate (measured during minute
78) between any of the yoga styles (see Table 2).
A significant difference was found for the entire 80-
min session as well as the ‘‘Postures only’’ portion
of the session—which occurred between the initial
and final relaxation postures. Bonferroni post hoc
tests revealed significance for the astanga yoga
heart rate when compared to the other two styles.
No significant difference was found between the
hatha yoga and gentle styles.
The heart rates recorded for the sessions when
compared to age-graded maximum recommended
heart rate suggests that the astanga yoga may elicit
increases in heart rate sufficient to improve
cardiorespiratory fitness (see Table 2). No signifi-
cant differences were noted in comparison of
participants who attempted all postures (N ¼ 8)
to participants who opted to rest during more
advanced postures (N ¼ 8). Figure 1 illustrates the
mean heart rates for all participants for the entire
yoga session. As illustrated on the graph, all three
yoga styles involved intermittent rather than
steady-state activity. This was particularly appar-
ent in the hatha class in which the relaxation
posture (savasana) was adopted after the majority
of postures.
Discussion
This study found a significant difference in heart
rate among the three different styles of yoga asana
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
94 V.S. Cowen, T.B. Adams

Table 2 Mean heart rate for yoga sessions.

Heart rate (bpm) Astanga session Hatha session Gentle session

Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Beginning savasana 69.91 11.73 67.63 9.19 66.69 10.99

Full yoga session (80 min) 95.18 12.84 80.17 9.32 74.49 7.41
Postures onlyy 100.69 13.81 83.37 9.41 78.31 7.03
Final savasana 67.25 14.33 62.13 10.26 60.69 8.96
Postures onlyy
Increase from beginning savasana (bpm) 30.77 13.31 15.75 5.37 11.62 5.46
% of maximum heart rate 54% 0.09 45% 0.06 42% 0.06
 Significant difference between sessions, Po0:05.
y
Portion of class between beginning relaxation and final relaxation: astanga ¼ 64 min, hatha ¼ 64 min, gentle ¼ 58 min.

130

120

110
Heart Rate (bpm)

100

90

80

70

60

50
Astanga Yoga Hatha Yoga Gentle Yoga
40
4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 69 74 79
Session (Minute)

Figure 1 Mean minute-by-minute heart rate for yoga sessions.

practice evaluated. The power for the repeated
measures ANOVA of the heart rates for the full
session, the postures-only portion of the session,
and the increase in heart rate from beginning
relaxation was 1.00 and the effect size 0.96
indicating a highly reliable test. The results of this
study suggest that a more vigorous style of yoga is
the heart rate equivalent of moderate exercise and
may contribute to increases in cardiorespiratory
fitness for individuals who are de-conditioned or
not physically active.
Research has identified that day-to-day variabil-
ity in heart rate, and other factors such as
hydration and cardiac drift influence heart rate
response to exercise (Achten and Jeukendrup,
2003). Given the variety of postures and positions
of the body involved in yoga asana practice, direct
measure of energy expenditure via gas expiration
would not be feasible for a full yoga asana session.
Even a small wrist receiver interfered with two
yoga postures that required the hands to be placed
on the mat underneath the body: fish (matsyasana)
and locust (salabhasana). Removing the wrist
receiver and replacing it mildly interrupted the
flow of the session, but was necessary for execution
of the postures.
A wide range of participants provided data for
this study and all reported enjoying the yoga
sessions, regardless of style. This was surprising
since the sessions were somewhat impersonal due
to the scripting and timing of postures and that
participants were requested not talk or ask ques-
tions. None of the participants were able to
maintain ujjayi breathing for the entire astanga
posture series. It is possible that this breathing
style—when executed successfully—may cause
increased internal temperature and perspiration
as suggested (Birch, 1995), eliciting a higher heart
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
Heart rate in yoga asana practice: A comparison of styles
rate. With the exception of ujjayi breathing and
minor adjustments to alignment, participants did
not seem to have difficulty following the instruc-
tions to participate in the sessions.
In conclusion, data from this study indicate that
there are varied physiological responses associated
with different yoga asana styles, and suggests
potential for different levels of physical fitness
benefits depending on the style of physical prac-
tice. As yoga participation increases at health and
fitness clubs, it will be important for research to
assess physical fitness benefits, as well as changes
in psychological, subjective health and well-being
measures. It is important for clinicians and health
educators who promote yoga to understand the
difference between different styles of yoga asana
practice.
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