Immediate effects of Chandra Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama on blood pressure, heart rate and rate pressure product among normal individuals: an experimental study

Background: Chandra Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama is a type of alternate nostril breathing which is the control-positive inhalation and exhalation process. Alternate nostril breathing technique shows the best result in health improvement especially in controlling the blood pressure. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system which dilates blood vessels, decreases the heart rate which leads to reduce blood pressure. Many studies have been done to see effects of breathing exercises on cardiovascular system however, no such studies were done to see specific and immediate effect of Chandra Nadi Shuddhi on cardiovascular system. In this article, we will look how Chandra Nadi Shuddhi improves blood pressure, heart rate, and rate pressure product. Methods: Ethical clearance and participant consent was taken. Study design was experimental study. The 80 subjects were taken by convenient sampling. Participants were asked to perform 27 rounds of the Chandra Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama and outcome measures were assessed before and immediately after performing Chandra Nadi Shuddhi. The normality of the data was assessed using parametric paired t test. Results: Immediate effect of Chandra Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama showed that there was statistically significant decrease in blood pressure, heart rate and rate pressure product (p=0.0001, 0.0045, 0.0001 respectively) Conclusions: There is immediate effects of Chandra Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama on individuals with normal blood pressure.These results suggest a possible role for this technique in helping to control hypertension, lower anxiety and depression, improve breathing and immunity.