Does yoga-based guided relaxation reduce sympathetic activity compared to supine rest in male volunteers?
Yoga-based guided relaxation acutely reduces sympathetic activity, particularly in individuals with higher baseline sympathetic tone.
35 male volunteers whose ages ranged from 20 to 46 years were studied in two sessions of yoga-based guided relaxation and supine rest. Assessments of autonomic variables were made for 15 subjects, before, during, and after the practices, whereas oxygen consumption and breath volume were recorded for 25 subjects before and after both types of relaxation. A significant decrease in oxygen consumption and increase in breath volume were recorded after guided relaxation (paired t test). There were comparable reductions in heart rate and skin conductance during both types of relaxation. During guided relaxation the power of the low frequency component of the heart-rate variability spectrum reduced, whereas the power of the high frequency component increased, suggesting reduced sympathetic activity. Also, subjects with a baseline ratio of LF/HF >0.5 showed a significant decrease in the ratio after guided relaxation, while subjects with a ratio ≤0.5 at baseline showed no such change. The results suggest that sympathetic activity decreased after guided relaxation based on yoga, depending on the baseline levels.
Vempati et al. (2002) studied this question.