Heart rate variability responses across the vinyasa yoga and prolonged seated control conditions (n = 17).
BLOOD, HEART
This figure displays heart rate variability responses across conditions; *indicates a statistically significant difference in the change from baseline between conditions; Abbreviations: SBP = Systolic Blood Pressure, DBP = Diastolic Blood Pressure, HR = Heart Rate, SDNN = Standard Deviation of Normal-to-Normal R-R Intervals, RMSSD = Root Mean Square of Successive Differences, HF = High Frequency, and LF/HF = Low Frequency to High Frequency Ratio.For HRV outcomes, only RMSSD was lower 5 minutes post yoga compared to baseline values (difference = -0.28, p = 0.014), with no other significant differences. Significant increases were found within the seated control condition at both time points for SDNN, RMSSD, and HF (all p<0.01) but not LF/HF ratio. Between conditions, SDNN, RMSSD, and HF were lower post yoga compared to the seated control at both time points (all p<0.01). LF/HF ratio was higher in the yoga condition at 5 minutes post compared to the seated condition (difference = +0.38, p = 0.025) but not at 65 minutes post. Overall, HRV was mostly unchanged within subjects following yoga, though responses were significantly worse after yoga compared to the favorable responses observed following the seated control.