Yoga: A flexible way to enhance heart health

 

Yoga is a mind-body activity that involves moving through a series of body poses and breathing exercises that can improve strength, flexibility, balance and relaxation. Dozens of different formats or practices (for example, hatha, anusara and ashtanga) emphasize different focuses, such as toning, strength training or meditation.

But yoga is more than simply stretching and moving into poses — it weaves together three interconnected threads: physical postures, controlled breathing and meditation. Together, they help cultivate the relaxation response, which trains your body to be less reactive during times of stress. 

In fact, one of yoga’s benefits to the heart is its ability to relax the body and mind. Emotional stress can cause a cascade of physical effects, including the release of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which narrow your arteries and increase blood pressure. The deep breathing and mental focus of yoga can offset this stress.

Worry and depression commonly follow a cardiac event, such as a heart attack, bypass surgery or diagnosis of heart disease. Yoga can help you manage this stress as well.

Beyond off-loading stress, practicing yoga may help lower blood pressure, blood cholesterol and blood glucose levels, as well as heart rate. One study has shown that blood measurements and waist circumference—a marker for heart disease—improved in middle-aged adults with metabolic syndrome who practiced yoga for three months.

A team of researchers once pooled data from studies of yoga done over the past few decades. Their findings, reported in the May 2023 Current Problems in Cardiology, showed that compared with those in control groups, people who did yoga had systolic blood pressure values that were 4.5 points lower and levels of harmful LDL cholesterol that were 7.6 points lower, on average. Yoga was also linked to slightly lower HbA1c levels (a measure of average blood sugar over the past few months) and a small drop in body mass index.

Another study has shown that slow-paced yoga classes twice a week reduced the frequency of atrial fibrillation episodes in patients with that condition.

The relaxation response not only slows the heart rate and lowers blood pressure, it may also tamp down inflammation and promote favorable changes in blood vessel function that protect the heart. For example, in another report, patients with heart failure who went through an eight-week yoga program had lower blood levels of markers for inflammation, which contributes to heart disease.

In addition, some research indicates yoga might be a useful tool in helping smokers quit. Smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease.