Abstract
Background and objectives: Pranayama is one of the important breathing techniques which help in relaxing the body and the mind. It also improves respiratory and cardiovascular health. The present study evaluates the effect of one-month pranayama breathing training on pulmonary functions in healthy individuals.
Methods: A total of 50 healthy male individuals were included in this study. The participants were trained in the pranayamas like nadisuddhi, kapalabhati and bhastrika breathing techniques. Pulmonary function tests were recorded before pranayama training and one week after pranayama training followed by one month after pranayama training.
Results: Pulmonary function parameters were gradually increased after one week and one month of training. Differences among Forced vital capacity (FVC), Forced expiratory volume in 1st second (FEV1), and Maximum ventilation volume (MVV) were found to be statistically highly significant (P<0.0001). FEVI/FVC% also showed significant differences (P < 0.011) in the pulmonary parameters.
Conclusion: In this study, 50 healthy male individuals were trained for nadisuddhi, kapalabhati and bhastrika pranayama for a one-month duration. The practice of pranayama increased the pulmonary function parameters like FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, and MVV for a minimum periods of one week to one month.