1 High frequency yoga breathing The scope of this review is to provide an overview of the documented effects of high frequency yoga breathing (HFYB) on the nervous system. High frequency yoga breathing is a yogic breath control practice characterized by a high rate of respiration (1.0–2.0 Hz) (Telles, Singh and Balkrishna 2015). There are many types of HFYB practice, of which the kapalabhati, bhastrika, and kukkuriya forms have been the most researched for their effects. Kapalbhati is a breathing style in which the exhalation is active through rapid voluntary movement of abdominal wall to the back and the inhalation occurs by relaxing the abdominal muscles. Bhastrika is a breathing style in which both the inhalation and exhalation are active and rapid. There are three basic varieties of bhastrika: one uses diaphragmatic breathing executed by abdominal muscles, the second uses thoracic breathing, and the third uses both. Kukkuriya utilizes rapid breathing through the mouth (Kumar et al. 2013). For the purposes of this review, all three will be referred to as HFYB. Basic research on the effects of HFYB on the physiological breathing process has been conducted by Kuvalayananda (1963), and Ebert (1989). The respirogram of kapalabhati and bhastrika is given by Ebert (1989). For example, in the case of kapalabhati, the air volume per minute decreases as the practice progresses. In the case of bhastrika, the per minute air exchange increases. Improvements in both psychological and cardiovascular health are reported to result from the autonomic nervous system modulations that correspond with regulated yogic breathing (Telleset al. 2015). Body psychotherapy uses breath-work to soothe and center patients as well as charge and stimulate in preparation for emotional and physical processing (Caldwell and Victoria 2011). Most of the physiological, psychological, and cognitive effects of HFYB are attributed to the complex shifts in the autonomic nervous system that occur during and after the practice (Brown and Gerbarg 2005b; Raghuraj, Ramakrishnan, Nagendra and Telles 1998; Sharma et al. 2014). Due to its empirically measured and subjectively reported effects of both enhanced alertness and resulting states of calm (Telleset al. 2015), HFYB has emerged as a potentially potent adjunctive tool in therapeutic treatment (Brown and Gerbarg 2005a) and in preparation for meditation (Ebert 1989; Hirai 1973). 2 Measures of authonomic neurous system modulation 2.1 Heart rate variability Heart rate variability (HRV) is used to indicate autonomic control by the cardiovascular system (Raghurajet al. 1998). Heart rate variability has been measured by high frequency (HF) and low frequency (LF) components and their relationship, which is understood to be a better indicator of autonomic status than heart rate alone (Raghuraj et al. 1998). The HF component is related to vagal activation, the LF component to sympathetic nervous system activation, and the LF/HF ratio reflects 38 Anna Andaházy – Gejza M. Timčák
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