My home studio tribe is excited about finding their way into some stronger inversions = FUN! So it got me thinking about their benefits.
Don't let the word inversions worry you, the always-popular downward facing dog IS an inversion. Actually, its any pose where your heart is higher than your head; dolphin, legs up the wall, bridge pose, etc.
And as with ANY of my classes, there is a version well suited for every body.
Inverting is often touted as a panacea, however, one small study does give promise to their impact on the heart.
This 8-week study looked at heart rate variability (HRV) before and after in 12 healthy men and women, aged 25-60. Their yoga practice included a series of inverted postures and moved up in duration to 20 minutes by the end. The participants were not involved in any other regular exercise program.
After 8 weeks, the participants showed a significant improvement in their HRV, which is a marker for a healthy heart. High HRV means greater parasympathetic control (rest-and-digest), which basically means there is a restorative effect on the autonomic nervous system, an increase vagal tone, and reduced sympathetic (fight-or-flight) activity in the heart. YES PLEASE!
Come invert with me next week and get your heart a little happier!
Disclaimer: this is a pretty small study, with no control group. Bigger studies are needed, however, studies on yoga are limited so we have to take what we can get! :) But this gives us some information to get excited about and regardless of these limitations, I ask, why not? Who doesn't want the healthiest ticker possible, certainly can't hurt! Increased heart rate variability but no effect on blood pressure from 8 weeks of hatha yoga - a pilot study by Marian E Papp, Per E Wandel, Feb 11, 2013.
