Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: July | Volume: 4 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 67-71
Slow and Deep Breathing Exercise (Pranayama) For a Stress Free Life amongst Medical Students
Singh S1, Katwal B2, Panta PP3
1Lecturer, Department of Physiology, Nepal Medical College
2Lecturer, Department of Forensic Medicine, Nepal Medical College
3Lecturer, Department of Community Medicine, Nepal Medical College
Corresponding Author: Singh S
ABSTRACT
Stress is a condition which disrupts or destabilizes homeostasis, e.g., homeostasis of central nervous system (CNS), of blood pressure (BP), of skeletal muscular efficiency and so on. The cause of stress-related diseases is increasing day by day throughout the world. Stress-related disorder will be one of the causes of disability if proper measures are not taken to overcome it. Pranayama, an important part of Yoga is breathing exercise, derived from two Sanskrit words: "Prana" and "yama", which means control over bodily functions and mind. Regular practice of breathing exercise (Pranayama) increases parasympathetic tone, decreases sympathetic activity and simultaneously improves cardiovascular and respiratory functions. It also decreases the effects of stress and strain on the body and improves the physical and mental health. This study was done to find out the effect of simple slow and deep voluntary breathing on body and mind which was evaluated by recording blood pressure (BP) with the help of sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. The volunteers for the study included all medical students of age group 18-25 years, of Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Attarkhel, Jorpati, Kathmandu, Nepal. Result was found to be decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure after performing 5 minutes of this slow deep voluntary breathing exercise. The decrease of diastolic blood pressure and mean blood pressure were significant.
Key words: Blood pressure, Diastolic blood pressure, Pranayama, Systolic blood pressure, Slow deep breathing exercise
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