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| Home > Effects of Hatha Yoga > Scientific ground for Hatha Yoga
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| | Scientific ground for Hatha Yoga
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 Bodily techniques being the basis of Hatha Yoga, Modern scientific investigations on Bodily effects can yield a much tangible and bio medically accurate results for studies. Much sophisticated methods for measuring and recording certain physiological processes, such as the breathing rhythm, heart rate, Neuro-electrical activity, etc have been employed in order to investigate the physiological effects of yogic or quasi-yogic techniques. These techniques have proved again and again that Hatha Yoga can actually create immense possibilities for human body and its functions.
The many functions that are the target for scientific research include respiratory, circulatory, muscular-articular, and to a lesser extent endocrine and nervous system responses. The experimental procedures for these studies involve undertaking young volunteer who are inexperienced in hatha techniques and then having these volunteers trained in a variety of techniques for a period of several months. Measurements of one or more physiological process are taken before, after, and during the period of training. Afterwards, these data are compared with those acquired from equivalent measurements of a control group. Control group consist of similar type of people with regard to age, sex, body type, etc. who have received no training in hatha-yoga.
To estimate a more permanent or detailed effects, measurements are also taken of the hatha-yoga group after a period of `de-training`, in which members are requested to desist from practicing the techniques they have learnt.
The catch in the experiments is the fact that in the conventional textual accounts, a "Sadhak" has to undergo Rigorous practice, many a times a day, for many years. According to traditional hatha texts, such as Brahmananda`s Jyotsna a serious hatha-yogi will practice several asanas and kumbhakas four times a day before sunrise, at midday, before sunset, and at midnight. He has to pursue this routine for a number of years under the instruction of a guru. It is therefore unrealistic to expect any dramatic results from someone who has practised only a few exercises once a day for a matter of months. Inspite of this, a number of such relatively short-term studies have successfully proved the physiological influences of Hatha Yoga. The parameters of changes are as following:
The number of breaths taken per minute in a supine resting position has decreased significantly. After training for six months in a selection of hatha techniques, the average basal breath rate of many subjects had dropped from 16.8 to 13.4 per minute. In some studies, a group who had practised hatha-yoga for six months was compared with a group who had no yoga experience but engaged regularly in other forms of light exercise (healthy routine), and found the basal breath rate of the former group to be 10 breaths per minute as opposed to 23 per minute in the latter. The relaxation and efficiency in breathing technique through hatha yoga is extremely apparent by this statistic.
Increase in breath holding time. The breath holding time fir the regular students of hatha yoga has found to extend up 22 seconds in three weeks.
Studies also show increase in respiratory amplitude. The degree to which the lungs expand during respiration increases majorly, thus indicating an increase in lung capacity.
Improvement in the smoothness of breathing. Through breathing techniques of pranaayaam and Kumbhaka, the breathing is found to be more smooth, easy and efficient.
Improved relaxation and flexibility of muscles. This results is an obvious benefit of practising hatha asanas which increases muscular flexibility. Several studies have repeatedly confirmed that factors such as "explosive strength, dynamic strength, trunk strength, coordination, equilibrium and stamina" were markebly improved after only a three-week training programme comprising asanas, ujjayi-pranayama, agnisara-dhauti, kapalabhati and nauli.
The technique of "electromyography" has been used in several studies to measure and record the electrical activity present in certain areas of muscle during the performance of asanas. Results have demonstrated that regular practise of hatha-yoga postures reduces the amount of strain endured by muscles as they are being stretched.
Decreased heart rate. Experiments involving groups of young people who have received training in hatha-yoga for only a matter of weeks or months have indicated that, while the heart rate measured in beats per minute generally increases during asanas (except Savasana) and vigorous pranayama, the heart rate in basal state consistently decreases.
Increased cardiovascular efficiency. This directly results in the capacity of an individual to maintain strenuous activity of the whole body for a prolonged period.
Change in blood composition. Red blood cells, hemoglobin, lymphocytes, and thyroxin are the blood components that were shown to be increased after a hatha yoga training program. The ones which have been shown to decrease include leukocytes (white blood cells) and cholesterol.
Apart from these numerous studies of people who have practised hatha-yoga in a limited capacity for a relatively short period of time, there also exist some data collected from experiments on more experienced hatha practitioners. For example, In 1957 psychologists Bagchi and Wenger used an eight channel electroencephalogram (EEG) and other instruments to record respiration, finger blood-volume changes, and skin conductance and temperature of yogis in India. One interesting observation made by them was the fact that although the breathing rate of yogis slowed down during meditation, their heart rates, lower finger temperatures, palmar conductance and blood pressure increased considerably. This was a strong indication and verification of the fact that Mediatation is not passive, but an active process.
Other studies on Indian Yogis show that upon cessation of the samadhi state, the brain waves returned to a slower rate in the alpha band.
The conclusion being that the supreme concentration of attention is likely to be responsible for the perfect insensibility of the yogi during samadhi. The state shown by the EEG results are not at all indicative of "Sleep, Lethargy, Anesthesia or Coma."
In another extremely interesting example, an Indian yogi named Swami Rama also exhibited remarkable control over blood flow and heart rate. In one experiment decreasing the flow of blood to the the ball of the thumb of his right hand while simultaneously increasing the flow to the hypothenar (palm above the little Finger) of the same hand. This resulted in "a temperature differential of ten degrees Fahrenheit between the two sides of his pal", the left side turning pink as it became warmer, the right turning grey as it cooled.
In another experiment, Rama produced "a state of atrial flutter during which the heart ceased to pump blood for seventeen seconds" (after which time the Swami was requested by worried observers to return his heart to normal). The fact being that, Swami Rama had not stopped his heart, but had accelerated `its speed to such an extent (300 beats per minute) that it was not pumping any blood (since the ventricles had stopped and the atria merely fluttered). The effect on the circulatory system was thus the same as if the heart had completely ceased to beat.
This physiological process is identified with loss of blood flow in fainting or death. Yet Swami Rama induced the effect without any strenuous muscular action, relying solely upon breath control and mental concentration. Not to mention that Swamiji came out unharmed from theses experiments with no physiological damage on himself.
Experiments have also shown certain yogis to remain in a relaxed state (typified by alpha brain waves) in the midst of intense sensory stimuli, such as loud noise and bright light, and with their hands submerged in ice-cold water for periods of up to 55 minutes.
There is certainly no shortage of data relating to breathing techniques characteristic of hatha-yoga. In studying the effects of pranayama, it is found that some of their subjects, especially experienced ones, could produce bidirectional changes in every autonomic variable the experimenters measured.
Although such experiments fail to do research on the more subtle effects as the flow of Prana, the altered statistics regarding heart rate is verification enough for the fact thatt Hatha Yoga techniques are extremely potent.
Although there are no lack of Spectacular illustration, one more noteworthy demonstration was given by Yogi Ramananda of Mysore, India. In 1957 at the age of 48 he concentrated all his energy on his fingers. By doing so, the yogi was able to slice through a rolled leaf, using his first and middle fingers like a pair of scissors and propelling one piece of loaf "several feet away."
In the second demonstration, he had a chain made of iron wrapped around his waist and reconnected to itself to form a belt. Nine` links were left out in front. The ninth link was connected to a metal bar on which the subject placed his feet, causing tension in the nine links. For two minutes, Ramananda`s resting respiratory rate was measured, and was shown to be 6 breaths per minute. Then he was instructed to break the chain. After increasing the respiratory rate to 18 breaths per minute for a duration of one minute, he took one breath for 13 seconds. As he exhaled the breath, the chain which could withstand up to 650 pounds of tension before bending, snapped. Upon examination the link that broke was found to be severed in half, rather than bent open. This suggests that Ramananda, who weighed a mere 106 pounds at the time of the demonstration, had brought some force other than brute strength to bear upon it.
Few of the most impressive, most verified and popular experiments carried out on yogis are those in which the subject is confined in an airtight or poorly ventilated container for an extended period of time. One such experiment was conducted by in which a yogi was wired up to a twelve-lead ECG and buried in an earthen pit for over seven days in the grounds of the Tagore Medical College and Hospital in Udaipur, India. Monitoring the ECG record from a nearby laboratory,it was noted that, after twenty-nine hours of confinement, the yogin`s heart rate had accelerated to as many as 250 beats per minute. The yogi`s heartbeat prior to the experiment was 106 per minute. Suddenly, after thirty hours, the ECG from all twelve leads displayed "a straight line with no electrical disturbance", and this continued for the next 5 days. Having suspected that the leads may have become disconnected, the experimenters were amazed when, half an hour before the pit was due to be opened, the ECG tracings reappeared, registering a rate of 142 beats per minute.
When the pit was opened, tne yogi was found sitting in the same posture he had started in. In accounting for his remarkable [ECG] record, the experimenters argued that a disconnection of the [ECG] lead would have produced obvious markings on the tracings in their laboratory, as they found when they tried to simulate ways in which the yogi might have tinkered with it. Furthermore, the yogi was ignorant about such machines, and the pit was completely dark.
It was concluded that "the most likely cause of the straight line on ECG tracing was a dramatic decrease in his heart`s activity." The reasoning can be much similar to Swami Rama`s demonstration of `atrial flutter` mentioned above.The increase in heart beat went upto such a level as to identify with no pumping action at all.
According to hatha theory, such an increase in heart rate corresponds to physical manifestation of the intense "inner heat` created by the forced union of prana and apana within the sukshma-sharira. This act is said to precede the arousal of Kundalini-Shakti.
The amazing feats of human burial and subsequent revival are not new to India. some memorable and vividly documented accounts by Britishers in Pre independence India are doubtless as evidences.Many of them include, Hatha Yogi`s self confination in a very small space upto days and even more than a month.
Such cases provide a well-documented example of someone`s employing the hatha-yoga cleansing techniques plus kumbhaka and mudra to achieve a state of physiological suspension. Although scientific instruments were not available to record his brain wave-pattern, heart rate, breathing rhythm and other bodily processes, it is clear that, in order simply to survive the ordeal, the yogis must have slowed these processes down to an extremely low rate.
Modern biomedical science experimenting on the traditional discipline of hatha-yoga is an ongoing and fruitful procedure. Modern experiments improve our understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved in hatha practice. In turn Hatha Yoga reveals to us the extent to which physiological processes can be voluntarily manipulated and enhanced. All this shed new light upon many mysteries associated with the body, the mind and the complex relationship between the two.
Still, the explanatory details of "Sukshma sharira" and "Prana" have not gained scientific validity even in modern times. The conception of the body in hatha-yoga is far from being in conformity with that of mainstream biology. The classification of body as multiple layered eludes standard means of observation and measurement. This absence of conformity does not necessarily be taken as evidence that the hatha view is somehow more "primitive" or "superstitious" than that of modern science. Maybe it`s the other way, that modern science has much to learn from hatha-yoga. In any case, both the streams can join hands together to explore the potential of human mind and body`s power.
The fundamental basis of Hatha yoga consists of the fact that the maximization of physical health is but the necessary basis of the Self-realisation process. The body must be purified and strengthened to efficaciously `channel` powerful subtle forces (prana). Only a yogic body is able to withstand the powerful and transformative effects of Kundalini-Shakti.
Unfortunately, many the people who are beginning to approach hatha-yoga, as a method of physical exercise and stress relief are largely uninterested in the more spiritual aspects of the discipline.
Hatha yoga has much more to offer, and this is often sensed by the followers who have an open eye for the philosophies and esoteric knowledge the discipline has to offer. This brings an extra and the most fruitful dimension in their practice and being.
However, the fact that remains is that whether its considered as a means for physiological well-being, or vehicle of self-enfoldment, Hatha yoga remains to be a crucial branch of knowledge with a perspective to human life that cannot be ignored.
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