TY - JOUR PY - 2014// TI - Hatha yoga on body balance JO - International journal of yoga A1 - Prado, Erick Tadeu A1 - Raso, Vagner A1 - Scharlach, Renata Coelho A1 - Kasse, Cristiane Akemi SP - 133 EP - 137 VL - 7 IS - 2 N2 - BACKGROUND: A good body balance requires a proper function of vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems which can be reach with exercise practice and/or yoga.

AIM: To determine the effects of a 5-month hatha yoga training program on body balance in young adults.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used a controlled, nonrandomized design, where the experimental group underwent a 5-month training program and were then compared with the control group that had a sedentary lifestyle. A convenience sample of 34 out of 40 men aged 25-55 years old (34.0 ± 0.9) were deemed eligible for this study. They were randomly divided into two groups: Experimental and control groups. Subjects in the experimental group were engaged in 60 min sessions of hatha yoga three times a week for 5 months. We evaluated postural control by measuring the limit of stability and velocity of oscillation (VOS) in three conditions of the balance rehabilitation unit (BRU) and through field procedures (four position, plane, flamingo, hopscotch, and dynamic test).

RESULTS: We observed differences (P < 0.05) in postintervention scores between the groups regardless of BRU parameters and field procedures (except for flamingo) even after adjusting for preintervention scores, suggesting that these changes were induced by hatha yoga training. The partial eta squared on BRU parameters ranged from 0.78 (VOS1)-0.97 (COP2), and from 0.00 (flamingo)-0.94 (four position) for the field procedures.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide substantial evidence that postural control in healthy young adults can be improved through practicing hatha yoga.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0973-6131 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0973-6131.133893 ID - ref1 ER -