Effects of Yoga and Pranayama on Human Reaction Time and Certain Physiological Parameters in Normal and Obesity College Male Students

Yoga is a process of gaining control over the mind, as defined by Patanjali. Stress has been implicated as one of the major causes of essential obesity. Yoga works on every cell of the body. Yoga influences body as well as controls the stress in the individual. An index of the processing ability of central nervous system and a simple means of determining sensory-motor performance is referred to as reaction time (RT). It has been proclaimed that human performance including central neural processing is improved by yoga training. It improves cardio respiratory performance, balances autonomic nervous system, decreases pulse, respiratory rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. To show the effects of yoga and pranayam on auditory and visual RT and on certain physiological parameters such as weight, body mass index, pulse rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure in normal and obesity men. This comparative type of study included 30 normal and 30 obesity. It was carried on subjects between 17 and 25 years of age. Auditory reaction time (ART) and visual reaction time (VRT) were studied in subjects with “Response Analyzer” reaction time apparatus. The physiological parameters such as weight, body mass index, pulse rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were measured. Parameters were measured in two sittings; on admission to yoga center and after six Weekes. Statistical software STATA Version 10.0 was used for statistical analysis. Result: It was found that changes in the RT and physiological parameters were significant in normal students when compared with obesity individuals. Conclusion: Yoga is a helpful intervention in obesity students. Yoga and pranayama are more beneficial to obesity students. RT is an index of cortical arousal, and a decrease in it indicates an improved sensory-motor performance and an enhanced processing ability of the central nervous system