A recent review of the existing literature and research associated with the health benefits of pranayama was published by Sharma, Deepak & Dogra, Deepak (2024) (A Comprehensive Review On The Therapeutic Impact Of Pranayama Practices On Physical And Mental Health. Journal of Advanced Zoology. 45. 01-05).
The results of their review indicate that pranayama has immediate physiological health benefits including:
- Immediately reducing blood pressure and heart rate;
- Enhancing vital capacity;
- Decreasing basal rate and systolic blood pressure.
They also found that pranayama has long-term physical benefits that include:
- Significant improvements in muscular endurance, flexibility, and respiratory rate;
- Improvements on cardiovascular and cardiac autonomic functions;
- Significantly reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Cognitive functions and mental well-being also benefit:
- Brain function improves;
- Stress levels decrease.
Finally, they found that overall health and disease prevention improves.