Medical Journal Publishes PYI-Led Pilot Study on Yoga for Cardiac Health

Really good tidings! Motivated by her mother’s own cardiac event, Prema Yoga Institute alumna and faculty member Sonja Rzepski created a yoga therapy program alongside doctors at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital to help manage stress in female patients recovering from similar experiences. The cardiac care program was part of PYI's Clinical Yoga Therapy Practicum, and was staffed by PYI grads completing their yoga therapy certification.

The results are in and not only are they are encouraging but they are now published in the Annals of Clinical Cardiology (Jesus SD, Schultz E, Bond RM. The yoga–meditation heart connection: A pilot study looking to improve women's heart health. Ann Clin Cardiol 2019;1:24-9). 

While on the decline overall, the CDC still declares heart disease the leading cause of death for women in the United States. For women older than 55, the data shows a stagnation in the decrease of fatal incidents. Stress, anxiety, and depression are nontraditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) that are more common in women. Sonja’s hypothesis appears to be supported by evidence that regular, supervised sessions of chair yoga and meditation can be a complementary measure to decrease these factors in female patients with or at risk for CVD, as well as increase their likelihood to pursue lifestyle modifications. 
 
Sonja’s program addressed this specific group by providing 16 female participants with or at risk for CVD and with a mean age of 64, 45-minute supervised sessions of complimentary chair yoga and meditation over 24 weeks. Through the practice of Yoga Nidra, psychic sleep or deep relaxation with inner awareness, the patients reported a lower level of depression overall as well as a 3-9 pound weight loss in 1/3 of the students which reflects the program’s encouragement to mindfully eat heart-healthy foods.
 
Kudos to Sonja and her team that included PYI Practicum students Yuliana Kim Grant, Irina Chernova, Judy Glassman, and Michelle Lauren. Want to dig in and read the complete study?  Click here! 

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