The Yoga-meditation Heart Connection: a Pilot Study Looking to Improve Women's Heart Health

Introduction: Stress, anxiety and depression are nontraditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) that are more common in women. Yoga and meditation have shown to improve patient’s overall levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and possibly decrease CVD risk. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that regular, supervised sessions of chair yoga and meditation can be a complementary measure to decrease the level of anxiety, stress and depression in women with or at risk for CVD, and pursue lifestyle modifications. Methods: An anonymous survey was provided to the participants of a weekly complimentary chair yoga/meditation workshop supervised by a trained cardiac yoga therapist. The surveys were distributed on day 1 and on week 24 to assess any changes in their reported level of stress, depression, anxiety and lifestyle. Results: A total of 16 and 10 female participants with or at risk for CVD completed the initial and follow up survey respectively, which included validated screening tools for depression, anxiety and stress. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 from the initial session to the follow up survey, showed an increase in the score (2.25 vs 3.2 respectively [P = 0.199]). Despite this increased trend, the severity remained within the definition of minimal depression. The mean Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 went from 7 in the initial visit down to 4.9 (P = 0.138) for the follow up survey (decreased from a definition of mild anxiety to no clinical anxiety). Lastly, the Perceived Stress Score demonstrated a mean reduction from 18.25 to 15.2 (P = 0.106), both remaining as moderate perceived stress. Participants also endorsed a trend towards integrating more low saturated fat foods, and 37.5% endorsed a 3-9 lbs weight loss. Conclusion: Although more research and larger studies are yet to be done to demonstrate a definitive benefit in meditation and gentle chair yoga in CVD risk reduction, our pilot study demonstrated a trend towards overall improvement of novel risk factors for CVD, which predominantly affect women. Given the low harm and cost of these measures, they can be done as adjuvants to our standard of care to increase the patient’s overall well being by improving the psychological aspect of their lives which in turn could reflect on their physical health.