Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study

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Citation

Bernardi L, Sleight P, Bandinelli G, Cencetti S, Fattorini L, Wdowczyc-Szulc J, Lagi A. Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study. BMJ. 2001 Dec 22-29;323(7327):1446-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.323.7327.1446. PMID: 11751348; PMCID: PMC61046.

4 FUNDAMENTALS

 

1. Essential Background Material

 

This study analyzed how breathing and cardio-autonomic function changed during normal breathing, slow breathing, talking, and prayer or mantra recitation.

 

Slow breathing at around 5 to 6 breaths a minute has a wide range of benefits for the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous systems.  (See 411s on chronic disease and general benefits).

 

Briefly, it synchronizes rhythms of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.  This lowers blood pressure, increases oxygenation, improves baroreflex sensitivity, increases heart rate variability, and induces a state of calm and a feeling of well-being. 

 

Interestingly, the authors unintentionally discovered that the recitation of the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) prayer led to a breathing rate of nearly 6 breaths/min in a separate experiment, suggesting that this religious practice may provide some of these same health benefits.

 

Thus, this study aimed to analyze in detail how breathing rate and cardio-autonomic function changes under recitation of the prayer (and several other conditions), which we’ll describe next.

 

 

2. What Did this Research Do?

 

The study had 23 subjects, 16 men and 7 women, with an average age of 34.

 

Here was the protocol the participants followed:

  • Baseline measurements of spontaneous breathing (3 min)

  • Free talking (6 min)

  • Slow breathing at 6 breaths/min (6 min)

  • Recitation of the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) in Latin (part of the rosary prayer) (6 min)

  • Repetition of yoga mantra (om-mani-padme-om) (6 min)

Critically, they were not given instructions on how fast/slow to recite the prayer or yoga mantra. Moreover, for the prayer, the participants worked in groups of two: one spoke the priest’s part and the other the response from the congregation.

The measurements recorded were breathing rate, heart rate via electrocardiogram, blood pressure, and “midcerebral arterial flow velocity,” which supplies specific brain tissue with oxygenated blood and is the brain’s most commonly affected blood vessel.

 

 

3. What Were the Major Findings?

Recitation of the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) prayer and yoga mantra both slowed breathing rate to approximately 5.5 to 6 breaths a minute.

Moreover, breathing and heart measurements synchronized during prayer and mantra, indicating coherence between these systems.  Simultaneously, both led to rhythmic fluctuations in brain blood flow.  Baroreflex sensitivity (an overall marker of cardio-autonomic health) also increased during prayer and mantra.

 

Interestingly, heart rate variability increased (a good thing) while respiratory variability decreased. 

 

For example, during the 3 minutes of normal breathing, participants’ breathing variability was about 22%.  During slow controlled breathing using a pacer, it was only 5.4% (less variability makes sense because they were using a timer). 

Remarkably, it was 8.3% during the Hail Mary prayer, and it was 6.2% during the mantra. Thus, without instruction, these methods regulated breathing to almost the same extent as controlled breathing using a pacer.

 

4. Why Do These Results Matter?

These results show that reciting a common religious prayer or yoga mantra leads to cardio-autonomic-respiratory coherence. Moreover, we learn that these methods stabilize breathing rates to almost the same extent as using a controlled breathing timer.

Thus, this study shows that these spiritual methods are also healthy for our hearts and nervous systems. 

 

The authors hypothesize that these methods may have developed to help people breathe slowly when stopwatches and metronomes were unavailable.

 

They also hypothesize that the rosary, which involves many repetitions of the Ave Maria, might have evolved to induce a state of calm and a feeling of well-being, which may have made people more receptive to the message.

 

 

 

1 BIG TAKEAWAY

Recitation of the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) prayer or a common yoga mantra slows breathing rate to 5.5-6 breaths per minute and improves markers of cardiovascular and autonomic health. They can be thought of as both health and religious practices.

 

 

1 PRACTICAL APPLICATION

 

If you don’t like using a breathing app, try finding a mantra or prayer that resonates with you (it can be anything) that will slow your breathing to around 5-6 breaths/min.  This may be a more fun and engaging way to perform the practice.

 

Either way, this study is another reminder of the power of slow breathing, regardless of how it’s practiced.  So make sure you practice a little more today 🙏