ISSN 0031-5125 DOI 10.2466/22.25.PMS.117x10z4 Perceptual & Motor Skills: Learning & Memory REACTION TIME FOLLOWING YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS 1 SHIRLEY TELLES, ARTI YADAV, RAM KUMAR GUPTA, AND ACHARYA BALKRISHNA Patanjali Research Foundation, Haridwar, India Summary.—The reaction time (RT) was assessed in two groups of healthy males, yoga group ( M age = 29.0 yr.) and non-yoga or control group ( M age = 29.0 yr.), with 35 participants each. The yoga group had an average experience of 6 months, while the control group was yoga-naïve. The yoga group was assessed in two sessions, (i) bhastrika pranayama or bellows breathing and (ii) breath awareness, while the control group had a single control session. The two experimental sessions, one with each type of breathing, and the control session consisted of pre- (5 min.), during (18 min.), and post-session epochs (5 min.). Assessments were made in the pre- and post-session epochs using a Multi-Operational Apparatus for Reaction Time. Fol- lowing 18 min. of bhastrika pranayama there was a statistically significant reduction in number of anticipatory responses compared to before the practice. This suggests that the immediate effect of bhastrika pranayama is to inhibit unnecessary respond- ing to stimuli. Voluntary breath regulation is a part of specific yoga techniques called pranayamas (Taimini, 1986). Breath regulation is given particular emphasis in yoga, as regulating the breath is believed to help regulate the mental state (Swami Muktibodhananda, 1985). Three weeks of slow yoga breathing [called savitri pranayama, Cohen's d = 1.43 for visual reaction time (VRT) ; 2.13 for auditory reaction time (ART)] and fast yoga breathing ( bhastrika pranayama, Cohen's d = 0.15 for VRT ; 2.68 for ART) reduced sim- ple reaction times (VRT, ART) in both groups of practitioners, though this was not statistically significant (Madanmohan, Udupa, Bhavanani, Vijay- alakshmi, & Surendiran, 2005). The acute effect of bhastrika pranayama on reaction time was assessed in a single group of 22 school boys, 13 to 16 years of age, who had received training in yoga for three months (Bha- vanani, Madanmohan, & Udupa, 2003). Following nine rounds of bhas- trika pranayama, there was a statistically significant reduction in both VRT (Cohen's d = 2.81) and ART = 3.15. The large effect sizes could be due to a practice effect, as there was no control group assessed similarly without any intervention. The acute effects of nine rounds of bhastrika pranayama were also studied in 34 adolescents with intellectual disability (age range 14 to 16 years). All of them had been practicing yoga once a week for © Perceptual & Motor Skills 2013 2013, 117, 1, 89-98. 1 Address all correspondence to Shirley Telles, Ph.D., Patanjali Research Foundation, Patanja- li Yogpeeth, Maharishi Dayanand Gram, Bahadrabad, Haridwar, Uttarakhand 249402, India or e-mail (shirleytelles@gmail.com).