The acute effect of LifeMoves� on blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and perceived stress

Abstract

Chronic stress is a prevalent problem; stress management techniques such as yoga and meditation are advocated to reduce the detrimental effects of stress. LifeMoves�, a novel stress management technique, guides the participant through upper body movements choreographed to meditative music. The objective of this study was to quantify the acute effects of LifeMoves� participation on psychological and physiological markers of stress. 27 volunteers completed the study. Participation included three, 20-minute practice sessions of LifeMoves� and chair yoga and three testing sessions. During testing, subjects performed 10 minutes of LifeMoves�, chair yoga, or sitting quietly. Blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate were measured and perceived stress assessed on a VAS prior to and following each testing session. Paired t-tests were conducted to assess the effects of each condition on markers of stress and repeated measures ANOVA to evaluate differences between conditions. Systolic BP, RR, and perceived stress decreased but HR and diastolic BP did not change with treatment. There were no differences in the pre-post changes of any variable among the conditions. This study demonstrates that a brief practice of LifeMoves�, chair yoga, or sitting quietly can acutely lower physiological and psychological measures of stress.