The Effects of a Yoga Program in Heart Failure Patients

The proposed research project is a pilot study designed to delineate the clinical outcomes associated with a modified yoga program in a population of adults with ventricular dysfunction and clinical heart failure (HF). The researchers hypothesize that patients in a modified yoga training program will have a significant improvement in clinical outcomes, functional ability, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The researchers propose to evaluate 15-20 subjects with chronic HF and New York Heart Association Functional Class (NYHA) II-III and obtain baseline physiological, functional, and HRQOL measurements. After obtaining baseline measurements, patients will participate in a modified yoga program with instruction for home practice for 8 weeks. Baseline measurements include: Vital signs, oxygen saturation, heart rate variability, exercise distance, muscular strength and flexibility determination, and various indices of HRQOL. At the conclusion of 8 weeks of yoga training the same measurements will be obtained. In a group of chronic HF patients, the specific aims are the following: 1. To develop a safe and feasible yoga program; 2. To determine whether clinical outcomes (vital signs, oxygen saturation, heart rate variability), functional ability (exercise distance, muscular strength and flexibility determination), and HRQOL are positively affected by a modified yoga program.