Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 22, 2025
07:52
Evaluating Postural Control and Lower-extremity Muscle Activation in Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability
Published on: September 18, 2020
8.5K
Postural Control Adaptations in Yoga Single-Leg Support Postures: Comparison Between Practitioners and
Dafne Pires Pinto1, Pedro Vieira Sarmet Moreira1,2, Luciano Luporini Menegaldo1
1Biomedical Engineering Program, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ,Brazil.
Motor Control
|May 26, 2022
Summary
Regular yoga practitioners exhibit enhanced postural control in single-leg stances like Vrksasana (tree posture). This suggests yoga training may lead to improved motor adaptations for better balance.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Neuroscience
- Sports Science
Background:
- Postural control is crucial for daily activities and athletic performance.
- Yoga, particularly single-leg postures, challenges balance and may induce neuro-motor adaptations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare postural control between regular yoga practitioners and healthy controls during single-leg Yoga postures.
- To investigate potential supraspinal motor adaptations in yoga practitioners.
Main Methods:
- Ten yoga practitioners and ten healthy controls performed Vrksasana (tree posture) and Natarajasana (dancer posture).
- Center of pressure (COP) trajectories were analyzed using rambling and trembling decomposition via a genetic algorithm.
- Center of mass (COM) was estimated using OpenSim and compared with COP rambling outputs.
Main Results:
- No significant postural control differences were observed during Natarajasana.
- Yoga practitioners demonstrated reduced COP ellipse confidence interval area and anteroposterior standard deviation during Vrksasana.
- Yoga practitioners exhibited smaller mediolateral rambling standard deviation in Vrksasana, indicating improved postural stability.
Conclusions:
- Regular yoga practice may lead to specific postural control adaptations, particularly in challenging single-leg stances like Vrksasana.
- Findings suggest potential supraspinal feed-forward motor adaptations developed through consistent yoga training.
- Further research is warranted to elucidate the precise neural mechanisms underlying yoga-induced postural improvements.
