Immediate Effects of OM Meditation on Heart Rate Variability as a Stress Index During Different Phases of Menstruation: A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study

Abstract

Introduction: Stress alters normal reproductive function, causing menstrual disorders up to infertility in females. Psychological stress is the most common lifestyle factor found to be associated with menstrual disorders among late adolescence and young adults. Yoga-based OM-meditation has been shown to reduce stress, but its effect on managing stress during different phases of menstruation in young females is not known. Aim: To evaluate if short-term practice of OM-meditation could induce a beneficial modulation in Heart-Rate Variability (HRV), a measure of stress index during various phases of the menstrual cycle in young females. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 20 healthy young females with a normal menstrual cycle, aged between 18-25 years, and pursuing a medicine course at Shri BM Patil Medical College, Karnataka, India, from March 2020 to December 2021. Meditation group participants (n=10) practiced OM-meditation, while control group participants (n=10) relaxed quietly for 10 minutes. Each subject received an intervention thrice during the menstrual, proliferative, and secretory phases. Data was collected before and immediately after every intervention. Body Mass Index (BMI), Blood Pressure (BP), Heart Rate (HR), and HRV were measured. Distribution of data, within-group and betweengroup analysis was done. ANCOVA (Analysis of covariance) was used to determine the differences between groups. Results: Total 20 participants, n=10 in each, Meditation and control group, mean age of participants was 19.2±0.79 and 19.3±0.82 years, and the mean period of MC was 31.1±2.76 and 30.3±2.4 days in the meditation and control groups, respectively. There was no change in the baseline values of BMI, BP, and HR between the two groups, and they were within the normal range. Between-group analysis (ANCOVA) of HRV spectrum showed that OM-meditation had significantly decreased the LowFrequency (LF) component of HRV (p<0.05) and LF/HF ratio (p<0.05), and increased the High-Frequency (HF) component (p<0.05) of HRV during all three phases of MC. Conclusion: The practice of OM-meditation for 10 minutes reduced sympathetic activity and shifted autonomic balance towards parasympathetic dominance. These changes suggest that OM-meditation can reduce mental stress and optimise autonomic regulation during different phases of MC. However, this needs evaluation in a larger trial.