Experiments in India on "Voluntary" Control of the Heart and Pulse

Abstract

Claims of voluntary control of the heart and pulse by 4 practitioners of Yoga were investigated by electrocardiography. Three subjects achieved heart slowing by retention of breath and muscular tension in the abdomen and thorax, with closed glottis, presumably causing retardation of venous return to the heart. The heart was not stopped, although heart and pulse sounds weakened or disappeared. Heart slowing by the fourth subject involved different mechanisms, but in all cases it was by means of striate muscle action rather than direct control of the heart.