Yoga to decrease Air Consumption?

I didn't want to hijack the thread "How to conserve air?" in NDTCD. So I decided to make this a separate thread.

Someone said that a larger friend of theirs was sucking down air, so they decided to try yoga. And according to them, it significantly helped. This idea (for some weird reason) really interested me...Yoga for better air consumption. So I was thinking...I want to perform an experiment.

My fiance has found a yoga class. I think its like 2 or 3 months worth of classes for like 50 dollars or something like that. I was thinking of joining up with her. Not only would it make her happy, but again...experiment.

Hypothesis- Will the breathing exercises from yoga benefit a scuba diver in lines of air consumption.
Experiment-find the average and standard deviation of my bottom time,start PSI and end PSI from my last 20 or so dives.

---->From this, I should have a pretty good(not perfect) baseline. (I dont want to include my first 5 or 10 dives because I was also sucking down air as well. And averages are skewed due to outliers)
I'll do these courses during the off scuba season in New Jersey...winter.And continue these courses until I start diving next season.(I dont own a dry suit)
Then perform another 20 or so dives(Same amount I chose for my baseline) And again calculate the average and standard deviation of my bottom time, start and end PSI.

---->Once this is completed I will post my results here on scubaboard.
Does anyone have any ideas to assist this experiment?

I assume that you will dive the same depth profiles with the same set of gear under comparable conditions (water temp, current, ascent rate, etc.).

How will you control for improving your air consumption due to gaining experience?

I applaud your enthusiasm, but it will be difficult to come up with convincing results. After all, we're discussing a longitudinal study comprised of one test subject (you).
Do the yoga for its health/flexibility/meditation benefits. Enjoy the diving later. I wouldn't worry about trying to "prove" anything.

Have fun out there...

Not exactly yoga but I learned something from a DM in Cozumel this year that might help. I noticed that he used far less air than anyone, even when the current was running, so I asked him how he did it. He said "Scuba diving is a state of mind. You have to go with it, not against it." And he was right. Rather than kicking around furiously from one place to another I began to try to "slip" through the water with minimum resistance, relax as much as possible, take it all in rather than buzz around trying to see everything at once. Added at least 10 minutes to my bottom time and I'm an air hog, for sure. So it's not yoga, it's more like "Zen". Of course, being in shape has a lot to do with it but experience plays a big part, too. After nearly 8,000 dives, I'm glad that DM was able to pass his experience along to me. Try it.

Yes...there are many variables.It will be rough. But perhaps my interest in this will spark the interest in other divers to maybe perform a similar experiment? More people the better for longitudinal studies. But I thought this would be more of a cross-sequential research(multiple groups over time)assuming at least one other person became interested.

Yesterday on Amazon.com I saw a book of Yoga for Scuba Divers. If you are going to do the class this book may give you a peek and anything specific geared toward diving.

Thanks DiveMom

IMO, most consumption issues are caused by higher breathing rates due to stress (lack of experience, being unfamiliar or excitable about the dive), poor trim and buoyancy, and equipment choices (danglies and streamlining). Just your particular lung capacity and fitness level will affect your rate. Yoga will not help any of those, except maybe your ability to hold a good body position in the water.

That said, you may very well get results from doing yoga, but maybe not for the reasons you think. My wife is a yoga instructor, and I do yoga from a few times a week, to once every 2 weeks, and have been doing so for about 2 years. But here's the deal with yoga: there are various forms, some very energetic and more exercise oriented, and some more meditative and breath work oriented. Most classes fall in the middle. If you are already in reasonable shape, a more meditative class will help you more than a yoga exercise class.

In order to get into most yoga poses, you actually have to relax into them. This is counter intuitive to normal exercise, where you exhale on exertions and push yourself to perform a task, like weight lifting or push ups, etc. You also need to breath slowly and controlled. So what it should do for you is help you learn to be in control of your breathing. If you dive relaxed, you use less air.

If you also learn the mental aspects of yoga, where it really pays off is in higher stress situations. You can use your breathing to relax yourself. When I start to tense up about something, I simply take a deep breath, slowly exhale, and start solving the problem. That is the zen part of it that really is the biggest help.

I will also suggest taking classes or getting some kind of instruction rather than trying to do yoga by mimicking the pictures in a book. I have that book by the way and it does a good job describing how to do certain poses. BUT, you also need to know the proper way to get into and out of those poses, how long to hold them, when and how you should be breathing. Another set of eyes helping you along can make all the difference in the world.

BTW, my sac rate has not changed significantly (-5% to 8%) since I started yoga. However, I can track my consumption during specific times of my dives and find that I actually use less air when deep, or when doing tasks than I used to.

Even if it doesn't help your diving, I'll bet you will feel better for doing it, so there really is no down side to trying.

It is a place! Call it Zen or whatever! Yoga can't hurt! I am often in the Groove and that is when I have my best dives!

Merxlin brings up some good points concerning the type of yoga you will be doing and how much it may or may not help. My wife and i have enjoyed doing yoga from time to time and I think it could prove to be beneficial.

In the end, as stated above, less stress (MOSTLY) equals better air consumption IMHO. Less stress is achieved in a variety of ways and I believe all of the components to play almost an equal roll to keep the stress ball from rolling down the hill and starting an all out avalanche. All it takes for panic to start is one small issue or even just a concern in the back of your mind breaking free. Some of those components include being in shape, being familiar with your gear and the dive site, diving within your limits, being hydrated and rested, learning to chill out underwater (being in the zone so to speak), having gear that is properly serviced and appropriate to the environment, having a solid dive plan, continue education, practice slow and deliberate ascents/control...what else? I'm sure I forget some important things but you get the idea.

Coincidentally this is the same answer I would give (more or less) if someone asked me how to decrease their risk of DCS. Funny how that works.

there is a clear cut difference between people who are in good shape to those who arent. ive done yoga, different forms of strength and cardio training and i notice a severe difference in bottom time. my last dive i was with 3 buddies. we are all 20-21 and around the same height and weight. one major difference is im in better physical condition than the others. we logged 3 dives last weekend and each dive they were at 1000 psi or lower when i was just under 2000. not only that, i was much less tired after each dive than they were. we have another dive in a few weeks and i have been physical training one of them using kettlebells. im curious to see his results as well as yours. if yoga seriously improves bottom time sign me up