Relaxation or Regulation: The Acute Effect of Mind-Body Exercise on Heart Rate Variability and Subjective State in Experienced Qi Gong Practitioners

Table 3

Changes in subjective vitality and subjective state measures during rest and Qi Gong in the overall sample.

Overall sample (N = 39)	Rest 0 (t0-t1)	Qi Gong (t0–t3)	Qi Gong t1-t3	Rest 1 (t3-t4)	Overall F
Subjective vitality	O; 0.223	↗; <0.001	↗; <0.001	↘; 0.018	19.79; <0.001
Calmness	↗; 0.002	↗; 0.001	O; >0.99	O; >0.99	11.58; <0.001
Pleasant body sensation	O; 0.163	↗; 0.002	O; 0.052	O; >)0.99	11.66; <0.001
Focused attention	O; 0.864	↗; <0.001	↗; 0.004	O; >0.99	14.38; <0.001
Body awareness	O; >0.99	↗; <0.001	↗; <0.001	O; >0.99	12.66; <0.001
Perceived body activation	O; >0.99	↗; <0.001	↗; <0.001	O; 0.051	24.58; <0.001
Sensation of Qi	O; 0.118	↗; <0.001	↗; <0.001	↘; 0.003	36.4; <0.001

Results for post-hoc comparisons are reported for the change over the first resting period (Rest 0, t0-t1), the difference between initial baseline and following 2nd Qi Gong (Qi Gong, t0–t3), the difference after first rest and after 2nd Qi Gong (Qi Gong, t1–t3), and the difference before and after the 2nd resting period (Rest 1, t3-t4). ↗ significant increase, ↘ significant decrease at  = 0.05; O no significant change, -values of post-hoc test reported underneath.