Yoga in the emergency room: termination of SVT with the Child's pose

Mohamed Zuhair; Samuel Seitler; Nandita Kaza; Phang Boon Lim; Daniel Keene; Raj Khiani

doi:10.1093/omcr/omaf049

Yoga in the emergency room: termination of SVT with the Child's pose

Oxf Med Case Reports. 2025 May 28;2025(5):omaf049. doi: 10.1093/omcr/omaf049. eCollection 2025 May.

Authors

Mohamed Zuhair^{1

2}, Samuel Seitler², Nandita Kaza¹, Phang Boon Lim¹, Daniel Keene^{1

2}, Raj Khiani²

Affiliations

¹ Imperial College London, National Heart and Lung Institute, Hammersmith Hospital, DuCane Road, London, United Kingdom.
² Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Pond Street, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

We present the case of a 27-year-old woman who has successfully self-managed her supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) episodes since her teenage years using the Child's Pose, a technique adapted from yoga. This non-pharmacological approach enabled her to independently terminate SVT episodes, a capability confirmed in a controlled clinical setting where the patient's return to sinus rhythm was immediately achieved upon assuming the pose. The Child's Pose represents a solitary and patient-empowering intervention, contrasting with the assistance-dependent modified Valsalva manoeuvre. This case demonstrates the potential for yoga-influenced practices in the personalized management of cardiac arrhythmias.

Keywords: Valsalva; atrioventricular nodal Re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT); autonomic nervous system modulation; non-invasive cardiac management; supraventricular tachycardia (SVT); vagal manoeuvres; yoga therapy.

Publication types

Case Reports