Aims and Objectives: During recent years, lot of research work has been done to show the beneficial effects of yoga. Hence the, 1. Primary Objective - To study the effect of Nadi-shodhan pranayama (NP) & Suryanamaskar (SN) on Pulmonary Functions (PFs), 2. Secondary Objective - Comparison between the effects of two. Materials and Methods: Fifty young healthy students (male & female) aged between 18-24 yrs of Government Ayurveda Medical College, Mysore were trained daily for 3 months. Students were divided into 2 groups of 25 each: Group I: students practising NP, 20 cycles for 20min. Group II: students practising SN, 10 cycles for 20min.Recording of Pulmonary functions {Vital capacity (VC), Forced expiratory volume at the end of first second (FEV1), Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) & Maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV)} were carried on computerized spirometer \\\\\\\'MEDSPIROR\\\\\\\'& Respiratory rate was measured clinically, at the end of each month and after three months of training. Results: Findings showed improvement in all Pulmonary Functions & a significant decrease in Respiratory rate in both the groups, but a statistical significant improvement was observed in VC, FEV1& PEFR in Group-I compared to Group II. Conclusion: Present study suggests, practising of both NP & SN for a short period can produce significant improvement in all PFs by increasing respiratory muscle strength & endurance.  

Key words: Endurance; Nadi-shodhan pranayama; Suryanamaskar.