Many of those who attend my morning yoga class in Bandra West report how after starting to attend class regularly, the quality of their sleep has improved. The positive impact of yoga on sleep is not just anecdotal, by the way. Several studies have demonstrated how to improve sleep with yoga. People with stress or sleep disturbances, and even those with insomnia have been seen to benefit.
How yoga improves sleep in older people
One study examined how yoga impacts the sleep quality of older people. It was found that when study participants practiced yoga, they were able to fall asleep faster and enjoyed longer duration of restful sleep. Not only was sleep less disturbed, this also led to better daytime function and better energy levels in the morning. The control group did not show these benefits.
The researchers said that the muscle stretching and physical activity involved in yoga resulted in a good amount of physical activity, which is why doing yoga helped people sleep better. Besides this, researchers also say that yoga improves flexibility and joint health, another way that regular yoga can contribute to sleep quality. Yogic breathing is also thought to have positive impacts because of the way it helps to strengthen respiratory muscles and improves oxygen saturation. Since low oxygen saturation is seen to be associated with sleep apnea, this is possibly another reason for the yoga group experiencing less sleep disturbance.
Positive impact of yoga on mental and physical health
Yoga and meditation are also seen to reduce stress, which helps in improving quality of sleep. This is a more important factor than just the duration of sleep. It is seen that sleeping for longer does not necessarily mean that one is sleeping better. It isn’t just the elderly that can benefit here. Even children can benefit; particularly kids with high stress such as those with autism.
A 2013 study examined the beneficial effects of yoga interventions in several trials. It was found that yoga, when used in conjunction with other modalities helps in pain management. This has the obvious impact of better mental health and sleep quality (which I will explore more fully in another post). Researchers also observed that yoga is an important supportive treatment because it can be done by anyone, anywhere, and is very cost effective.
How yoga improves sleep in females
We know that women often have more difficulty sleeping than men, for several reasons. It is a fact that women are more likely to suffer mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, so this is one reason. Secondly, the physical discomforts of menstruation and the symptoms of menopause are known to disrupt sleep in women. Then there is the fact that pregnancy and later caring for a new born also results in sleep disturbances. Even in perfectly normal pregnancies, women do experience lower back pain, shortness of breath, and problems sleeping.
At all these various stages of a woman’s life, yoga is seen to help. Yoga and other gentle exercise modalities such as tai chi are seen to reduce prenatal depression and sleep disturbances in pregnant women. It is also seen that prenatal yoga helps to significantly improve sleep quality among women in the third trimester of pregnancy.
In another study, they examined the impact of yoga on menopausal women. Women who did one hour of yoga three times a week reported significant improvement in sleep, and lower distress and anxiety.
Apart from the studies cited above, there are others that demonstrate ways yoga improves sleep. In fact, you can check out my short Instagram post to understand how yoga helps in pain relief and hence improves sleep. You can follow me on Instagram for more such yoga tips.