Rolling out a yoga mat and flowing with your breath could be one of the best exercises for improving sleep in the long run.
A meta-analysis of 30 randomized controlled trials has revealed that regular, high-intensity yoga is more strongly associated with improved sleep than walking, resistance training, combination exercise, aerobic exercise, or traditional Chinese exercises, like qi gong and tai chi.
The trials included in the analysis came from more than a dozen countries and involved over 2,500 participants with sleep disturbances across all age groups.
Related: These 4 Simple Exercises Could Help Break Your Insomnia
When researchers at the Harbin Sport University in China crunched the numbers, they found that high-intensity yoga for less than 30 minutes, twice a week, was the best exercise antidote for poor sleep.
Walking was the next best form of physical activity, followed by resistance exercise. Positive results were seen in as few as 8 to 10 weeks.
The findings are somewhat inconsistent with a 2023 meta-analysis, which found that aerobic exercise or mid-intensity exercise three times a week is the most effective way to improve sleep quality in individuals with sleep disturbances.
One of the studies included in that trial, however, did find that yoga had more significant effects on sleep outcomes than other exercise types.
What's more, yoga can be difficult to categorize as either aerobic or anaerobic, and its intensity can vary depending on the technique used. Perhaps these differences in practice can explain why the outcomes differ from trial to trial.
The most recent meta-analysis cannot explain why yoga may be particularly beneficial for sleep, but several possibilities exist.
Not only can yoga raise the heart rate and push the muscles, it can also regulate breathing. Research indicates that breath control can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is involved in 'rest and digestion'.
Some studies even suggest yoga regulates brainwave activity patterns, which could promote deeper sleep.
But while robust evidence suggests that exercise in general is beneficial for sleep, studies that compare specific exercises and their long-term effects are lacking.
"Caution should be exercised when interpreting findings from studies on sleep disturbances, given the limited number of studies included and the unique characteristics of the sleep disturbances population," warn researchers at Harbin Sport University.
Our bodies and brains are all different, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution to insomnia or other sleep disturbances. Sweating on a yoga mat is just one available option of many.
The study was published in Sleep and Biological Rhythms.