Workouts come in all shapes and sizes, but if you’re looking for the best one to help you sleep better, it’s time to roll out your yoga mat. According to a meta-analysis of 30 different studies, regular, high-intensity yoga is more strongly linked to improved sleep than walking, resistance training, combination exercise, aerobic exercise, or traditional Chinese exercises like tai chi.
The studies included in the research from Harbin Sport University in China come from more than a dozen countries and involve more than 25-hundred participants of all ages with sleep issues. After running the numbers, researchers found that doing high-intensity yoga for less than half an hour twice a week is the best form of movement for poor sleep. Walking comes in second, followed by resistance exercise.
But why is yoga more beneficial for sleep than all the other types of exercise? The meta-analysis doesn’t have an exact reason, but there are several possibilities.
- Yoga not only raises the heart rate and pushes the muscles, it also regulates breathing. Research has found that breath control can activate the part of the nervous system that’s responsible for resting.
- Some studies also suggest yoga regulates brainwave activity patterns, which may promote deeper sleep.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all fix for sleep disturbances, as our bodies and brains are all different, sweating it out with yoga may just be the sleep remedy that works for you. There’s really no downside to trying, so maybe it’s time to dust off that yoga mat and start snoozing better.
Source: Science Alert