SLEEP SOLUTION –
August 21, 2025 – Rolling out a yoga mat and flowing with your breath could be one of the best exercises for improving sleep in the long run. 30 randomized controlled trials have revealed that regular, high-intensity yoga is more strongly associated with improved sleep than walking, resistance training, combination exercise, or aerobic exercise. The trials included came from more than a dozen countries and involved over 2,500 participants with sleep disturbances across all age groups.
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.
