Yoga is a multi component practice that is also known to be effective in reducing arousal and increasing relaxation, although it has not been well evaluated as a treatment for insomnia.
In this small preliminary study, a simple daily yoga treatment was evaluated in a chronic insomnia population consisting of sleep-onset insomnia and/or sleep-maintenance insomnia and primary or secondary insomnia.
Difficulty falling asleep is called sleep-onset insomnia and waking up in the middle of the night is called sleep-maintenance insomnia.
Primary insomnia is sleeplessness that cannot be attributed to an existing medial, psychiatric or environmental cause (such as drug abuse or medications). Secondary insomnia is when symptoms of insomnia arise from a primary medical illness, mental disorders or other sleep disorders.
Participants maintained sleep-wake diaries during a pretreatment 2-week baseline and a subsequent 8-week intervention, in which they practiced the treatment on their own following a single in-person training session with subsequent brief in-person and telephone follow-ups.
Sleep efficiency (SE), total sleep time (TST), total wake time (TWT), sleep onset latency (SOL), wake time after sleep onset (WASO), number of awakenings, and sleep quality measures were derived from sleep-wake diary entries and were averaged in 2-week intervals.
For 20 participants completing the protocol, statistically significant improvements were observed in SE, TST, TWT, SOL, and WASO at end-treatment as compared with pretreatment values.
References:
1. Khalsa SB. Treatment of chronic insomnia with yoga: a preliminary study with sleep-wake diaries. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2004 Dec;29(4):269-78. PMID: 15707256.
2. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
