Is Yoga A Miracle Treatment For Insomnia?

Probably not.

Pictured: Not really helping with the insomnia. Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

As alternative therapies go, yoga is one of my favourites. Not doing yoga — I like my exercise with more brisk movements — but it’s a great way to move your body if you like that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, humanity is never happy to let things stay boring and simple. Blueberries have to be a superfood, supplements have to be a silver bullet for all disease, and yoga is, according to many, not just a decent way to stretch and raise your heart rate — it’s more medicinal than most drugs.

According to recent headlines, this isn’t just too good to be true thinking. Media everywhere is reporting that yoga is a top exercise to improve sleep, and may be more effective than psychological therapies or other methods of exercising. If you have insomnia, the data seems to show that yoga is the treatment for you.

Except the evidence really isn’t very strong. While yoga may be helpful to relieve some of the symptoms of insomnia, there’s no good reason to believe that it is any better than any other form of mild/moderate exercise.

Let’s look at the science.

Exercises For Sleep

The science here is quite a complex explanation, so bear with me.