How Yoga can help you sleep better

I'm launching my Sleep Series on social media this month. Inspired by recent reviews that rank Yoga as the top exercise for helping with sleep, I'm dipping into a few of the whys and how and offering a few useful tips to hopefully help those who have difficulty with their sleep.

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The most common feedback I get from new class members, is how well they slept the night after their yoga class.

And recent research has some big claims: Yoga is likely to increase sleep time by 2 hours, improve sleep efficiency by nearly 15%, reduce time spent awake after falling asleep by nearly an hour and shorten the time it takes to fall asleep by around half an hour [Independent article: Taking that yoga class may help you sleep better, Monday 21st July 2025].

Pretty impressive facts if you suffer from poor sleep.

So why is Yoga good for sleep?

• The main components of yoga - mindful movement and deep conscious breathing - directly tap into the relaxation response of the body.

• It calms our nerves, reducing stress hormones like cortisol and increasing melatonin, the sleep hormone. It takes us from "fight-or-flight" to "rest and digest" - perfect for readying us for sleep.

• Along with this, Yoga aids the regulation of our body's natural sleep-wake cycle, which in turn helps us get better quality sleep night after night.

Increased mindfulness and a greater awareness of body and mind cultivated in yoga can help improve our mental health - transforming our attitudes to wellbeing, improving our mood and increasing our energy. And Yoga equips us with techniques to combat anxiety and stress which can inhibit sleep.

So, in a nutshell: moving our bodies makes us feel good; calming our nerves makes us feel relaxed; being aware of feeling relaxed and positive can lead us to better sleep. This is Yoga!

Of course, a one-off Yoga class won't fix a problem with sleep. But a consistent practice has been shown to improve sleep quality, reduce the time it takes to fall asleep and alleviate symptoms of insomnia. So committing to a long term practice will really reap these benefits to sleep.

Time to look up your local yoga class or try it out online...