High-Intensity Yoga Emerges as Front-Runner for Better Sleep
A new analysis of 30 clinical trials suggests that high-intensity yoga may be the most effective exercise for improving sleep among people with disturbances, outperforming walking, resistance training, aerobic workouts and traditional Chinese practices such as tai chi and qi gong. Researchers from Harbin Sport University found that sessions lasting 30 minutes or less, twice a week for 8–10 weeks, delivered the strongest gains in sleep quality.
The findings, published in Sleep and Biological Rhythms in 2025, add to growing evidence that breath-focused movement can calm the parasympathetic nervous system and reshape brainwave activity linked to deeper rest. Walking and resistance training still showed benefits, but yoga led the pack, even as scientists caution more high-quality trials are needed.
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