Sleep disorders are widespread and a public health concern. Common sleep disorders encountered in sleep clinics include sleep deprivation, insomnia, snoring and sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disturbances, restless legs syndrome, parasomnias, and rare disorders such as narcolepsy. In addition to modern medicine, other forms of clinically effective and patient acceptable holistic treatments are also on the rise.
Yoga is a widely accepted holistic therapy and proclaimed to have positive effect on sleep disorders, mental health, and an overall sense of well-being. This article attempts to summarize existing evidence of impact of yoga on sleep. Although close to 2720 articles were found on “yoga,” only a few of these have evaluated the effect of yoga on sleep. Existing scientific evidence suggests that yoga may be effective as a complementary therapy for improving sleep quality and for specific sleep disorders.
There is a paucity of studies evaluating effect of yoga on most of the common sleep disorders underscoring the need of further research in this field.
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