Health in Aged Care: Yoga Cuts Seniors Insomnia

A new Australian-Israeli collaborative study suggests that yoga may help senior people reduce insomnia. The participants in the study of 74 people between the ages of 60 and 87, did physical and meditative yoga as a daily home practice twice a week over 12 weeks.

Researchers found that regular yoga practice can not only help insomnia in older people, but also improves their mental and emotional health.

Medical practitioner and RMIT University Professor Marc Cohen, who supervised the research, said insomnia was one of the most frequent health complaints in the elderly.

“We wanted to explore this because insomnia impairs daily function, reduces quality of life and is a risk factor for other health issues for older people,” he said.

“Drugs used to help treat this condition are only recommended for short-term use and have limited effectiveness.”

The 12-week study formed the basis for PhD graduate Jonathan Halpern’s research at RMIT, in which he investigated whether yoga could improve sleep and the quality of life.

The clinical trial was supervised by Dr Clement Cahan, Director of the sleep laboratory at the medical centre and former president of the Israel Sleep Research Association.

The study was undertaken in collaboration with the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Israel and the Israel Yoga Teachers Association, with a grant from the Australia Israel Scientific Exchange Foundation.