Purpose: There is a dearth of evidence for the relationship between yogic breathing and sleep quality. Even less is known about practice frequency and benefit. We investigated the association of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga frequency with sleep quality amongst adult practitioners.
Methods: In a cross-sectional investigation on adult practitioners of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga in Singapore, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality. Sleep quality was examined across three categories of practice frequency (monthly, weekly, daily). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine association.
Results: Of 385 adults (241 women), the mean age (SD) was 42.5 (9.9) years. In total, 32% of the sample (n = 124) was identified as having poor SQ. After adjusting for study covariates, independent analyses revealed an inverse association for higher frequency of practice and lower odds of poor SQ (OR = 0.52; 95% CI = 0.28-0.94). The p for trend was 0.03.
Conclusion: The practice of yogic breathing may benefit sleep quality. Further experimental investigations are warranted.
Keywords: Asia; Breathing exercises; Observational; Sleep quality; Sudarshan Kriya Yoga.
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