A recent study published by JAMA Network Open found that daily Tai Chi and exercise helped older adults with insomnia sleep better.

“We found that both tai chi and conventional exercise led to improvements in … sleep efficiency, wake time after sleep onset and number of awakenings” during the night, the researchers wrote.

The study compared improvements in sleep quality among 320 adults aged 60 and older who had been diagnosed with insomnia. The results showed that the group of adults in their 60s and 70s who did daily Tai Chi exercises woke up 3 fewer times per night on average than those who did not exercise.

Participants in the exercise group had an average of 17 fewer minutes of “wake time” following sleep onset per night compared to the control group.

“The beneficial effects on sleep from both intervention groups remained evident 24 months after experimental intervention.” Tai Chi mixes physical exercise with meditation and breathing techniques. Joe Brady who is a member of the OxiMedical Clinical/Patient Education Staff and an internationally recognized expert on healthy aging adds, “You can improve your health, balance, and have more energy with Tai Chi. Tai Chi can also help alleviate chronic stress and everyday aches and pains. The flowing meditative exercise of Tai Chi can be a powerful complement to medical intervention and in many instances, may allow a physician to significantly reduce a patient’s drug dosage or eliminate the need for medication altogether. You get the benefits of exercise you need without the wear and tear of other forms of exercise.”