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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1782529
Review Article

Cyclic Meditation and Sleep Quality: A Review

Deenadayalan Boopalan 
1   Department of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
,
Venugopal Vijayakumar 
2   Department of Yoga, Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
,
Govindasamy Karuppasamy 
3   Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, College of Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu, India.
,
Kaur Dilpreet 
4   Department of Sports and Physical Education Suryadatta Group of Institutes, Pune, Maharasthra, India.
,
Poornima Ravi 
5   Department of Clinical Research, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
,
Yogalakshmi Ponnusamy 
6   Department of Computer Science, College of Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu, India.
,
Mahesh kannan Vanamoorthy 
7   Department of Acupuncture & Energy Medicine, Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
,
Maheshkumar Kuppusamy 
8   Department of Physiology, Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
› Author Affiliations Funding The authors declare that the current study was not financially supported by any institution or organization.
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Abstract

Objectives Insufficient sleep leads to several short- and long-term physical and mental consequences. Yoga is a popularly known complementary health approach that maintains physical and mental health through asanas, meditation, and breathing techniques. Cyclic meditation (CM), derived from one of the Upanishads, is practiced by combining physical postures (asanas) with relaxation techniques. Recent findings emphasize the significance of CM as a means to enhance sleep quality. The current review aims to find the effects of CM on sleep quality through the available scientific data.

Methods The current review includes research articles evaluating CM's effect on sleep quality from various databases such as PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and Google Scholar up to January 22, 2023. We conducted a literature search using keywords related to CM and sleep quality, and search results were restricted to studies published in the English language.

Results There were 5 articles with 277 participants meeting inclusion criteria, all conducted in India. Of those, 2 were randomized controlled trials and 3 were single-group or two-group pre-post and crossover studies. Participants ranged from healthy volunteers, type-2 diabetic patients, alcohol dependents, and caregivers for special needs children. Based on the available scientific evidence, CM has been found to be effective (d = 0.56–4.90) in enhancing the quality of sleep.

Conclusion The CM technique could be tentatively considered as a beneficial practice to improve sleep. However, further, adequately powered, and randomized controlled studies with various other parameters of sleep are required to strongly recommend CM as a stand-alone yogic intervention for sleep disturbance.

Keywords

cyclic meditation - mind-body practice - review - sleep quality - yoga

Informed Consent

Not applicable.




Publication History

Received: 10 May 2023

Accepted: 18 January 2024

Article published online:
13 May 2024

© 2024. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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