Exercise and Sleep: Ten Minutes of Gentle, Morning Exercise Better Than 90 Minutes of Vigorous Evening Exercise

Anyone who suffers from sleep disorders has heard, multiple times, "Exercise." While exercise does help people who already sleep well do even better, it may make insomnia worse for insomniacs, at least initially. In addition, a recent study found that the effectiveness of exercise as a treatment for insomnia varies with sex and age. While exercise improves sleep in children and older adults, it does little to help adolescents and young adults. 

However, unlike healthy people, exercising six or more times a week could lead to poor sleep quality among insomnia patients. Three months or less of physical exercise was more effective in improving sleep quality than more than three months of physical exercise. This indicates that using physical activities in managing patients with insomnia should be tailored to the particularities of these patients.

The same article reports that exercises like yoga, tai chi, and qiqong improved sleep more than other types of exercise. These authors found that ten minutes of gentle exercises in the morning improved sleep while ninety minutes of vigorous exercise in the evening worsened sleep. 

This recommendation seems tailored for CFS sufferers, for whom vigorous exercise can cause setbacks. 

I recommend Do-In (Doe-een) exercises, particularly the meridian stretches done early in the morning. I have found that when I have the self-discipline to do them, I have more energy during the day and sleep better at night. 

I have included instructions and videos for the meridian exercises but I recommend the entire book.  And, no, I am not getting any money from this endorsement.

https://www.amazon.com/Do-Way-Gentle-Exercises-Liberate/dp/0757002684

1. Meridian Stretch # 1 for Lungs and Large Intestines

From Michio Kushi's Book of Do-In

 Stand with your feet a little more than shoulder-width apart with your hands behind your back. Hook your thumbs together so that one thumb is on top of the other with the palms turned outward. Raise the arms and simultaneously raise the head, looking up toward the ceiling  Then, we bend forward as far as possible, keeping the thumbs hooked together. Now, the Lung and Large Intestine Meridians running on the arms and hands are well extended, and the muscles covering the lungs and connected with the large intestine are also pulled. Hold the posture for a while, breathing slowly two 

Repeat. 

2. Spleen/Pancreas-Stomach

Warning: Start this exercise slowly. Use your arms to lower your back onto the mat. If the muscles in your upper thighs start to hurt, don't go all the way back. Wait, stretching a little bit at a time, perhaps a little more each day.

Sit with your legs tucked under your buttocks. You should be sitting on your calves. If you are new to this exercise, use your hands to lower yourself back onto the floor with your legs still under your buttocks. If you feel tightness in the muscles on top of your thighs, don't lean back any farther. Instead, stretch a little more each day--or several days--until you can lie on the floor. Once you are lying on the floor, clasp your hands together and extend them behind you, over your head, and bring your hands as close to the floor as you can. Breathe deeply twice. Change the position of your hands so that the other thumb is now on top. Breathe twice, deeply. 

3. Exercise for Heart-Small Intestine Meridians

Sit with the legs open wde, the knees bent, the soles of the feet together. Grasp the toes of both feet with your hands and slowly bend forward as much as possible. Try to touch your forehead to your thumbs. Breathe slowly two times. 

4. Exercise for Kidney and Bladder Meridians: 

Sit on the floor with legs extended. The backs of the legs should touch the floor. The feet should point upwards toward the ceiling. Extend the arms and graps the toes with the finger. Slowly bend the upper body toward the front until the head touches the knees--you may have to work up to this position over days or weeks. While the head touches the knees, breathe in and out twice. Be sure to breathe slowly.  If you feel more tightness in one leg, thae kidney function on that side is more disordered. 

5. Exercises for the Heart Governor and Triple Heater Meridians

These meridians do not correspond to organs but, in Eastern medical thought, to energy pathways in the body.

We sit with our legs crossed as in the video.  (If the position in this video is too hard, you can always sit in the regular, cross-legged position.) We cross our arms and hold each knee with the opposite hand, pressing down on the knees.  Bend forward slowly as far as we can. Breathe slowly two times. Now,  change the arms so that the other arm is now on top. Bend forward again and breathe slowly two times. 

6. Liver-Gall Bladder Meridian Stretch

Exercise for the Liver and Gall Bladder Meridians We sit with both legs extended forward, opened as widely as we can. Do not raise the knees, but keep them against the floor (Step 1). With the fingers extending forward, reach both arms toward one foot, bending forward as far as possible (Step 2). We slowly breathe two times in this posture, during which we can feel that the liver and gall bladder regions are being stimulated. Then, we raise our body and bend again toward the other foot. When we alternate left and right, we notice that it is more difficult to reach the foot on one side. This means there are more disorders and stagnation in that side.