Evidence library · Sleep

Does other exercise affect sleep in menopause? What 7 studies found

Studies of other exercise in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured sleep. 6 reported an improvement and 0 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A meta-analysis of 18 trials in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women found mind-body therapies such as yoga and qigong improved sleep quality, depression and anxiety compared with usual care.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,572 participants pooled · 2025Midlife womenCited 7 timesPubMed

  2. A systematic review of 18 trials found that yoga, tai chi, meditation and relaxation practices often improved overall menopausal symptoms, hot flushes, mood, sleep and musculoskeletal pain.

    Reported an improvementSystematic review · 882 participants pooled · 2010Midlife womenCited 58 timesPubMed

  3. A meta-analysis of 17 RCTs found non-pharmacological treatments including yoga improved sleep quality and insomnia severity scores in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women with chronic insomnia.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 2026Midlife womenCited 1 timesPubMed

  4. Late perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women did an 8-week mindfulness training program, and reported bother from hot flashes decreased more than with a wait-list control.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 110 women · 12 weeks · 2011Midlife womenCited 110 timesPubMed

  5. Perimenopausal women did an 8 week mindfulness program including meditation and yoga; participants reported fewer depressive symptoms, less anxiety and improved sleep compared to a waitlist group.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 95 women · 8 weeks · 2021PerimenopausalCited 31 timesPubMed

  6. Postmenopausal women with insomnia did 8 weeks of progressive relaxation exercises plus sleep hygiene training and reported significantly lower insomnia scores than those receiving routine care.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 161 women · 8 weeks · 2018PostmenopausalCited 23 timesPubMed

  7. Postmenopausal women did a 16 week outdoor exercise program combining cardio, strength, balance and flexibility; the exercise group reduced fat mass and visceral fat more than controls, but sleep duration and quality did not improve.

    Mixed resultsControlled trial · 75 women · 16 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and sleep