Mindfulness Meditation Helps Sleep
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m-imagephotography/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — An estimated 50 percent of adults 55 years old and older report some form of problem sleeping.
Now, a new study released Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that “mindfulness meditation” can help, perhaps better than conventional approaches.
Researchers separated participants into two groups.
One group underwent sleep hygiene education, such as being in a dark, cool room with no technology, while the other group underwent mindfulness practice such as meditation.
Each group met weekly over six weeks, followed a curriculum on the respective topics, and had homework.
At the end of six weeks, people in the mindfulness group reported more improvement in their sleep than the sleep hygiene group, according to researchers.
The mindfulness group also reported more improvements in symptoms related to insomnia, depression, and fatigue than the sleep hygiene group.
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