Published: June 06, 2026, 00:04 UTC
Primary dysmenorrhea affects a large proportion of young women, causing recurring menstrual pain that often disrupts sleep, limits physical activity, and reduces quality of life. Pain relievers are the standard approach, but non-pharmacological options are increasingly of interest. A new randomized controlled trial from Turkey examined whether a 12-week yoga program could improve pain, sleep, and aerobic endurance in this population.
The study, published in Health Care for Women International, enrolled 36 women aged 18 to 25 with primary dysmenorrhea. Participants were randomly assigned to a yoga group (18 women) or a control group (18 women). The yoga group attended supervised sessions twice per week for 12 weeks, while the control group continued their usual routines.
Menstrual pain decreased significantly in both groups over the study period. In the yoga group, the reduction was highly significant (p < .001), while the control group also showed a smaller but still significant improvement (p = .041). However, the between-group difference did not reach statistical significance, meaning the yoga program did not outperform the control condition for pain relief alone.
The sleep findings were more specific. There were no significant differences between groups in sleep efficiency, sleep latency, or total sleep duration measured by actigraphy. But the yoga group showed a meaningful reduction in wake after sleep onset (p = .032), a measure of how much time is spent awake during the night after initially falling asleep. The control group showed no such improvement (p = .813). This suggests that yoga may help consolidate sleep, making nighttime rest more continuous and less fragmented, even if total sleep time does not change.
Cardiorespiratory endurance, assessed through incremental and endurance shuttle walk tests, showed no significant changes in either group.
The results indicate that yoga’s primary sleep benefit in this population is on sleep continuity rather than duration or efficiency. For young women whose menstrual pain fragments their sleep, a regular yoga practice may help reduce nighttime awakenings.
The study has limitations. It was small (36 participants), the follow-up was limited to 12 weeks, and the control group did not receive an active placebo intervention. The lack of blinding is a common challenge in exercise trials.
Source: Bicici Ulusahin S, Celik C, Abut CZ, et al. Effects of yoga on pain, sleep quality, and aerobic endurance in young women with primary dysmenorrhea: A randomized controlled trial. Health Care for Women International, 2026. DOI: 10.1080/07399332.2026.2682319