DOCTOR’S NOTE
A study of tai chi in older adults with insomnia has found that 12 weeks of training improves sleep.
Adults in their 60s and 70s, diagnosed with insomnia who took part in tai chi daily, woke up, on average, two fewer times during the night than those who didn’t adopt the practice.
Although the size of the improvement was small, it lasted for two years, the study by researchers at the University of Hong Kong found.
Sleep quality also improved in a group that enrolled in a programme of brisk walking and muscle strengthening exercises.
Originally developed as a martial art in 13th-century China, tai chi is now practised around the world.