Yoga Nidra & NSDR

Yoga nidra is a guided relaxation practice done lying down, in which a narrator leads attention systematically through the body and breath for 10–40 minutes while the practitioner remains awake; the recent term “non-sleep deep rest” (NSDR) describes the same family of practices.

What published research reports

A study of a short 11-minute yoga nidra recording in a large diverse sample, published in Current Psychology (2020), reported reduced stress and improved sleep quality and well-being versus a waitlist control over several weeks of use. A narrative review in Sleep and Vigilance (2022) summarises the practice's origins and the published studies on sleep, anxiety and mood, describing the overall evidence as promising but based mostly on small trials that need replication. The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health includes guided relaxation practices among techniques with evidence for short-term stress reduction.

References

• Moszeik EN, von Oertzen T, Renner K-H. Effectiveness of a short Yoga Nidra meditation on stress, sleep, and well-being in a large and diverse sample. Curr Psychol. 2020. Springer
• Pandi-Perumal SR, et al. The Origin and Clinical Relevance of Yoga Nidra. Sleep Vigil. 2022;6:61–84. PubMed Central
• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know. nccih.nih.gov