Yoga Nidra Research
What does current research suggest about Yoga Nidra?
This resource was created to accompany my Yoga Nidra workshops and offer a closer look at the research discussed during our time together. Yoga Nidra has been practiced within the yoga tradition for much longer than it has been studied scientifically. Modern research into the practice is still developing, but current findings offer promising insight into its possible relationship with relaxation, stress, sleep, cognition, and restful awareness. Many existing studies are small and use different practice lengths, methods, and participant groups. The research does not tell us that everyone will have the same experience or receive the same benefits. Instead, it offers an emerging scientific perspective on a practice that is also rooted in tradition and personal experience.
During a single practice
Small studies suggest that one Yoga Nidra practice may create measurable changes associated with relaxation. Researchers have observed:
A slower respiratory rate during and after the practice
Changes in heart-rate variability associated with increased parasympathetic activity
Reduced negative affect, or a decrease in unpleasant emotional activation
Participants reporting physical, mental, and emotional relaxation
These findings support what many practitioners experience: even one Yoga Nidra may help the mind and body shift away from ordinary activity and toward a more restful state.
With regular practice
Research into repeated Yoga Nidra practice has reported possible improvements in:
Stress, rumination, and mood
Awareness and overall well-being
Subjective and objectively measured sleep
Sleep efficiency and the amount of time spent awake during the night
Some measures of attention, memory, and cognitive processing
These findings suggest that regularly returning to the practice may be more meaningful than relying on one isolated experience.
Deeply restful, yet still aware
Early brain research offers a possible explanation for why Yoga Nidra can feel different from both ordinary waking and sleep.
An EEG study observed sleep-like slow-wave activity in certain areas of the brain while participants remained awake and responsive. An fMRI study also found distinct changes in brain connectivity during Yoga Nidra, particularly among experienced meditation and yoga practitioners.
These studies are preliminary, but they support the possibility that Yoga Nidra can involve an unusual combination of deep rest and continued awareness.
Explore the Research
1. Stress, well-being, and cortisol
Moszeik, E. N., Rohleder, N., & Renner, K. H. (2025)
Stress and Health, 41(3), e70049This randomized controlled trial studied 382 adults using either an 11-minute or 30-minute recorded Yoga Nidra over two months. Researchers found small improvements in areas including stress, rumination, mood, sleep, awareness, and overall well-being. More consistent practice was also associated with changes in daily cortisol patterns.
2. Yoga Nidra and chronic insomnia
Datta, K., Tripathi, M., Verma, M., Masiwal, D., & Mallick, H. N. (2021)
National Medical Journal of India, 34(3), 143–150This small randomized study compared Yoga Nidra with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Both groups reported improvements in areas including sleep quality, sleep efficiency, total sleep time, and time spent awake during the night. Some participants also completed follow-up sleep-laboratory measurements.
3. EEG evidence of restful awareness
Electrophysiological Evidence of Local Sleep During Yoga Nidra Practice
Datta, K., Mallick, H. N., Tripathi, M., Ahuja, N., & Deepak, K. K. (2022)
Frontiers in Neurology, 13, 910794Researchers observed increased slow-wave activity in certain brain regions while participants remained electrophysiologically awake. The authors described this as evidence of “local sleep,” offering a possible explanation for the experience of feeling deeply rested while still aware of the guidance.
4. Sleep and cognitive processing in beginners
Datta, K., et al. (2023)
PLOS ONE, 18(12), e0294678This study followed 41 Yoga Nidra beginners and reported improvements in some sleep, attention, learning, memory, and reaction-time measurements. Because it primarily compared participants with themselves before and after practicing, rather than using a separate control group, its findings should be considered preliminary.
5. fMRI and brain connectivity
Functional Connectivity Changes in Meditators and Novices During Yoga Nidra Practice
Fialoke, S., et al. (2024)
Scientific Reports, 14, 12957This fMRI study compared 30 experienced meditation and yoga practitioners with 31 novices. Experienced practitioners showed distinct changes in connectivity within the brain’s default mode network during Yoga Nidra. These differences were associated with accumulated meditation and yoga experience.
6. Heart-rate variability
Markil, N., Whitehurst, M., Jacobs, P. L., & Zoeller, R. F. (2012)
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 18(10), 953–958This small study examined acute changes in heart-rate variability during Yoga Nidra, both with and without a preceding Hatha yoga practice. Researchers observed changes associated with greater parasympathetic influence—the side of autonomic activity connected with rest and recovery.
7. Respiratory rate during and after Yoga Nidra
A Closer Look at Yoga Nidra: Early Randomized Sleep Lab Investigations
Sharpe, E., et al. (2023)
Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 166, 111169This small randomized sleep-laboratory study compared Yoga Nidra with quiet rest in adults reporting insomnia. Participants practicing Yoga Nidra experienced a greater reduction in respiratory rate during and after the practice. The researchers described the intervention as well tolerated and feasible while emphasizing the need for larger studies.
8. Relaxation and negative affect
Qualitative Impressions of a Yoga Nidra Practice for Insomnia: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Design
Sharpe, E., Tibbitts, D., Wolfe, B., Senders, A., & Bradley, R. (2021)
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 27(10), 884–892In this exploratory study, 33 participants completed a 30-minute Yoga Nidra. Negative affect decreased after the practice, and participants commonly described relaxation, perceived sleep, and a withdrawal of attention from outside stimulation. The study did not include a control group, so its findings cannot establish that Yoga Nidra alone caused these changes.
Experience Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra is a fully guided practice, so no meditation experience or physical flexibility is needed. You are invited to become comfortable, listen to the guidance, and allow the practice to unfold in its own way. I offer Yoga Nidra through private sessions, public classes, workshops, and group events in Palm Beach County.
