NSDR and yoga nidra: deep rest without sleep

What it is

Yoga nidra is a guided practice, usually done lying on your back, that aims for a state between waking and sleeping: the body deeply at rest, the mind still aware. It was systematised by Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga in the 1960s and 1970s.

And NSDR? “Non-sleep deep rest” is a term coined by the neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman as an umbrella for practices that bring deep relaxation without sleep, yoga nidra among them. Researchers describe NSDR, like the programme iRest, as a secular adaptation of yoga nidra without its religious elements. No study has tested “NSDR” under that name; the research is on yoga nidra.

How a session goes

You lie down, close your eyes and follow a voice, usually a recording. A classic session moves through these stages:

1. Settle. Lie still and get comfortable.
2. Set an intention: a short, positive phrase you repeat silently, such as “I am calm”.
3. Move attention through the body, one part at a time in a set order. This is similar to a body scan.
4. Notice the breath without changing it.
5. Feel opposite sensations: heavy and light, warm and cold.
6. Picture images the guide describes.
7. Come back slowly before you open your eyes.

In the studies below, people used recordings of 11 or 30 minutes, usually daily.

What research shows

There is a lot of research, but most of it is weak:

• Stress, anxiety and low mood. A 2025 review of 73 studies with 5,201 people reported large benefits. However, only 30% of the studies were randomised trials, most of those had a high risk of bias, and the authors warn that the effects are likely inflated.
• The best trial so far. In a randomised trial with 426 people, an 11 or 30 minute online yoga nidra recording practised daily for two months improved well-being only very slightly compared with a waiting list. Compared with listening to music, the only difference was a very small effect on depression.
• Sleep. In a randomised trial with 41 people with chronic insomnia, sleep improved both with yoga nidra and with CBT for insomnia, the standard treatment. Reviews of sleep studies disagree: one found that most of 6 small trials reported better sleep, while another found that pooled results from randomised trials were not significant, with very low certainty.
• Dopamine. The often-quoted claim that yoga nidra boosts dopamine comes from a 2002 brain scan study of 8 experienced practitioners, all men. A marker in the brain changed by 7.9%, which the authors estimated as a 65% rise in dopamine release. It is an indirect estimate and has never been repeated.

So yoga nidra is a pleasant, gentle way to rest, and it may help a little with stress and sleep, but the big claims run well ahead of the evidence. For sleep problems, see breathing to fall asleep.

Is it safe?

For most people it is a calm experience. Researchers caution that poorly guided practice can be retraumatising for some people and recommend trained instructors, and trials rarely report side effects properly. As the NHS says of mindfulness in general, it is not right for everyone. If a session leaves you distressed, stop and talk to someone you trust or a professional.