Doing yoga nidra before bed can improve both sleep, learning and memory. Even if you are a complete beginner.
Yoga Nidra is known as a quiet yoga practice that provides a good rest.
Yoga Nidra is also called yogic sleep, yoga sleep, and dream yoga. This is not about advanced positions, or holding yoga positions for a long time. It is most often performed lying on the back.
Deeper sleep
The researchers conducted the study on students in India. Participants performed yoga nidra for two weeks.
After the end of the period, the researchers found that more people got a deeper sleep and that everyone tested better on cognitive abilities.
It is known that yoga nidra should be able to improve both sleep and cognitive ability, but previous studies have been based on subjective data.
The new study used objective sleep studies in addition to cognitive tests. Measurements were taken before and after two weeks of yoga nidra practice. The practice lasted 20 minutes each time – with the help of an audio recording.
In this sleep study, the researchers measured brain activity to determine how long each stage of sleep lasted and how often each stage occurred.
Cheap and simple
After two weeks of yoga nidra, the researchers observed that the participants showed a significantly increased sleep efficiency. There were also several who experienced deep sleep.
On the cognitive tests, the participants answered faster (but not less accurately) after the period of yoga nidra.
The authors believe this study proves that yoga nidra is effective in improving both sleep quality and cognitive performance.
They also emphasize that yoga nidra is cheap and easily accessible, and it is an activity that many people can benefit from.
