Yoga Nidra: How It Improved My Sleep

The term yoga nidra literally translates to “yogic sleep.” After I first learned this, my immediate thoughts were, “How on earth do you do yoga when you’re sleeping?” and likewise, “A workout while I’m sleeping? Sign me up!”

Because it seems, that’s not quite what it’s. Yoga nidra is “a yoga session that’s posture-free and assists you with slowing down and releasing stress-related feelings you might have experienced throughout the day,” says yoga instructor Keriki Purkiss. Really, it’s yoga that helps you chill out by listening to guided imagery and specializing in your breath when you’re in savasana, or “corpse pose”—the lying-down position typically done at the top of a standard yoga class.

“Yoga nidra is the practice of conscious sleep,” yoga nidra instructor Jana Roemer once told Well+Good. “Essentially, we’re determining the best way to allow the body to go to sleep while keeping the mind awake.”

The advantages of yoga nidra

Even though it won’t appear like much, this practice has tons of science-backed perks. “Once we go into yoga nidra, we downshift into an alpha brain wave state. Here, [levels of cortisol are reduced] and we go right into a state of healing,” explains Roemer. This may occasionally be why research has shown that yoga nidra can result in reduced stress, enhanced cognitive processing, and even improved red blood cell counts and blood glucose levels.

“It has been formally recognized by the US Army as a complementary alternative therapy in treating PTSD and chronic pain,” yoga nidra and meditation guide Hilary Jackendoff once told Well+Good.

But probably the most well-known profit could also be improved sleep—in reality, studies have shown that yoga nidra may even be an efficient treatment for individuals with chronic insomnia.

“It allows the body and mind to chill out, reducing the production of stress hormones,” says Purkiss. “When stress levels decrease, it becomes easier to go to sleep and stay asleep. Regular practice of yoga nidra, especially before bedtime, establishes a calming pre-sleep routine. A consistent bedtime ritual signals the body that it’s time to wind down.”

How yoga nidra differs from meditation

Currently, I’ve personally been experiencing lots of stress, and it’s been manifesting as challenges in my sleep cycle, mostly when it comes to trouble getting deep sleep. I just had a birthday and higher sleep hygiene has been on my radar (to carry onto my youthful glow and energy).

So when an editor from Well+Good reached out asking if I desired to try yoga nidra for per week and see what happened, I used to be intrigued, if a bit of hesitant. The practice sounded lots like meditation to me, and I’ve struggled mightily with meditation up to now. I all the time find yourself more stressed than relaxed because I can’t get my mind to decelerate, which just leaves me frustrated—not precisely the intended effect.

But Purkiss explained to me that yoga nidra is definitely a bit different from meditation—mostly because, traditionally, you’re lying down during yoga nidra. “Although not an element of normal practice, some individuals are in such a peaceful state they typically go to sleep,” she says. “Yoga nidra is a type of guided meditation that has you in a relaxed state or a state of consciousness between being awake and asleep.”

What happened after I tried it for myself

Armed with this information, I used to be able to try it out. I might try a yoga nidra session every night for per week before I went to bed to see if it helped me clear my mind and get deeper sleep. To start out my journey, I went to YouTube and located there have been a ton of videos on there with various run times. I made a decision I might start with 10-minute sessions, and work my way as much as 30-minute sessions over the course of the week.

I’ve gotta inform you the reality: I used to be only ever in a position to fully get through 10-minute sessions, but it surely wasn’t for lack of trying. Two times I attempted a 30-minute video, but I could only make it a few third of the way in which through before I needed to stop. I just couldn’t lay still long enough. I began to experience what I can only equate to restless leg syndrome, but in my whole body. Firstly of the session, you’re instructed not to maneuver, and since I used to be trying so hard to not, that’s all I desired to do.

In the course of the practice you’re told to scan your body and chill out different body parts from head to toe. And after I say head to toe, I mean all the way down to each individual finger. This drove my mind wild! As I used to be laying there, actively occupied with relaxing the muscles without actually feeling them doing anything different, I just grew restless.

You’re instructed not to maneuver, and since I used to be trying so hard to not, that is all I desired to do.

Possibly the issue was that I used to be in bed under all of my sheets, feeling too restricted, I assumed. I began to practice under a lighter blanket. That did help, a bit of, but I still felt antsy by the top. The most effective part was all the time the guide telling me to begin wiggling my fingers and toes—each since it finally gave me permission to maneuver and was a signal that the darn thing was over.

I also found that it was difficult for me to focus. There is a component during most practices where you count down from 27 as you breathe deeply, but I lost count each time. My mind was actively occupied with relaxing each body part but in addition wondering if I used to be actually feeling myself chill out. Was anything happening, or was I just laying there? Then, if I did move even a bit of bit, I began to wonder if the yoga nidra would have the intended effect. This led me to attempt to focus much more on not moving, in turn making me much more restless. Within the session I used, the guide would say that for those who lost count to begin over from 27, which leads me to imagine it’s a typical occurrence, but it surely drove me nuts that not once was I in a position to get past 19 or so.

All that said, despite my struggle, I did actually see a change in my sleep. I tracked my sleep with my Apple watch, and saw that the time I spent in my REM, core, and deep sleep all increased from previous weeks. I also did not have as much time spent awake: After I’ve tracked my sleep before, I might average quarter-hour of time awake and 53 minutes of REM. Within the seven days of doing yoga nidra, my time awake averaged seven minutes, with 77 minutes of REM. A solid improvement. On a number of nights, I even slept through your entire night without having to stand up to go to the lavatory, which is large for me (though that might have been a hydration thing). I discovered these stats to be consistent even after I only got 4 or five hours of sleep. The sleep that I did get, even when it was minimal, was higher.

My takeaways concerning the practice

Should you’re someone who’s trying to recuperate sleep, and doesn’t get restless while meditating like I do, I’d suggest giving yoga nidra a shot. The advantages to your sleep quality are legit, and for those who’re in a position to stay still for longer than I can, they could even be more powerful.

Personally, although yoga nidra is a challenge, I plan to maintain trying to include it into my bedtime routine more often—and perhaps even work my way as much as more time. I do know me, and I won’t commit to each night. However the night after I ended doing it, I noticed a marked difference in the dearth of deep sleep I got. And as an evening owl with an early bird schedule, I want all the standard sleep I can get.