What Happens When You Do Yoga Nidra Every Day?
There’s no doubt about it: we are living in stressful times. Between inflation, global conflicts, and political uncertainty – on top of our own daily pressures – there’s a lot to be anxious about. Feeling this way for an extended amount of time can impact our physical health and mental well-being, causing issues with our immune system, our ability to focus and make decisions, and disturbances in our sleep among other things. Fortunately, there are many ways to lessen the side effects of stress, and one of those ways is Yoga Nidra.
I first heard about Yoga Nidra from Andrew Huberman’s podcast, where he mentioned that he practiced it to counteract stress and enhance his mental clarity. As someone who has experienced quite a lot of stress recently, including the loss of my full-time job, a mold outbreak at home, and having to say goodbye to my beloved 19-year-old cat, Lucy, I was looking for some relief. So, I decided to start practicing Yoga Nidra every day to see if it could help me with the anxiety, grief, and insomnia I was experiencing. Read on to learn all about Yoga Nidra and its benefits, as well as what happens when you practice it consistently.
What is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation practice that uses both mindfulness and visualization to help you get into deep states of relaxation. It originates from ancient yogic traditions, and can be traced all the way back to the Vedic period in India, which occurred around 1500-500 BCE. The practice has evolved throughout the history of yoga into modern times, when scientific research has verified its effectiveness in improving mental and physical well-being. Anyone can easily do Yoga Nidra, no matter their age, body type, or physical abilities.
Yoga Nidra is usually practiced lying in savasana (a yogic resting position) on a yoga mat. You can choose to cover yourself with a blanket and/or place a yoga bolster under your knees for more support. You can also wear a sleep mask to block out any distracting light and help you focus on the meditation. The goal is to be as comfortable as possible so that you can easily get to and remain in a relaxed state. When I practice Yoga Nidra, I usually listen to a 15-to-30-minute YouTube video to guide me into this relaxed state. Here is one of my favorite videos from Ally Boothroyd:
If you’re looking for an ad-free, and/or screen-free experience, there are plenty of scripts out there that you can use on yourself or others. I personally like The Book of Yoga Nidra Meditation Scripts a lot, and have recorded a few of them in my own voice on my phone for easy access.
What happens to your brain in Yoga Nidra?
During a Yoga Nidra session, your brain transitions through several states of brainwave activity. When you are awake and active, your brain usually generates beta waves, which indicate alertness, attention, and active thinking. In the first stages of Yoga Nidra, your brain shifts from beta waves into alpha waves, which induce a relaxed yet aware state, kind of like daydreaming. As you get deeper into your practice, you move into theta waves, which are associated with deep relaxation, creativity, intuition, and emotional processing. Some people may even move to a delta wave state where they experience deep, restorative sleep. This type of rest is important for recovery and rejuvenation.
Yoga Nidra also helps to calm your sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight-or-fight response, and switches you into your parasympathetic nervous system, which fosters a rest-and-digest response. In addition, it allows for synchronization of the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere of your brain. This can lead to improved cognitive function, creativity, and emotional regulation. Overall, continued practice of Yoga Nidra paves the way for better resilience when encountering stressful situations, as well as neuroplasticity (how your brain forms new neural connections).
Is Yoga Nidra the same as NDSR?
Yoga Nidra is similar to Non-Directive Sleep Relaxation, or NDSR, but there are some significant differences between the two. The main difference lies in the “Non-Directive” part of NDSR. NDSR guides the listener to relaxation without telling them where or how to focus. This allows the listener’s thoughts to come and go throughout the NDSR session. In contrast, Yoga Nidra involves specific instructions that lead you through meditation via body scanning, visualizations, and breathwork. NDSR’s main goal is improving sleep, while Yoga Nidra focuses on a broader range of goals, including stress management, emotional healing, and pain reduction. And finally, NDSR incorporates music and nature sounds, while Yoga Nidra is usually voice only.
I specifically chose Yoga Nidra over NDSR because I had been experiencing some pretty bad insomnia and found it difficult to turn off my brain. The extreme stress I was feeling overrode any of the sleep hygiene measures I had in place, and I found my mind overrun with anxious thoughts and my body tense and restless. I didn’t want my thoughts to come and go freely like they do in NDSR, because they were keeping me from falling asleep. Yoga Nidra acted as a gentle guide for my brain, helping me to focus on the relaxation of my body instead of how the heck I was going to pay for my health insurance or who was going to win the presidential election.
What are the benefits of doing Yoga Nidra every day?
After 60 straight days of practicing Yoga Nidra, I noticed considerable, positive changes in a few areas of my life. Here are some of the benefits I experienced:
Improved Sleep Quality
My sleep quality has improved immensely after 2 months of Yoga Nidra. I started by practicing during the late afternoon, but as soon as I switched to practicing in bed before I went to sleep, I experienced a huge shift. I was able to fall and stay asleep more easily, and woke up feeling refreshed every morning. My sleep score also shot up to 85 that week, compared to the 77-80 scores of the previous weeks. Now, after 60 days, my insomnia is pretty much non-existent. I don’t toss and turn every night or spend hours being haunted by my thoughts. If you are having difficulty getting good quality sleep, I highly recommend trying out Yoga Nidra for yourself!
Enhanced Focus
When I’m stressed out, I have a hard time focusing on tasks. I often find myself going down a Reddit rabbit hole or stuck in a YouTube Shorts loop instead of accomplishing what I need to do. After practicing Yoga Nidra for a while, I discovered that it was much easier to sit down and focus on individual tasks. It was also easier to access a “flow” state, and I needed fewer breaks, even losing track of time while doing my work.
Better Emotional Balance
I found that consistently practicing Yoga Nidra helped me deal with crippling grief after the death of my cat, Lucy. She had been my companion for almost 18 years, and I was (and still am) having a hard time adjusting to life without her. Since starting my Yoga Nidra practice, I have been able to process my grief in a healthy way. This means allowing myself to feel my feelings, but not letting them derail the rest of my life. Not only did I also find that managing difficult emotions was easier, but I was also more aware of my emotional states.
Reduced Stress
For me, there are telltale physical signs that I’m under a lot of stress. I grind my teeth, bite the insides of my cheeks, pace back and forth, and binge on sugary foods. Yoga Nidra helped reduce the need to self-soothe in these ways. My jaw didn’t ache anymore, the insides of my cheeks healed up, and my sugar cravings lessened. When I was faced with a stressful situation, I didn’t feel as overwhelmed as I usually do, and was able to get through it more easily. I also noticed that my resting heart rate, which is an indication of cardio fitness, has dropped by 6 points since the day I started doing Yoga Nidra.
Other Potential Benefits
Although I didn’t necessarily experience these during my 60 days of Yoga Nidra, here are some other potential benefits that can occur when you have a dedicated practice:
Better body awareness
Pain reduction
Enhanced mood
Lower blood pressure
Strengthened immune system
Overall, I’d say my experiment with Yoga Nidra was successful. I was able to dial back my anxiety, work through some difficult emotions, and get better sleep at night. Based on this experience, I will definitely continue to practice Yoga Nidra every night. Whether you’re experiencing a high amount of stress in your life, or you’re just curious about the benefits, I encourage you to give Yoga Nidra a try for yourself.
