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Nidra Yoga Found to Aid Sleep and Cognition

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 14, 2023.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Dec. 14, 2023 -- Two weeks of 20-minute yoga nidra mindfulness training sessions might improve sleep, cognition, learning, and memory, even in novices, according to a study published online Dec. 13 in PLOS ONE.

Karuna Datta, Ph.D., from the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune, India, and colleagues examined the effect of yoga nidra practice on cognition and sleep. Analysis included 41 participants who kept a sleep diary.

The researchers found that yoga nidra practice improved reaction times for all cognition tasks. Compared to baseline, at follow-up, there were significant improvements seen in sleep efficiency (+3.62 percent), wake after sleep onset (−20 minutes), and delta during deep sleep (+4.19 μV2). Accuracy increased in visual object learning task, abstract matching, and fractal-2-back test, while emotion recognition task accuracy increased for happy, fear, and anger. Yoga nidra practice was associated with reduced emotion recognition task accuracy for neutral stimuli.

"This study opens up an opportunity for the use of an easy-to-do practice of yoga nidra for population health using standardized supervised model," the authors write. "An increased awareness of sleep problems and their management amongst primary health care physicians is vital. Yoga nidra practice using formulated guidelines might ensure wellbeing of the society as it emerges from the effects of pandemic."

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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Posted December 2023

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