Yoga nidra is a guided practice done lying down. A voice takes you through a fixed sequence, usually a short personal intention, a quick journey through the body, the breath, opposite sensations and a few images, toward deep rest while you stay just awake. NSDR, short for "non-sleep deep rest," is a newer, secular name for the same kind of practice. At night, you can use yoga nidra to drift off by leaving out the ending.
This page explains the stages, how yoga nidra and NSDR relate, a 12 to 15 minute script for sleep that we wrote, what the research does and doesn't show, and whether it's safe. If you want a side-by-side comparison with seated meditation, see yoga nidra vs meditation.
What is yoga nidra?
"Yoga nidra" is often translated as "yogic sleep." The authors of a 2025 German trial describe it as "a structured meditation practice performed in a lying position" that "guides practitioners through progressive relaxation and awareness stages, facilitating deep rest." The term can refer both to the method and to the state it aims for. The versions they tested were based on Satyananda Yoga Nidra and the Bihar School of Yoga.
What makes it different from simply lying down to rest: you're given something to do with your attention at every moment, but it's so light that the body can let go. And unlike most seated meditation, you don't hold one anchor. The voice keeps moving you along.
The stages of a yoga nidra practice
Versions differ, but most follow a sequence like this one:
| Stage | What you do | Why it's there |
|---|---|---|
| Settling | Lie still, feel the contact with the ground, tell yourself you'll stay aware | Gives the body permission to stop moving |
| Intention (sankalpa) | Choose one short, positive sentence, say it silently three times | A fixed point you return to at the end |
| Body rotation | Attention jumps quickly from one named body part to the next | Keeps the mind busy without effort |
| Breath | Notice the breath or count breaths backward | Slows you down further |
| Opposites | Feel heavy, then light; warm, then cool | Loosens the grip of any single feeling |
| Images | A series of quick pictures, then one calm scene | Rest for the mind at the edge of sleep |
| Return | Repeat the intention, then come back slowly | Skipped when you use it to fall asleep |
Their 11-minute version kept only a short body scan, about 20 seconds of breath observation, the intention at the beginning and end, and observing thoughts and feelings. Their 30-minute version extended the body scan and the breath part and added awareness of energy centers along the spine (chakras) and exercises with opposite sensations.
Yoga nidra and NSDR: the same thing?
Largely, yes. According to the same researchers, NSDR is a term coined by Andrew Huberman, and yoga nidra has gained recognition under that name in the business world. The core is the same: deep rest while staying awake, usually lying down and guided. NSDR simply leaves out the yogic vocabulary.
We found no single official NSDR protocol with a primary source behind it. Recordings sold under that name differ in length and content, so if a practice is called NSDR, check what it actually contains.
A yoga nidra script for sleep (12 to 15 minutes)
We wrote this version for bedtime or for waking up in the night. Lie on your back if that's comfortable, or in the position you sleep in. Read it once in the daytime so you know the flow, then record it slowly or go through it in your mind. Each (pause) is about three calm breaths.
Settle
Let your body find its position, and then let it be still. You don't need to move again. (pause) Feel the back of your head on the pillow, your shoulders, your back, your heels. Let the bed take all the weight. (pause) Say to yourself: "I'm going to rest. Whatever happens is fine, even sleep." (pause)
Intention
Choose a short sentence for tonight, in the present tense. For example: "I can let go." Or: "My body knows how to rest." Say it silently three times, slowly. Then let it go. (pause)
Body rotation
Now your attention moves from one place to the next. Don't move, just touch each place with your attention when you hear it, and go on. Right foot. Right toes. Sole of the right foot. Right heel. Right ankle. Right calf. Right knee. Right thigh. Right hip. (pause) Left foot. Left toes. Sole of the left foot. Left heel. Left ankle. Left calf. Left knee. Left thigh. Left hip. (pause) Right hand. Right thumb. Right fingers. Right palm. Right wrist. Right forearm. Right elbow. Right upper arm. Right shoulder. (pause) Left hand. Left thumb. Left fingers. Left palm. Left wrist. Left forearm. Left elbow. Left upper arm. Left shoulder. (pause) Belly. Chest. Lower back. Upper back. Back of the neck. Throat. Jaw. Lips. Cheeks. Eyes. Forehead. The top of the head. (pause) The whole right side of the body. The whole left side. The whole body together, lying here. (pause)
Breath
Now notice the breath at the belly. Let it rise and fall without help. (pause) Count your breaths backward from twenty-seven. Breathing in, twenty-seven. Breathing out, twenty-seven. Breathing in, twenty-six. Breathing out, twenty-six. Keep counting at your own pace. If you lose the count, it doesn't matter. Start again at twenty-seven, or let the counting go. (pause)
Opposites
Feel your body as heavy. So heavy that it sinks into the mattress, heavier with every breath out. (pause) Now feel your body as light. So light that it hardly touches the bed. (pause) Now feel warmth, like lying in the sun. (pause) Now feel coolness, like the air of an open window at night. (pause) Now let go of all of them. (pause)
Images
Pictures will come now, one after another. Let each one appear briefly, and let it go. A candle flame, very still. A slow river under a bridge. Snow falling on a field at night. A lit window in a dark house. A path through tall grass. The moon behind thin clouds. A small boat tied up at a dock. A cat asleep on a warm windowsill. (pause) Now stay with one calm place of your own. It can be one of these, or somewhere you know. Don't build it, just rest there. (pause)
Drift
Bring back your sentence from the beginning, once, softly. (pause) Now there's nothing left to follow. If you're still awake, rest in the stillness of the body. If sleep comes, let it come.
If you use it in the daytime, add a return: repeat the intention three times, notice the room, move your fingers and toes, turn to one side and sit up slowly. For a shorter daytime version, try the 6-minute script in yoga nidra vs meditation.
How long it takes depends on your pace. The script has about 470 words and 20 pauses; at about 100 words a minute and about 5 seconds per breath (our assumptions), that's about 10 minutes, plus 2 to 4 minutes for counting 27 breaths, so roughly 12 to 15 minutes. To make it about 10, leave out the images. For 20 to 30, go through the body rotation twice, the second time more slowly.
Yoga nidra for sleep: what helps
- At bedtime, use it lying in bed. Leave out the return and let the last part fade into sleep.
- When you wake in the night, start directly with the body rotation. The intention can be as simple as "I can rest now."
- Don't try to fall asleep. Paradoxically, the practice works best when sleep is allowed, not demanded. "Resting awake is fine" is part of the instruction.
- If you're still awake after a long time, the NHS suggests getting up if you're still awake after around 20 minutes, sitting somewhere comfortable and doing something relaxing until you feel sleepy.
For more on the night, see our sleep meditation guide and racing thoughts at night.
Yoga nidra benefits: what the research shows
The research on yoga nidra is young, and most studies are small. Here's what we found, with the sizes:
- The largest trial we found: a 2025 randomized trial in Germany with 362 participants compared an 11-minute and a 30-minute yoga nidra (ideally daily for two months, from audio files) with 10 minutes of music and a waitlist. The 11-minute version brought significant but very small improvements compared with the waitlist (effect sizes d = 0.08 to 0.16). For sleep quality, the confidence interval included zero, so the study doesn't show a clear sleep effect.
- How much evidence there is: the same paper cites a literature review of 45 yoga nidra studies in which only 13 used a randomized group comparison, and only 5 of those had an active control group.
- Sleep in people with insomnia: a 2021 trial randomized 41 patients with chronic insomnia to yoga nidra (21) or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (20). Both groups improved on several sleep measures. With 41 people, that can't show that yoga nidra works as well as CBT-I, which the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) names as the recommended first treatment for chronic insomnia, citing American College of Physicians guidelines.
- What happens in the brain: a 2022 study recorded the EEG of novices after two weeks of practice. During yoga nidra, they were scored as awake throughout (26 people), with local slow-wave activity the authors describe as "local sleep." The abstract describes a single group of 30 people without a comparison group.
About the app session. Our session Back to Sleep with the Yoga Nidra Method lists two references: a 2017 case report on two patients with chronic insomnia and the 2022 EEG study above. That's a thin base for claims about sleep, so we don't make any. The session is a relaxation practice modeled on yoga nidra, and that's how we describe it here.
Is yoga nidra dangerous?
For most people, no. NCCIH says relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people, and in most studies no negative side effects were reported. It also notes:
- occasionally people report negative experiences such as increased anxiety, intrusive thoughts or fear of losing control;
- there have been rare reports that certain relaxation techniques might cause or worsen symptoms in people with epilepsy or certain psychiatric conditions, or with a history of abuse or trauma.
For meditation in general, NCCIH cites a 2020 review of 83 studies in which about 8 percent of participants had a negative effect, most often anxiety and depression, a rate similar to that reported for psychological therapies.
Practical rules: never listen while driving or doing anything that needs your attention, open your eyes and stop whenever an image or feeling becomes unpleasant, and if you live with one of the conditions above, talk to your doctor or therapist before you start.
Yoga nidra in the app
AI Meditation: Sleep & Calm has Back to Sleep with the Yoga Nidra Method for waking up in the night. It moves through the body part by part, repeats a quicker rotation from hands to face, adds a calm breathing pattern (in through the nose for four seconds, out through the mouth for six), and offers images such as a warm light spreading from the chest, a quiet night sky and a soft cloud. Instead of a formal sankalpa it offers a quiet phrase: "I find my way calmly back into relaxation." It lists the two references named above.
For the time before sleep, Falling Asleep Gently: Settling In, Letting Go is a simpler option, and Body Scan for Deep Relaxation is a slower body scan without the fixed sequence. You can set how long a session lasts within its range, and the voices are AI voices. See how the app works, try it for free, no account needed.
For more techniques, see our overview of relaxation techniques and our body scan meditation.
Your health
This app is a wellness app and does not replace medical advice. If sleep problems last for weeks or affect your day, talk to a doctor; cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is the recommended first treatment for chronic insomnia. NCCIH's page on relaxation techniques covers the research and safety.
Sources
All pages accessed on September 25, 2026.
- Moszeik EN, Rohleder N, Renner KH, et al. The Effects of an Online Yoga Nidra Meditation on Subjective Well-Being and Diurnal Salivary Cortisol: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Stress and Health, 2025. Definition, NSDR, contents of the 11- and 30-minute versions, results, the 45-study review.
- Datta K, Tripathi M, Verma M, Masiwal D, Mallick HN. Yoga nidra practice shows improvement in sleep in patients with chronic insomnia: A randomized controlled trial. National Medical Journal of India, 2021.
- Datta K, Mallick HN, Tripathi M, Ahuja N, Deepak KK. Electrophysiological Evidence of Local Sleep During Yoga Nidra Practice. Frontiers in Neurology, 2022.
- Datta K, Tripathi M, Mallick HN. Yoga Nidra: An innovative approach for management of chronic insomnia. A case report. Sleep Science and Practice, 2017.
- NCCIH: Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know. Safety, CBT-I as first treatment.
- NCCIH: Meditation and Mindfulness: Effectiveness and Safety. Negative experiences with meditation.
- NHS Every Mind Matters: How to fall asleep faster and sleep better. The 20-minute rule.
- AI Meditation: Sleep & Calm, app version 2026.6.1. Session contents and references.
