An ancient exercise form has been scientifically proven to improve sleep quality, memory and cognition.
Using modern technology, researchers from the Armed Forces Medical College in India studied the effects of yoga nidra practice on a range of cognitive and sleep parameters, the results of which were published on December 13 in the scientific journal PLoS One.
Unlike more active forms of yoga, which focus on muscle control, breath and physical posture, yoga nidra involves entering a state of conscious relaxation—sometimes described as a state between waking and sleep—performed while lying still.
"Yoga nidra practice is a powerful technique if done effectively," lead study author Karuna Datta told Newsweek.
The practice has been previously associated with improved sleep and cognitive abilities, even when performed in the morning, but these reports have been based solely on objective measurements.
To test these effects objectively, Datta and colleagues enlisted 41 healthy volunteers who were new to yoga nidra practice and subjected them to a series of cognitive tests and sleep analyses. The volunteers then underwent two weeks of daily yoga nidra practice and sleep analyses.
"The study showed faster brain processing with accuracy and also improvement in night time sleep [after two weeks of practicing yoga nidra,]" Datta said. "Subjectively, there was an improvement seen in both the sleep duration and sleep quality. Objectively, after analysis of the night study, it was found that the yoga nidra practice after four weeks showed improvement in sleep efficiency.
"The wake duration during the intended sleep time was also reduced. An interesting finding was the improvement in the quality of deep sleep which was measured by the percentage of delta sleep."
Delta sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep, is the deepest level of sleep and is critical for restoration and bodily recovery.
"Delta wave in sleep helps in sleep quality so this may be the reason for subjectively reporting improvement in sleep by the participant," Datta said.
In terms of cognition, all participants showed improvements in reaction time while maintaining high accuracy after the two weeks.
"The specific tests which showed improvement in accuracy were related to higher brain function of abstraction, concept formation, learning and memory tasks, and further ERT (Emotion Recognition Task) analysis showed better recognition of anger and fear stimuli," Datta said.
"The study highlights the possible role of this practice in improving sleep and in promoting learning and memory amongst healthy participants. It might hold promise for patients with mild learning disability and mild cognition deterioration and possibly in its prevention, especially in the aging population. Planning large population-based studies of different cultures may also help assess its effects on insomnia globally."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
