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The Full Story

Evidence Based  Studies

Extensive research has been done on the practices of
yoga, yoga nidra, breath practices and ancient relaxation models and techniques 
as potent aid for stress relief, to lessen anxiety, promote better health.

These authentic age-old practices promote more emotional balance, provide more ease, muscle and pain relief and enhance wellness.

Ancient yogic practices have been well documented to induce powerful rest, improve sleep 

and widely used for overall wellbeing & for holistic healing.

Our practices are based in solid science and evidenced based research:

Defining Yoga Nidra

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Article

Defining yoga-nidra: Traditional accounts, physiological research, and future directions

Article (PDF Available) in International journal of yoga therapy 23(23):11.6 
September 2013
 

Parker, Stephen
Bharati, Swami
Fernandez, Manuel

The term yoga-nidra has been used in many empirical studies to refer to relaxation and guided imagery. These techniques do not represent the intention or physiological correlates of yoganidra discussed in the traditional yoga literature. We propose an operational definition of yoga-nidra that is supported by several physiologically testable hypotheses regarding its outcomes and effects. Traditional descriptions of yoga-nidra and contemporary accounts of its practice are reviewed, and studies examining the physiological correlates of yoga-nidra are examined. Proposed hypotheses for future research using this operational definition are provided.

 

Meditation & Yoga Practices as Potential Adjunctive Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19

Daisies
Article

Meditation and Yoga Practices as Potential Adjunctive Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19: A Brief Overview of Key Subjects William Bushell, PhD,1,2 Ryan Castle, BS,2 Michelle A. Williams, ScD,3 Kimberly C. Brouwer, PhD,4 Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD,5 Deepak Chopra, MD,2,6 and Paul J. Mills, PhD7

Download PDF article

"...there is a body of literature relevant to the anti-stress and anti-inflammatory effects of certain seated meditation, yoga asanas, and pranayama practices. Such studies include demonstrating promising immune effects relevant to improving lung health and reducing viral susceptibility and improving acute respiratory infections. The potential benefits of these practices extend to broader neuroimmune systems, an advantage when dealing with a systemically dysregulating disease such as SARS-CoV-2.15 Such complementary practices have been found to act as a regulating influence on a number of key inflammatory functions that SARS-CoV-2 disrupts.The use of certain complementary practices as potentially effective adjunctive means of treating and/or preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection must be put to rigorous scientific investigation."

It had also been found that meditation, as well as yoga practices, is capable of significantly increasing vagal tone and therefore could not only be effective against psychologic stress-based issues, including trauma,35,36 but inflammatory based diseases as well.

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Clinical Yoga Programmes 
for Veterans

Pink Almond Tree Flowers _edited_edited.
Article

Avery TJ, Schulz-Heik RJ, Friedman M, Mahoney L, Ahmed N, Bayley PJ. Clinical yoga program utilization in a large health care system [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 5]. Psychol Serv. 2020;10.1037/ser0000420. doi:10.1037/ser0000420

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Methods: Veterans who attended a yoga class at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System were invited to complete an anonymous program evaluation survey.

Results: 64 Veterans completed the survey. Participants reported high satisfaction with the classes and the instructors. More than 80% of participants who endorsed a problem with pain, energy level, depression, or anxiety reported improvement in these symptoms. Those who participated via telehealth did not differ from those who participated in-person in any measure of satisfaction, overall improvement (p = .40), or improvement in any of 16 specific health problems.

Conclusions: Delivering yoga to a wide range of patients within a healthcare setting appears to be feasible and acceptable, both when delivered in-person and via telehealth. Patients in this clinical yoga program reported high levels of satisfaction and improvement in multiple problem areas. This preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of a clinical yoga program complements prior evidence for the efficacy of yoga and supports the use of yoga in healthcare settings.

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And this interesting thesis/study

 

https://www.academia.edu/21086939/Yoga_Therapy_and_the_Health_of_Refugees?auto=download&email_work_card=download-paper&fbclid=IwAR3var9fDitzcgGGOybtI47S7dZcg2GvQacHYi1duQY9SQl7j2opVjtDUwY

Impact of Yoga,
Meditation & Yoga Nidra
on Anxiety & Mood Disorders

Cluster of Green Leaves
Article

Int J Yoga. 2018 Sep-Dec; 11(3): 215–223.

doi: 10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_57_17

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The Impact of Yoga Nidra and Seated Meditation on the Mental Health of College Professors

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Camila Ferreira-Vorkapic,1,2,3 Claudio Joaquim Borba-Pinheiro,2,4 Murilo Marchioro,1 and Daniel Santana 5

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World statistics for the prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders shows that a great number of individuals will experience some type of anxiety or mood disorder at some point in their lifetime. Mind–body interventions such as Hatha Yoga and seated meditation have been used as a form of self-help therapy and it is especially useful for challenging occupations such as teachers and professors.

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Yoga Nidra has been found to reduce stress and anxiety levels of college students, and the authors state that it might also have positive results for other age groups and occupations, as in fact we have seen in this study. Previous studies have also shown that employing yoga techniques, such as Yoga Nidra, for other conditions (cancer survivors, self-reported emotional distress) result in beneficial effects for depression and mood, as well as anxiety and physical well-being. Other studies support our findings.

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Read full article here

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Yoga Nidra:
Transforming Trauma

Fern Leaves
Article

L. Stankovic (2011) Transforming Trauma: A Qualitative Feasibility Study of Integrative Restoration (iRest) Yoga Nidra on Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. International Journal of Yoga Therapy: 2011, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 23-37.

 

Download PDF here
 

This eight-week study examined the feasibility of offering weekly classes in Integrative Restoration (iRest), a form of mindfulness meditation, to military combat veterans at a community mental health agency in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants were 16 male combat veterans (15 Vietnam War and 1 Iraq War) of mixed ethnicity, aged 41 to 66 years, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The 11 participants who completed the study reported reduced rage, anxiety, and emotional reactivity, and increased feelings of relaxation, peace, self-awareness, and self-efficacy, despite challenges with mental focus, intrusive memories, and other concerns. All participants reported they would have attended ongoing iRest classes at the agency approximately once per week.

To study the effect
of Yoga Nidra on Anxiety

Morning Flower
Article

Anuja,. (2011). Quest-The Journal of UGC-ASC Nainital. 5. 288. 10.5958/j.0974-5041.5.2.031. 

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Download the full paper here:

Researchgate

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282247682_A_study_on_the_impact_on_stress_and_anxiety_through_Yoga_nidra

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The findings presented in this paper show the effect of Yoga Nidra on anxiety. Thirty female students belonging to the age group of 20–25 years were selected by accidental sampling from Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar. The daily practice time of Yoga Nidra was thirty minutes and the duration was one month. One group pre test- post test design was used for the research and t-test was applied for statistical analysis. The result shows significant changes occur in anxiety levels of individual subjects and also practicing Yoga Nidra decreases the level of anxiety.

Yoga Nidra:
for women's health

Colorful Flowers
Article

Emotional insecurity, stress, depressive or/and anxiety symptoms are common with variable severity among patients with menstrual disorder. Yogic relaxation therapy (Yoga Nidra) leads to conscious and subconscious recognition of these underlying psychological factors and helps releasing of suppressed conflicts.

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These articles provide interesting insight into how nidra can support women's health:

 

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Yoga nidra on a college campus: To Changes in Stress, Depression, Worry, and Mindfulness

White Flowers
Article

Int J Yoga Therap​. 2013;(23):15-24.

iRest Yoga-Nidra on the College Campus: Changes in Stress, Depression, Worry, and Mindfulness

Heather Eastman-Mueller 1, Terry Wilson, Ae-Kyung Jung, Andrea Kimura, Jeff Tarrant

Affiliations expand

PMID: 24165520

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There is evidence that yoga practice is associated with decreased stress, worry, and depression, and with improved mindfulness-based skills. These findings had not been previously replicated for a sample of college students. This study evaluated whether iRest yoga-nidra practice was associated with reduced perceived stress, worry, and depression, and increased mindfulness in a sample of college students.

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iRest yoga-nidra practice may reduce symptoms of perceived stress, worry, and depression and increase mindfulness-based skills.

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Other studies in Yoga, Meditation &  Nidra

Daffodils
Article

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Breath-work:
Yogic Breathing

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Article

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27538513/

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Yogic breathing when compared to attention control reduces the levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers in saliva: a pilot randomized controlled trial

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Waleed O Twal 1, Amy E Wahlquist 2, Sundaravadivel Balasubramanian 3

 

Abstract

Background: Self-report measures indicate that Yoga practices are perceived to reduce stress; however, molecular mechanisms through which YB affects stress are just beginning to be understood. While invasive sampling such as blood has been widely used to measure biological indicators such as pro-inflammatory biomarkers, the use of saliva to measure changes in various biomolecules has been increasingly recognized. As Yoga practice stimulates salivary secretion, and saliva is considered a source of biomarkers, changes in salivary cytokines before and after Yogic breathing exercise as specified in an ancient Tamil script, Thirumanthiram, were examined using a Cytokine Multiplex to compare to Attention Control (AC) group.

 

Yoga Therapy

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Article

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32030016/

Immune Response to Yoga Therapy in Stress-related Chronic Disease
 

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Exposure to chronic stress due to urbanization, work stress, nuclear family, pollution, unhealthy food habits, lifestyle, accidental death in the family, and natural calamities are the triggering factors, leading to hormonal imbalance and inflammation in the tissue. The relationship between stress and illness is complex; all chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and asthma have their root in chronic stress attributed by inflammation. In recent times, yoga therapy has emerged as an important complementary alternative medicine for many human diseases. Yoga therapy has a positive impact on mind and body; it acts by incorporating appropriate breathing techniques and mindfulness to attain conscious direction of our awareness of the present moment by meditation, which helps achieve harmony between the body and mind. Studies have also demonstrated the important regulatory effects of yoga therapy on brain structure and functions. 


Other studies in Yoga, Meditation &  Nidra

Yellow Flowers
Article

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