Yoga Nidra Mindfulness Meditation
Articles & Research
We have Richard Miller and the iRest Institute to thank for their many years of dedication which has lead to much of the research we now see in mindfulness and yoga nidra. Please check them out.
Yoga Nidra as a Stress Management Intervention Strategy
The objective of the research paper is to explore the role and effectiveness of Yoga Nidra in mitigating the stress level of the employees at the workplace. The paper is conceptual and qualitative in nature in which Yogic technique- Yoga Nidra has been used as a stress management intervention strategy.
Transforming trauma: a qualitative feasibility study of integrative restoration (iRest) yoga Nidra on combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder.
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.
A pilot study of mindfulness-based stress reduction for hot flashes.
Women's scores on quality-of-life measures increased significantly, and the median reported HF severity, calculated as the weekly average of a daily HF severity score, decreased 40% over the course of the 11 weeks of the assessment period.
Meditation for Cancer Patients
More than 3,000 scientific studies have been conducted on the benefits of meditation, and include positive outcomes for the treatment of depression, anxiety, lack of concentration, high blood pressure, inflammatory disorders, asthma, PMS, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia and more.
Yoga and Meditation Can Change Your Genes, Study Says
In the new paper, published in Frontiers in Immunology, British researchers analyzed the findings from 18 previously published studies—involving a total of 846 people—on the biological effects of meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, Qi gong and Tai Chi. Together, the authors say, the studies show that these mind-body exercises appear to suppress the expression of genes and genetic pathways that promote inflammation.
Meditation and Yoga May Change How Stress Affects Our DNA, Study Finds
"Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don't realize is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business,” says Ivana Buric, Lead investigator from the Brain, Belief and Behaviour Lab in Coventry University's Centre for Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement.
Positive psychological changes from meditation training linked to cellular health
Positive psychological changes that occur during meditation training are associated with greater telomerase activity, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, San Francisco. The study is the first to link positive well-being to higher telomerase, an enzyme important for the long-term health of cells in the body.
New Study Suggests Meditation Can Actually Alter Your Body On A Cellular Level
Scientists aren’t quite sure how the placebo effect works. This phenomenon occurs when a patient believes they are getting treatment and their condition begins to improve, despite not actually receiving medication with an active ingredient. A new study has also found that some breast cancer survivors who regularly practice stress reduction techniques, including mindful meditation and yoga, can physically change their cells, despite no longer receiving treatment.
Eight weeks to a better brain
"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day," says study senior author Sara Lazar.
Meditation: In Depth
Many studies have investigated meditation for different conditions, and there’s evidence that it may reduce blood pressure as well as symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and flare-ups in people who have had ulcerative colitis. It may ease symptoms of anxiety and depression, and may help people with insomnia.
Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density
The results suggest that participation in MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking.
iRest Yoga Nidra Research Projects and Newsletters
This is a useful page of research links for studies of various therapeutic applications of the i-rest yoga nidra protocol developed by Richard Miller. There are also a selection of other general research papers on yoga nidra from other traditions and other approaches. The i-rest newsletter archive offers some inspiring short articles, reflections and useful research summaries relating to yoga nidra in general as well as to this specific protocol.
Impact of Yoga Nidra on psychological general wellbeing in patients with menstrual irregularities: A randomized controlled trial
The current findings suggest that patients with menstrual irregularities having psychological problems improved significantly in the areas of their wellbeing, anxiety and depression by learning and applying a program based on Yogic intervention (Yoga Nidra).
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Meditation (iRest) for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in U.S. Veterans Using the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale
Findings from this pilot study lend support for the potential effectiveness of iRest for managing chronic pain after TBI and for the reliability of the DVPRS for assessing pain in a small veteran sample.