The research behind every practice

Supports

Yoga nidra / NSDR protocols, sleep

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Supports

Short (11 min) yoga nidra audio, stress, sleep, well-being

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Design

Within-subject PET study, two 11C-raclopride scans per participant (yoga nidra vs attending to speech). Small sample; N is not given in the abstract and the full text was paywalled.

Measured

Ventral striatal raclopride binding, a proxy for endogenous dopamine release, together with EEG theta and self-reported experience.

Finding

Raclopride binding was 7.9% lower during yoga nidra, which the authors read as a 65% rise in dopamine release. Rated depth of relaxation did not differ between conditions. This is a small mechanism study with no clinical outcome.

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Design

Narrative review (no meta-analysis).

Measured

Origins and steps of the practice, and the published physiological and psychological findings on it.

Finding

The authors report that the studies they reviewed associate yoga nidra with physiological changes and lower scores for mild depression and anxiety. One study did not find these benefits in severe depression or anxiety. Narrative reviews carry no pooled effect estimate.

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Design

Systematic review of 6 RCTs (n = 244). No meta-analysis.

Measured

Sleep onset latency, total sleep time, sleep efficiency and related psychological outcomes.

Finding

Most of the included trials reported better sleep parameters with yoga nidra than with the comparison condition. Most trials had moderate to high risk of bias, and adverse events were poorly reported.

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Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 73 studies (5,201 participants).

Measured

Stress, anxiety and depression scores, compared with active and with no comparators.

Finding

Pooled effects favoured yoga nidra. The authors warn that low study quality and varied delivery mean these moderate-to-large effects are probably inflated.

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Supports

PMR

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Design

RCT, N = 51 hospitalised isolation-ward patients. Arms: 30 min of PMR a day for 5 days, or routine care.

Measured

State-trait anxiety (STAI) and sleep quality (SRSS).

Finding

The PMR group showed lower anxiety and better sleep-quality scores after the intervention than the routine-care group. This was a small, short, unblinded trial in an unusual clinical setting.

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Design

Meta-analysis of 14 RCTs (957 participants), PROSPERO-registered.

Measured

Subjective sleep quality, with subgroups by cancer status and age, and a meta-regression on number of sessions.

Finding

PMR was associated with better self-rated sleep quality overall (Hedges g = -1.24), with very high heterogeneity (I² = 85.5%). The effect was not significant in adults aged 55 and over, and it was not related to the number of sessions.

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Design

Meta-analysis of 31 RCTs (2,277 participants).

Measured

Sleep quality (including PSQI), anxiety and quality of life.

Finding

PMR groups showed better sleep quality (PSQI mean difference -3.79), lower anxiety and higher quality of life than controls. Heterogeneity was very high (I² of 83-94%), so the size of the effect is uncertain.

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Supports

Body scan, body awareness

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Design

RCT, N = 55 chronic-pain outpatients. Arms: a 10-min audio body scan (n = 27) or a natural-history reading (n = 28).

Measured

Pain severity, pain-related distress, interference and mindfulness, rated immediately before and after listening.

Finding

In the clinic, the body-scan group reported lower pain-related distress and social interference than controls. At home, no outcome differed between groups. The effects were immediate only.

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Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 47 RCTs with active controls (3,515 participants).

Measured

Anxiety, depression, stress, mood, attention, sleep, pain and weight.

Finding

Mindfulness programmes showed small improvements in anxiety, depression and pain (moderate-strength evidence). Evidence for sleep was low or insufficient, and meditation was no better than other active treatments.

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Design

Meta-analysis of 29 studies (n = 2,668) in healthy adults.

Measured

Stress, anxiety, depression, distress, quality of life and burnout.

Finding

MBSR was associated with moderate improvements (between-group g = 0.53), largest for stress and smallest for burnout. Heterogeneity was high, and the studies tested the full 8-week programme, not single audio sessions.

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Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 14 RCTs (robust variance estimation).

Measured

Seven outcome categories, including mindfulness and health-related outcomes.

Finding

Body scan on its own showed only a small effect on mindfulness against passive controls (g = 0.27). The authors concluded that a standalone body scan was not effective enough to improve health outcomes, and study quality was low. This is a useful counterweight source.

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Supports

Autogenic training

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Design

Systematic review of 8 controlled trials.

Measured

Stress and anxiety outcomes, mostly the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Finding

Seven of the eight trials reported less stress with autogenic training. Most were methodologically flawed, and the authors drew no firm conclusion.

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Design

Three-arm RCT, N = 93 nursing students: 8 weekly autogenic training sessions, laughter therapy (attention control), or no intervention.

Measured

State and trait anxiety, burnout, blood pressure and pulse, followed up to 11 months.

Finding

Immediately after treatment, the autogenic training group showed larger falls in state and trait anxiety, blood pressure and pulse than both other groups. Burnout did not differ, and the authors call the effect short-term.

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Design

Systematic review of 21 studies, 11 of them meta-analysed.

Measured

Anxiety, depression and high-frequency heart rate variability.

Finding

In short-term studies of healthy adults, autogenic training was associated with lower anxiety scores (SMD -1.37, n = 85). In longer studies of patients, depression scores were modestly lower (SMD -0.29, n = 327). Both pooled samples were small.

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Design

Meta-analysis of 13 RCTs (15 comparisons, 576 participants).

Measured

Pain intensity, compared with passive controls and with other psychological interventions.

Finding

Autogenic training showed a moderate pain benefit over passive controls (g = 0.58) and no difference from other psychological treatments. Most studies had "some concerns" for risk of bias.

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Supports

Slow breathing ~6/min

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Supports

Resonance breathing (mechanism review, not a trial)

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Supports

Cyclic sighing, exhale-led breathing (one exploratory trial; mood and breathing rate, not anxiety or HRV)

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Design

Mechanism paper drawing on prior studies, with data from 32 adults with asthma and 24 healthy adults.

Measured

Each person's resonant breathing frequency and how it relates to height, sex, age, weight and asthma.

Finding

Resonant frequency was lower in men and in taller people, was unrelated to age, weight or asthma, and stayed stable across 10 sessions. This supports using an individual rate near 6 breaths/min rather than one exact figure.

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Design

Narrative review (healthy humans).

Measured

Respiratory, cardiovascular, cardiorespiratory and autonomic effects of slow breathing.

Finding

The authors summarise reported effects on HRV, baroreflex sensitivity, respiratory sinus arrhythmia and ventilation efficiency, and stress that more research is needed.

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Design

Randomised trial, N = 40 healthy adults: 20 sessions over 8 weeks of feedback-guided breathing at about 4 breaths/min, or no training.

Measured

Sustained attention, affect and salivary cortisol.

Finding

The breathing group showed better sustained attention, less negative affect and lower cortisol after training. The control group had no intervention and the sample was small.

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Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 223 studies.

Measured

Vagally mediated HRV during slow breathing, immediately after one session, and after multi-session interventions.

Finding

Slow breathing was associated with higher vagally mediated HRV in all three time windows. HRV is a physiological marker, not a symptom outcome.

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Design

Controlled experiment, N = 41 people with insomnia, one night under one of three instructions: imagery distraction, general distraction, or none.

Measured

Sleep onset latency, plus the frequency of and distress from pre-sleep thoughts.

Finding

The imagery-distraction group reported shorter sleep onset latency and less pre-sleep cognitive activity than the no-instruction group. General distraction did not perform worse as predicted. This is a single-night study. It tested engaging imagery, not the cognitive shuffle itself.

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Design

Systematic review (narrative synthesis). Co-authored by Beaudoin, who developed the cognitive shuffle and declares a commercial interest in related apps.

Measured

The nature of pre-sleep thinking, its links to sleep onset latency and insomnia, and strategies that manipulate it.

Finding

The review describes normal sleep onset as rich in sensory imagery. Tested strategies (imagery, hypnosis, distraction, suppression and others) had beneficial, negligible or detrimental effects.

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Supports

Relaxation therapy: conditional recommendation as a single component

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Design

Three-arm RCT, N = 54 adults with chronic insomnia: MBSR, mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia (MBTI), or self-monitoring.

Measured

Total wake time (diary), pre-sleep arousal, Insomnia Severity Index, polysomnography and actigraphy.

Finding

Both meditation arms showed larger falls in total wake time, pre-sleep arousal and insomnia severity than self-monitoring. MBTI had the highest remission rate at 6 months. The sample was small and from a single site.

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Design

RCT, N = 49 older adults (mean age 66) with moderate sleep disturbance: 6 weeks of mindful awareness practices (n = 24) or sleep hygiene education (n = 25).

Measured

PSQI sleep quality, plus insomnia symptoms, depression, fatigue, anxiety, stress and NF-κB.

Finding

The mindfulness group showed a larger PSQI improvement than the sleep-hygiene group (between-group difference 1.8 points). Anxiety, stress and NF-κB did not differ between groups, and effects were measured immediately after treatment.

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Design

Meta-analysis of 18 RCTs (1,654 participants).

Measured

Sleep quality against specific active controls (e.g. evidence-based sleep treatments) and non-specific active controls.

Finding

Mindfulness improved sleep quality compared with non-specific controls (ES 0.33 after treatment). It showed no difference from evidence-based sleep treatments (low-strength evidence).

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Design

Cochrane systematic review of 17 RCTs (556 participants): bright light, naps, and other interventions such as exercise or sleep education.

Measured

Sleepiness on shift, and sleep length and quality between shifts.

Finding

The evidence was low or very low quality and inconclusive. The authors could not determine whether these interventions improve shift workers' sleep. No relaxation trials were included.

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Design

Systematic review of 65 publications, 39 meta-analysed.

Measured

Objective and subjective sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep quality, blood pressure, BMI and perceived health.

Finding

Interventions were associated with longer objective sleep (g = 0.73) and better sleep efficiency (g = 0.48). Effects on self-rated sleep duration and quality were small and their confidence intervals included zero.

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Design

Systematic review of 30 studies (RCTs and other clinical trials), 25 meta-analysed.

Measured

Sleep outcomes across pharmacological, light, cognitive-behavioural, aroma/alternative and scheduling interventions.

Finding

Interventions overall were associated with a moderate sleep benefit (g = 0.59). Pooling very different intervention types limits what this says about relaxation specifically.

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Design

Randomised experiment, N = 60 healthy women: relaxing music, rippling-water sound, or silent rest before a standardised psychosocial stress test.

Measured

Salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase, heart rate, RSA, perceived stress and anxiety.

Finding

Alpha-amylase returned to baseline faster after music than after silent rest. However, the cortisol response was highest in the music group and lowest with water sounds, and heart rate and self-reported measures did not differ. The results are mixed.

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Design

Two multilevel meta-analyses of 104 RCTs (9,617 participants, 327 effect sizes).

Measured

Physiological markers (heart rate, blood pressure, hormones) and psychological stress outcomes.

Finding

Music interventions were associated with small-to-moderate stress effects (d = 0.38 physiological, d = 0.55 psychological), and the largest physiological effect was on heart rate.

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Design

Cochrane systematic review of 13 RCTs (1,007 participants), with daily pre-recorded music for 25-60 min over 3 days to 3 months.

Measured

PSQI sleep quality, insomnia severity, sleep onset latency, total sleep time, sleep efficiency and adverse events.

Finding

There was moderate-certainty evidence that music groups had better self-rated sleep quality (PSQI mean difference -2.79). The three studies using objective measures showed no clear improvement, and all studies had high performance bias.

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Supports

Mindfulness practice for people with ADHD

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Design

Pilot RCT, N = 20: 8 weeks of group mindfulness (n = 11) or waitlist (n = 9).

Measured

Feasibility, ADHD and executive-function symptoms (self, clinician and EMA ratings), executive-function tasks and emotion dysregulation.

Finding

Participants reported better ADHD symptoms, executive functioning and emotion regulation than the waitlist group. Lab executive-function tasks did not improve, and the sample was very small.

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Design

Multicentre, single-blind RCT, N = 120: 8 weeks of MBCT plus usual treatment (n = 60) or usual treatment alone (n = 60).

Measured

Clinician-rated ADHD symptoms (blinded), self-reports, executive functioning and mindfulness, followed to 6 months.

Finding

The MBCT group showed a larger fall in clinician-rated ADHD symptoms (d = 0.41), maintained at 6 months. MBCT was added to usual care and compared with no added activity.

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Design

Preliminary RCT, N = 103 adults with ADHD: 12 weeks of adapted MBCT (n = 55) or waitlist (n = 48).

Measured

Investigator-rated and self-reported ADHD symptoms, executive functioning, depression, anxiety and mindfulness.

Finding

The MBCT group showed fewer ADHD symptoms and better executive functioning than the waitlist group. Depression, anxiety and general functioning did not improve, and a waitlist control cannot separate specific from non-specific effects.

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Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 31 studies (children and adults, controlled and observational).

Measured

ADHD symptoms, associated conditions, neurocognition, mindfulness, functioning and quality of life.

Finding

In adults, mindfulness showed a medium pooled effect on ADHD symptoms against waitlists, but only a low or negligible effect against active controls, with some publication bias. The authors see it as a complement to other treatment, not a replacement.

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