NSDR - 10 minute stress busting, sleep boosting, mind clearing technique

NSDR, or Non-Sleep Deep Rest, is a relaxation technique where you bring your mind and body into a state of deep relaxation, somewhere between being awake and asleep.

NSDR is a term coined by Dr Andrew Huberman, professor of neurobiology and opthamology at Stanford University and it's similar to a form of yoga called Yoga Nidra.

It brings numerous benefits that I’ve been enjoying recently and I want to share it with you today.

NSDR is a powerful stress-buster as it activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the opposite to your fight and flight stress response. Any time you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out and you need to take a moment to reset yourself, this tool can be great way to accomplish that.

NSDR can also help clear your mind, opening you up to fresh ideas or inspiration. I sometimes do this in the mornings immediately before a bout of journaling, and always find that I can think much more clearly and have more ‘ah ha’ moments.

It also helps to embed new information as a part of the learning process, and this is another areas that I have found it to be particularly valuable.

If you struggle to get to sleep or fall back to sleep once you wake in the night, it can be a great help with this. Even though it’s called ‘Non-Sleep Deep Rest’, it will move you away from ruminating and dwelling on worries, and towards a state of relaxation that will help you get back to sleep again.

As you work through the 10 minute NSDR that I’m going to share with you today your brainwaves will slow down similar to how they would in a state of deep sleep, yet you remain conscious throughout. In fact I encourage you to set your intention to stay awake right at the start.

But that said, this is definitely not a podcast episode to listen to if you are driving, operating heavy machinery, or in water. You want to find yourself a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed for at least 10 minutes.

References:

Huberman Lab podcast: https://hubermanlab.com