Effect of Yoga Nidra Practice on the Sleep Quality of University Students

Abstract

Introduction: Sleep is one of the basic needs for survival and quality of life however there is poor awareness about sleep quality in general. The prevalence of sleep issues is concerning worldwide among all age groups, especially in the adolescent and young population. Apart from the currently used interventions like Sleep hygiene, the practice of Yoga Nidra is found to reap benefits in improving sleep quality in the clinical population. Its effectiveness can be explored on university students with sleep issues. Methodology: The study was conducted at Sri Sri University, Cuttack, Odisha. The participants were university students (Age 18 to 28 years), 26 participants (20 males, 6 females) were selected for the study using a screening tool- Sleep Disorder Questionnaire out of 80. The participants were given a 10 day intervention of Yoga Nidra using a twenty minutes recorded version by H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar Ji. The data was collected using a standardized sleep quality instrument- Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to measure the quality and patterns of sleep in adults. Results: The analysis shows that there is a significant difference between Pre (M=7.42, SD=3.06) and Post (M=4.69, SD=2.81) scores of Global PSQI t (25) =4.984, p<0.05. There was a positive effect of the practice of Yoga Nidra with post scores being significantly lower than the pre scores on five components namely Subjective sleep quality, Sleep latency, Sleep duration, Habitual Sleep efficiency and Daytime dysfunction. There was a non-significant difference found in Sleep disturbance and a negative trend in the Use of sleep medication although it was non-significant. The results suggest that Yoga Nidra may be an effective technique for university students to reduce sleep issues and improve sleep quality.