Comparing the Effects of Yoga Nidra to Yoga Nidra With Pain Acceptance Intention and Motor Imagery on Pain Outcomes

August 24, 2026 updated by: Abigail Wilson, University of Central Florida
Yoga Nidra is a scripted mind-body intervention (MBI) that uses guided relaxation technique in a reproducible sequence of mechanisms that naturally produce a parasympathetic response. This is a randomized controlled trial in which participants will be randomly assigned to one of three interventions: 1) yoga nidra (Yoga Nidra Script Basic), 2) yoga nidra with pain acceptance (Yoga Nidra Acceptance Intention), 3) yoga nidra with pain acceptance and Explicit Motor Imagery (Yoga Nidra Acceptance Intention and Visualization).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Orlando, Florida, United States, 32816
        • University of Central Florida

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Chronic pain in the neck, low back, shoulder, hip, elbow, knee, wrist, or ankle that has lasted for over three months
  • Pain intensity rated as 3/10 or higher in the past 24 hours (0=no pain, 10=worst pain imaginable)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • non-English speaking
  • systemic medical conditions that affect sensation (such as uncontrolled diabetes)
  • History of surgery or fracture within the past six months
  • any blood clotting disorders (such as hemophilia)
  • any contraindication to the application of ice (blood pressure > 140/90 mmHg, cold urticaria, cryoglobulinemia, paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, circulatory compromise)
  • Exceed pressure and heat sensory thresholds
  • Unable to access internet or email
  • Pregnant

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Yoga Nidra
This protocol is derived from The Origin and Clinical Relevance of Yoga Nidra (Pandi-Perumal, S. R. 2022) and is approximately 20 minutes total time.
Other: Yoga Nidra
This protocol is derived from The Origin and Clinical Relevance of Yoga Nidra (Pandi-Perumal, S. R. 2022)
Active Comparator: Yoga Nidra and Pain Acceptance Intention
Yoga Nidra plus a Pain Acceptance Intention.
Other: Yoga Nidra with Pain Acceptance Intention
Yoga Nidra with Pain Acceptance Intention
Active Comparator: Yoga Nidra with Pain Acceptance Intervention and Motor Imagery
Yoga Nidra plus pain acceptance and motor imagery
Other: Yoga Nidra with Pain Acceptance Intervention and Motor Imagery
Yoga Nidra with Pain Acceptance Intervention and Motor Imagery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pressure Pain Threshold
Time Frame: Pre/Post intervention, Day 1
A computerized pressure algometer (AlgoMed, Ramat Yishai, Israel) with a 1 cm diameter rubber tip will be applied to the upper trapezius.
Pre/Post intervention, Day 1
Temporal Summation
Time Frame: Pre/Post intervention, Day 1
Change in pain ratings during 10 heat pulses will be recorded.
Pre/Post intervention, Day 1
Conditioned Pain Modulation
Time Frame: Pre/Post intervention, Day 1
Pressure pain threshold after a cold water immersion task.
Pre/Post intervention, Day 1
Heat Pain Threshold
Time Frame: Pre/Post intervention, Day 1
Participants will report when comfortable heat becomes painful by pressing a button. Temperature in degrees Celsius will be recorded at threshold
Pre/Post intervention, Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Central Florida

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Abigail Anderson, PT, DPT, PhD, University of Central Florida

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 12, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 29, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

July 29, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 29, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 5, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

September 19, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 26, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 24, 2026

Last Verified

December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • YN10

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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