Svadhyaya Sessions
Most rest advice treats stress as a mood: feel calmer, breathe slower, switch off for an evening. But the physiology underneath chronic overwhelm isn't a mood. It's a pattern: a cortisol rhythm that's stopped rising and falling the way it should, a body that stays mildly activated long after the thing that activated it has passed.
You can't talk your way out of a pattern. You interrupt it, in the same place, at the same length, until it changes. That's regulation. It's a different mechanism to relaxation, and it's the one Svadhyaya is built around.
When the thoughts get loud, the science gives us a framework wider than our own swirling thoughts, something to follow that isn't just another effort of will.
What Svadhyaya is
Two courses, one aim
Svadhyaya is a Sanskrit term for self-study, learning to observe your own patterns with precision, not judgment. It's also the name for two courses: one built on Yoga Nidra, one on breath. Different mechanisms, different timescales, the same underlying aim, giving your body something specific to regulate around.
Neither asks for an hour on a mat. You don't need to already practise yoga, and you don't need to find more time than you have. The evidence behind both doesn't call for more time. It calls for repetition.
Course One
Yoga Nidra
Introduction to Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra · self-paced · 11 minutes a day
Yoga Nidra is often described as sleep with awareness. What matters more is what it does to cortisol. A 2025 randomised controlled trial found that daily Yoga Nidra restored the cortisol rhythm: not just lower levels at a single point in the day, but the healthy rise in the morning and fall by evening that chronic stress flattens out.
That's the distinction between regulation and relaxation. Relaxation lowers arousal in the moment. Regulation rebuilds the rhythm underneath it, which is why the protocol runs for 30 days rather than one long session.
One guided practice a day, lying down, no equipment, no posture to get right. Self-paced, so you start when you're ready and move through it at the pace your week allows.
Course Two
Breath
The Foundations of Breathwork
Breath · self-paced · minutes, not months
This course works on a narrower, faster mechanism. A slow, deep breath stretches the lungs enough to engage the stretch reflex, a signal that travels up the vagus nerve and tells the rest of the body to stand down. Extend the exhale slightly past the inhale, and that signal runs longer, which is why heart rate drops further on a long exhale than it does on a long inhale.
It isn't a metaphor. It's a measurable shift you can trigger with the length of a single breath, and it's available to you before, during, or right after the moment that needed it.
Where Yoga Nidra works over 30 days, this works in minutes, sometimes seconds. Short, guided sessions and a small set of techniques you learn once and use anywhere. Self-paced, no equipment.
How they fit together
Different timescales,
the same problem
Yoga Nidra rebuilds the rhythm underneath stress that has snuck up over time, in the space of a few weeks, through repetition. The breathing course gives you a tool for the moment stress arrives, in real time, wherever you are. You can take either on its own.
Most people find they end up wanting both, one for the pattern, one for the moment.
Who this is for?
You don't need convincing that this works
This is built for people who already believe the research on yoga nidra and breathwork exists for good reason. What's usually missing isn't belief, it's a protocol: how much, how often, and why 11 minutes specifically rather than 20, or 60.
Not a lifestyle overhaul. Two practices, each backed by a stated mechanism, sized to fit inside a day that's already full.
Ready to Start?
Do I need any yoga experience?
No. Yoga Nidra is done lying down, eyes closed, following a voice. There's no posture to get right and nothing to master first.
How much time does this actually take?
Eleven minutes a day for Yoga Nidra. The breathing course takes less, several of the techniques work in under a minute.
Do I need to do both courses?
No. They work on different mechanisms and each stands on its own. Most people start with one and add the other once it's part of the routine.
What if I miss a day?
The body responds to repetition, not perfection. Pick up where you left off.
Is this the same as meditation?
No. Meditation trains attention. Yoga Nidra and this breathing protocol are aimed at physiological regulation, measurable changes in cortisol rhythm and heart rate, not primarily a mental skill.
Here's what's included:
Rooted in Philosophy
You get to build your own suite of practices and really find what makes you tick.
Seasonal themes
Keep your offerings relevant and connected at any time of year.
short daily practices
You become what you do. Build better habits with bitesize practices.
Email format
You get a daily email that contains your practice to keep you on track.
Email me anytime
I'm here to help. Just reply to any of the emails and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Handcrafted
Each session was developed with care and connection in mind and written by hand.
Here's what a previous participant had to say.
"Give it a go, it's amazing how a few minutes of guided rest can benefit your entire day."
Yoga Nidra Participant - Scotland, UK
