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The short answer

Best NSDR app

NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) is a guided practice that takes the body into a sleep-adjacent state without sleeping. The best app for it treats NSDR as its own category, ships tracks at multiple lengths, and grounds the technique in the Yoga Nidra tradition it descends from. Stillee does all three, with a dedicated NSDR surface and tracks at 8, 20, and 60 minutes.

Updated July 1, 2026. Reading time about four minutes.

What to look for

The criteria that actually matter.

NSDR was popularized in mainstream use by Stanford neurobiologist Andrew Huberman as a brain-friendly framing of Yoga Nidra, the millennia-old yogic relaxation practice. The two are essentially the same protocol: a body scan, a slowing of breath, and a guided lowering of arousal that brings the practitioner to the hypnagogic boundary between waking and sleep. Twenty minutes of NSDR has been associated with improved focus and faster recovery from cognitive fatigue, and the practice is widely used to recover from short sleep without the cortisol cost of caffeine. Yoga Nidra has the longer evidence base, including small clinical trials for anxiety, PTSD, and chronic insomnia.

  1. NSDR as a category, not a tag

    If NSDR is buried inside a sleep filter or a relaxation tag, the app does not understand the category. It should have its own surface with curated tracks.

  2. Multiple lengths

    The use case at 8 minutes (a midday reset) is different from 20 minutes (the canonical Huberman dose) and 60 minutes (a deeper Yoga Nidra session). The library should reflect that.

  3. One guide, one consistent rhythm

    NSDR relies on the voice. A library that rotates through twenty teachers fragments the practice. The strongest practitioners find a voice they trust and stay there. The app should make that possible.

  4. A real description of what NSDR is

    The marketing should be honest. NSDR is Yoga Nidra. The neuroscience framing is useful, but the practice has thousands of years of refinement behind it. An app that pretends NSDR was invented in 2021 is hiding its sources.

  5. No timer, no leaderboard

    NSDR is not a productivity hack. Surfacing minute counts on a leaderboard misses the practice. The library should be quiet about that.

Where Stillee fits

What we built, against those criteria.

NSDR has its own surface

It is one tap from the home screen, separate from the sleep library. The tracks are curated and named for the use case, not for the time of day.

Three lengths: 8, 20, 60 minutes

The 8-minute track is the midday reset. The 20-minute track is the canonical dose. The 60-minute track is the full Yoga Nidra session for evenings or recovery days.

One voice, by design

Stillee uses a single guide across the catalog. NSDR especially benefits from that, because the body learns the cadence of one voice and lowers arousal faster on repeat sessions.

Yoga Nidra is named, not hidden

The 60-minute track follows the classical Yoga Nidra structure. The shorter tracks are clearly framed as shortened versions of the same practice. The lineage is part of the product, not buried.

Download Stillee on the App Store

FAQ

The questions people ask after they ask the first one.

What is NSDR?

NSDR stands for non-sleep deep rest. It is a guided practice that takes the body into a deeply restful state without sleeping, usually through a body scan, slow breathing, and a gentle lowering of attention. The framing was popularized by Andrew Huberman as a brain-friendly description of Yoga Nidra, which is its source tradition.

Is NSDR the same as Yoga Nidra?

Functionally, yes. The protocols are the same: body scan, slow breath, hypnagogic boundary, gentle return. The names emphasize different lineages. Yoga Nidra has the older history and a deeper repertoire of techniques. NSDR is the modern, secular framing. Most NSDR scripts are Yoga Nidra scripts.

Does NSDR replace sleep?

It does not replace sleep, but it does reduce some of the cognitive cost of short sleep. A 20-minute NSDR session is widely reported to restore focus when a full nap is not possible. It is not a substitute for the consolidation and memory work that happens during a full sleep cycle.

How long should an NSDR session be?

The most studied dose is 20 minutes, which is the canonical Huberman length and a common short Yoga Nidra session. Eight minutes is enough for a small reset between tasks. A full Yoga Nidra session runs 30 to 60 minutes and goes deeper.

Can I do NSDR before bed?

Yes. The 60-minute Yoga Nidra session is a strong wind-down for an over-aroused nervous system. The shorter tracks are typically used during the day. If you are trying to fall asleep, you do not need the verbal cues at the end; an app should let you stop the audio when sleep arrives.

References

  1. [1] Yoga Nidra for anxiety and PTSD. Stankovic, L. (2011). Transforming trauma: a qualitative feasibility study of integrative restoration (iRest) yoga Nidra on combat-related PTSD.
  2. [2] Yoga Nidra and sleep. Datta, K., et al. (2017). Yoga Nidra: An innovative approach for management of chronic insomnia.
  3. [3] NSDR framing. Huberman Lab, Stanford. NSDR protocols overview, published lecture series.