NSDR: The Placebo That Works?
NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest) seemed to be all over the internet for a while. Videos showed people lying flat with their eyes closed as calming music played and a soothing voice directed them to “relax your eyelids” and “let your consciousness settle into your body.” I was intrigued, so I clicked on a couple of videos, listened for maybe 30 seconds in both cases, and closed the videos.
Isn’t this just the science of meditation? Or, worse, some deep-breathing exercise masquerading as having a foundation in neuroscience? On its surface, NSDR felt a bit like one of those contemporary self-help fads, intended to help you falsely feel you are being productive — when, in fact, you are just lying around thinking about lunch.
“At least I’m trying to improve myself,” you want to say. Sure. But I wasn’t buying it.
My Problem Wasn’t Really With NSDR
To be honest, I didn’t care about NSDR then. My true issue was this: Why can’t I control myself?
For example: — I vow to spend less time scrolling on my phone, but as soon as the screen lights up, my thumb is a blur, moving like it’s possessed. — I understand that I should go to bed sooner… but there’s always one more video or one last post keeping me up.
I chalked it up to my supposed lack of willpower. But, obviously, my willpower wasn’t enough to win this fight. Then I discovered Daniel Kahneman’s “System 1 and System 2”, and it all began to click a little better.
Our mental apparatus for making judgments runs, says Kahneman, on two systems:
- System 1: Fast and automatic, emotional—your gut response that acts before you think.
- System 2: Slow, logical, thoughtful—but also lazy and distractible.
Worse yet: the vast majority of our decisions are informed by System 1 (a.k.a., our subconscious autopilot). So all those times I “lost control” weren’t actually about controlling anything at all—it was System 1 doing its thing.
This discovery sent me deep into a cavern of reading about System 1. And guess what those search results brought me to over and over again? Yup. NSDR.
System 1 and brainwaves: A meet-cute
The more research I did into the mechanics of System 1, one theme kept rearing its head: brainwaves. When we’re making decisions, learning, or even just chilling out, our brain has different wave patterns depending on our state, a new study reports.
This got me thinking: Would these be the brainwaves behind my lack of self-control?
Now words like Alpha, Theta and Delta used to make me think I’d stumbled into some secret yoga cult or something. But this time, I made it my business to have a good gander. You see, it’s not just abstract squiggly lines on a page or screen, brainwaves are literally the rhythms of your neurons in your brain’s activity that are working together in groups.
When neuroscientists say your brain is in an Alpha state, they don’t mean it’s pretending to be relaxed. What they mean is your neurons really have slowed down in a low-frequency “groove” that saves energy. Similarly:
- Beta waves appear when you’re dealing with very complex problems — your neurons are talking to each other a lot.
- Delta waves: These occur during deep sleep, when your brain turns off extraneous systems and performs its nightly cleanup.
In other words: Brainwaves are the song of System 1’s backstage. They were always there; we just started noticing them.
System 1 and brainwaves: A meet-cute
The more research I did into the mechanics of System 1, one theme kept emerging: brainwaves. When we’re making decisions, learning, or even just relaxing, our brain exhibits different wave patterns depending on our state, a new study reports.
This got me thinking: Could these be the brainwaves responsible for my lack of self-control?
Now, words like Alpha, Theta, and Delta used to make me think I’d stumbled into some secret yoga cult or something. But this time, I made it my mission to take a closer look. You see, it’s not just abstract squiggly lines on a page or screen—brainwaves are literally the rhythms of neurons in your brain working together in groups.
When neuroscientists say your brain is in an Alpha state, they don’t mean it’s pretending to be relaxed. What they mean is your neurons have genuinely slowed down into a low-frequency “groove” that conserves energy. Similarly:
- Beta waves appear when you’re dealing with very complex problems—your neurons are communicating intensely.
- Delta waves occur during deep sleep, when your brain shuts down extraneous systems and performs its nightly cleanup.
In other words: Brainwaves are the soundtrack of System 1’s backstage. They were always there; we just started noticing them.
Can You Rewrite System 1? Maybe… If You Catch It Off Guard
Remember, my original question was: Why can’t I control myself?
Well, perhaps the answer is not control at all — it’s rewiring System 1.
Here’s the rub: When you’re asleep, your brain spends its natural downtime sorting through information and discarding irrelevant stuff the way a computer runs a nightly backup program. The problem? You don’t have much control over that process during sleep, and you can’t sneak new ideas into the brain while it’s cleaning up.
But NSDR could provide an alternative route in.
If you can direct yourself into an NSDR and then trigger consistent signals (e.g., repeating a mantra, imagining a situation, re-evoking certain physical sensations), you might be able to gently shape System 1 into establishing new defaults. It’s not the kind of instant switch-flip-type shift, but it’s much more like redirecting a river with a few rocks placed down in its path. Over time, the flow adjusts.
And Sometimes We Just Can’t See the Mechanism
On the surface, south of the border, NSDR sounds like another trendy buzzword. But underneath, it suggests a possible gateway to System 1 or a means of modifying our subconscious programming.
It’s not flashy. It’s not magic. But once you learn how your brain works across various states, and how those states can drive change, NSDR isn’t just “another relaxation technique.” It becomes something much cooler.
It becomes a doorway.
We didn’t notice it before. We never even considered trying to open it. But now? Perhaps we are finally beginning to turn the handle.