AnxietyEarly Phase 1NCT07217340
Feasibility of a Mental-Health Intervention Based on Contemplative Sleep Practices
A Early Phase 1 study testing Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention and Sleep Health Enhancement program in people with Anxiety, run by Northwestern University at 2 sites in United States.
Trial summary
This is a feasibility study to test whether it is possible to deliver a program inspired by Tibetan Dream Yoga in a modern, accessible way. Dream Yoga is a set of contemplative practices that combine mental exercises during the day with techniques for becoming aware of dreaming within a dream (lucid dreaming) and… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Anxiety
- What is being tested?
- Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention and Sleep Health Enhancement program
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 25 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Oct 2025to 1 Dec 2025
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Healthy, English-speaking adults (at least 18 years old) with
- High dream recall (at least 1/month).
Who cannot join
- a history of an established meditative practice
- psychological or psychiatric disorders (other than mild anxiety)
- sleep disorders, nightshift work in the past month, extreme chronotype or irregular sleeping pattern
- use of recreational drugs in the past month
- history of asthma, seizures or heart problems
- unwillingness to wear headband during sleep.
- Not having an address in the domestic United States, so residents of other countries would be excluded.
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country.
United States2 sites
Contemplative Sciences Center
Charlottesville, Virginia, 22908.
Cresap Laboratory
Evanston, Illinois, 60208
About this study
This is a feasibility study to test whether it is possible to deliver a program inspired by Tibetan Dream Yoga in a modern, accessible way. Dream Yoga is a set of contemplative practices that combine mental exercises during the day with techniques for becoming aware of dreaming within a dream (lucid dreaming) and engage in certain dream activities. The purpose of these practices is to help people explore and loosen rigid patterns of thought and behavior.
In this study, the investigators are developing and testing a program that includes guided imagination, meditation, and lucid-dreaming practices, supported by virtual-reality experiences and home-based sleep-monitoring technology. Participants are randomly assigned to either the Dream-Yoga-inspired program or a comparison program focused on general health and sleep education.
Read more
Because this is a feasibility trial, our main goals are to see whether people are willing and able to take part, whether they find the program acceptable, and whether the investigators can deliver it as planned. The investigators will also explore early signals of change in sleep, dreaming, and thinking.
The long-term goal of this research is to determine if such interventions could be beneficial for supporting psychological well-being, improving sleep, and enhancing creativity and flexibility of thought.
Read the detailed description
Recent methodological advances enable novel scientific explorations of dreaming activities. Whereas the science of dreaming suffered historically from inadequate strategies, a new era has dawned driven by innovations in physiological sleep monitoring, two-way communication during the dream state, and lucid-dream induction.
New opportunities for dream research emerged with the demonstration that dreamers can accurately perceive spoken questions and deliver coded answers to those questions while remaining in REM sleep verified with standard polysomnography. Subsequent studies confirmed the viability of these methods and used them to explore outstanding questions about dreams. The method the experimenters use to produce lucid dreaming in the sleep laboratory, Targeted Lucidity Reactivation (TLR), was substantiated with the published demonstration that 50% of participants tested achieved a lucid dream, and now extended to the home environment based on at-home strategies previously used for slow-wave-sleep Targeted Memory Reactivation. Building on this foundation, we can use lucid-dream induction and interactive dreaming in both lab and home environments to investigate contemplative sleep practices.
Over centuries, Tibetan-Buddhist contemplatives developed and documented techniques for spiritual insight. One portrayal of insight in this context is to deconstructed conventional reality, noted that ordinary waking experience is like a dream in that people tend to grasp onto perceptual objects, thoughts, or ideas without understanding their interdependent, impermanent, and mentally constructed nature. The Buddhist literature on Dream Yoga includes manuals describing recommended practices, descriptions of benefits that can be achieved, such as enhanced cognition and emotional flexibility. The progressive exercises of Dream Yoga, including waking imagination and activities during lucid dreams, enable the dreamer to gain control over dream content, creating a platform to alter deeply ingrained habits and work to deconstruct ordinary conceptualizations.
Based on traditional wake- and sleep-based practices, we have developed an accessible strategy for personal insight, capitalizing on modern virtual-reality and sleep technology to supplement dreaming experiences. People spend a third of their lives asleep, usually oblivious to the opportunities that sleep offers. Excessive pressure in people's lives makes some consider sleep a waste of time. Yet, sleep has untapped value for mental and physical health, as increasingly acknowledged due to steady advances in the science of sleep. Today's orthodox view nevertheless holds that, although people can constructively control the context of sleep with proper habits of Sleep Hygiene, there is little control after placing a head on the pillow-sleep either goes well or it doesn't. We propose that advanced contemplative practices during sleep may hold powerful opportunities.
There is a glaring worldwide need to optimize sleep. Poor sleep is associated with many psychiatric and neurological disorders. The high prevalence of insomnia and suboptimal sleeping also contributes to other problems (e.g., low work-productivity, depression, and suicidal tendencies). A new orientation known as sleep engineering makes use of methods such as strategic sensory stimulation and sleep-and wake-based mental exercises, which can be guided by contemplative insights to enhance psychological health and well-being.
Sleep is crucial for memory, emotional regulation, and numerous aspects of health. Methods for producing transformative dream experiences and reliably provoking lucid dreaming may hold promise for reducing depression and anxiety. A randomized controlled trial was designed to test whether the intervention produces changes in sleep and waking neurophysiology, cognitive flexibility, creative insight, and self-referential focus. The intervention includes practices during dreaming and waking, whereby people learn to cultivate specific skills, aided by virtual-reality experiences and wireless sleep-technology in their own homes. As an initial step, this randomized controlled trial is designed to examine feasibility, acceptability, tolerability, and potential outcomes.
- Conditions
- Anxiety
- Being tested
- Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention, Sleep Health Enhancement program
- Keywords
- lucid dreaming, dream yoga, contemplative sleep practices, mind-body intervention, meditation
- Medical subject headings
- Anxiety Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Dream Yoga Inspired InterventionBehavioural
Also called Contemplative Sleep Practice Intervention
This customized contemplative training will guide participants in exploring techniques used in Tibetan Dream Yoga, including somatic awareness and intention-setting prior to sleep. Strategies in Tibetan Dream-Yoga manuals are thus transferred to a modern context and adapted as a group intervention. Goals will be set for dreaming that include gaining a degree of volitional influence over the dream. Participants will be instructed on how to work with their dream-world self-concept, which can include changing the environment deliberately, making other individuals appear, and switching identities with other individuals in the dream. Wearable devices will be used to present cues during sleep both to provoke lucidity and to remind individuals of Dream-Yoga exercises to be engaged during sleep. The intervention includes both wake- and sleep-based instructions, with instructions on learning to apply the new orientation in their daily lives. Participants will be contacted individually to assure
Sleep Health Enhancement programBehavioural
Also called Health Enhancement Program
The control group will receive a modified version of the Health Enhancement Program (HEP), which was developed as an active control condition for mindfulness-based interventions, with a particular focus on sleep hygiene. It controls for several non-specific factors such as expectations of positive change, group support, behavioural activation, facilitator attention, at-home practice, treatment duration, and format (MacCoon et al., 2012; Rosenkranz et al., 2013). Our modified HEP will be structurally equivalent to the Dream-Yoga condition, with high similarity on non-program-specific factors, including timing and number of sessions. The two VR sessions will focus on health enhancement. Participants will be taught positive health-enhancing practices, such as healthy diet and gentle exercise, with activity-based sessions covering exercise, sleep, dreaming, stress, anxiety, nutrition, journaling, music enjoyment, and drawing. Home practice and implementation of health-enhancing habits will
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention | Experimental | This customized contemplative training will guide participants in exploring techniques used in Tibetan Dream Yoga. Strategies in Tibetan Dream-Yoga manuals are thus transferred to a modern context and adapted as a group intervention. Goals will be set for dreaming that include gaining a degree of volitional influence over the dream. Wearable devices will be used to present cues during sleep both to provoke lucidity and to remind individuals of Dream-Yoga exercises to be engaged during sleep.
Virtual-reality (VR) sessions provide a novel adjunct to Dream Yoga, in keeping with prior research integrating lucid dreaming and VR (Gott et al., 2021). The protocol progresses though several group activities; individuals feel themselves dispersing into a void within the VR world, and then blending with others, leading the reduced self-grasping. If this unique VR component can blur conventional self-other boundaries, it may reinforce the progressive instructions in Dream Yoga. Receives: Behavioral: Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention |
| Sleep Health Enhancement program | Active comparator | A modified version of the Health Enhancement Program (HEP), which was developed as an active control condition for mindfulness-based interventions, with a particular focus on sleep hygiene. It controls for several non-specific factors such as expectations of positive change, group support, behavioural activation, facilitator attention, at-home practice, treatment duration, and format (MacCoon et al., 2012; Rosenkranz et al., 2013). Our modified HEP will be structurally equivalent to the Dream-Yoga condition, with high similarity on non-program-specific factors, including timing and number of sessions. The two VR sessions will focus on health enhancement. Participants will be taught positive health-enhancing practices, such as healthy diet and gentle exercise, with activity-based sessions covering exercise, sleep, dreaming, stress, anxiety, nutrition, journaling, music enjoyment, and drawing. Home practice and implementation of health-enhancing habits will be encouraged. Receives: Behavioral: Sleep Health Enhancement program |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Study Retention
Study retention as an outcome measure will be considered positive if ≥65% of participants complete data collection at both pre- and post-intervention.
Measured: 7 weeks (baseline to post-intervention)
Acceptability of the Intervention
Acceptability will be assessed through composite measures of adherence to different elements of the intervention. The intervention will be considered acceptable if at least 70% of participants attend a minimum of five sessions. Adherence to supportive practices (dream journaling and online SHEP engagement) will also be assessed. These components will be considered acceptable if ≥75% of participants engage in Virtual Reality at a rate of ≥65%.
Measured: 7 weeks (throughout the intervention period)
Tolerability of Dream Yoga Virtual Reality
Tolerability will be assessed using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), which measures nausea, oculomotor strain, and disorientation. The intervention will be considered tolerable if fewer than 20% of participants report severe simulator sickness or withdraw due to VR-related adverse effects. Additional safety will be monitored through adverse event logs.
Measured: 7 weeks (after each VR session)
Study Retention
Feasibility will be assessed through study retention, defined as ≥65% of participants completing data collection at both pre- and post-intervention.
Measured: 7 weeks (baseline to post-intervention)
Secondary outcomes (3)
Frequency of Lucid Dreaming
Lucidity will be assessed with a composite of questionnaires at week 1 and measuring changes at week 7 and using self-reports of lucid dreams recorded in daily dream journals and/or nightly reports during the 7-week intervention. The outcome will be positive if one third of participants experience at least one lucid dream.
Self-report Questionnaires:
- Lucid Dreaming Skills Questionnaire (LUSK)
- Lucid Dream Control-Specific Experiences (LDC-SE)
Measured: 7 weeks
Acceptability of the intervention
Acceptability will also be measured with the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM), a 4-item validated scale (1-5 Likert). The intervention will be considered acceptable if the mean AIM score is ≥4.
Measured: 7 weeks
Feasibility of the Intervention
Feasibility will be measured with the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM), a 4-item validated scale (1-5 Likert). The intervention will be considered feasible if the mean FIM score is ≥4 ("agree" or "completely agree").
Measured: 7 Week
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted15 Oct 2025
- Study start1 Oct 2025
- Primary completion1 Dec 2025
- Study completion1 Dec 2025
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (8)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for AnxietyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Northwestern UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 25 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Northwestern University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Virginia, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Ken Paller, Northwestern University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07217340
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- STU00222189
- Status last verified
- Sep 2025
- First submitted
- 24 Sep 2025
- Last updated
- 12 Feb 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: De-identified individual participant data (IPD) underlying the primary and secondary feasibility outcomes will be shared, including retention and adherence data, responses to feasibility and acceptability questionnaires (FIM, AIM, SSQ), and basic demographic variables (age, sex). No identifying information will be included. Exploratory questionnaire data and behavioral task data may also be shared in de-identified form, depending on journal or funder requirements.
Publications
Whitmore NW, Harris JC, Kovach T, Paller KA. Improving memory via automated targeted memory reactivation during sleep. J Sleep Res. 2022 Dec;31(6):e13731. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13731. Epub 2022 Sep 21.
PubMed 36129154Rosenkranz MA, Davidson RJ, Maccoon DG, Sheridan JF, Kalin NH, Lutz A. A comparison of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an active control in modulation of neurogenic inflammation. Brain Behav Immun. 2013 Jan;27(1):174-84. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2012.10.013. Epub 2012 Oct 22.
PubMed 23092711MacCoon DG, Imel ZE, Rosenkranz MA, Sheftel JG, Weng HY, Sullivan JC, Bonus KA, Stoney CM, Salomons TV, Davidson RJ, Lutz A. The validation of an active control intervention for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Behav Res Ther. 2012 Jan;50(1):3-12. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2011.10.011. Epub 2011 Nov 11.
PubMed 22137364Konkoly KR, Appel K, Chabani E, Mangiaruga A, Gott J, Mallett R, Caughran B, Witkowski S, Whitmore NW, Mazurek CY, Berent JB, Weber FD, Turker B, Leu-Semenescu S, Maranci JB, Pipa G, Arnulf I, Oudiette D, Dresler M, Paller KA. Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Curr Biol. 2021 Apr 12;31(7):1417-1427.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026. Epub 2021 Feb 18.
PubMed 33607035Katyal S, Hajcak G, Flora T, Bartlett A, Goldin P. Event-related potential and behavioural differences in affective self-referential processing in long-term meditators versus controls. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2020 Apr;20(2):326-339. doi: 10.3758/s13415-020-00771-y.
PubMed 31981093Honma M, Plass J, Brang D, Florczak SM, Grabowecky M, Paller KA. Sleeping on the rubber-hand illusion: Memory reactivation during sleep facilitates multisensory recalibration. Neurosci Conscious. 2016;2016(1):niw020. doi: 10.1093/nc/niw020. Epub 2016 Oct 17.
PubMed 28184322Glowacki DR, Williams RR, Wonnacott MD, Maynard OM, Freire R, Pike JE, Chatziapostolou M. Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics. Sci Rep. 2022 May 30;12(1):8995. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12637-z.
PubMed 35637199Carr, M., Konkoly, K., Mallett, R., Edwards, C., Appel, K., & Blagrove, M. (2023). Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 10(4), 413-430. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000227
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 12 Feb 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Feasibility of a Mental-Health Intervention Based on Contemplative Sleep Practices
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07217340
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STU00222189
- Conditions
- Anxiety
- Keywords
- lucid dreaming, dream yoga, contemplative sleep practices, mind-body intervention, meditation
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 25 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Northwestern UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Virginia, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation
- Study start
- 1 Oct 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Dec 2025 (actual)
- Study completion
- 1 Dec 2025 (actual)
- First posted
- 15 Oct 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This is a feasibility study to test whether it is possible to deliver a program inspired by Tibetan Dream Yoga in a modern, accessible way. Dream Yoga is a set of contemplative practices that combine mental exercises during the day with techniques for becoming aware of dreaming within a dream (lucid dreaming) and engage in certain dream activities. The purpose of these practices is to help people explore and loosen rigid patterns of thought and behavior.
In this study, the investigators are developing and testing a program that includes guided imagination, meditation, and lucid-dreaming practices, supported by virtual-reality experiences and home-based sleep-monitoring technology. Participants are randomly assigned to either the Dream-Yoga-inspired program or a comparison program focused on general health and sleep education.
Because this is a feasibility trial, our main goals are to see whether people are willing and able to take part, whether they find the program acceptable, and whether the investigators can deliver it as planned. The investigators will also explore early signals of change in sleep, dreaming, and thinking.
The long-term goal of this research is to determine if such interventions could be beneficial for supporting psychological well-being, improving sleep, and enhancing creativity and flexibility of thought.
Detailed description
Recent methodological advances enable novel scientific explorations of dreaming activities. Whereas the science of dreaming suffered historically from inadequate strategies, a new era has dawned driven by innovations in physiological sleep monitoring, two-way communication during the dream state, and lucid-dream induction.
New opportunities for dream research emerged with the demonstration that dreamers can accurately perceive spoken questions and deliver coded answers to those questions while remaining in REM sleep verified with standard polysomnography. Subsequent studies confirmed the viability of these methods and used them to explore outstanding questions about dreams. The method the experimenters use to produce lucid dreaming in the sleep laboratory, Targeted Lucidity Reactivation (TLR), was substantiated with the published demonstration that 50% of participants tested achieved a lucid dream, and now extended to the home environment based on at-home strategies previously used for slow-wave-sleep Targeted Memory Reactivation. Building on this foundation, we can use lucid-dream induction and interactive dreaming in both lab and home environments to investigate contemplative sleep practices.
Over centuries, Tibetan-Buddhist contemplatives developed and documented techniques for spiritual insight. One portrayal of insight in this context is to deconstructed conventional reality, noted that ordinary waking experience is like a dream in that people tend to grasp onto perceptual objects, thoughts, or ideas without understanding their interdependent, impermanent, and mentally constructed nature. The Buddhist literature on Dream Yoga includes manuals describing recommended practices, descriptions of benefits that can be achieved, such as enhanced cognition and emotional flexibility. The progressive exercises of Dream Yoga, including waking imagination and activities during lucid dreams, enable the dreamer to gain control over dream content, creating a platform to alter deeply ingrained habits and work to deconstruct ordinary conceptualizations.
Based on traditional wake- and sleep-based practices, we have developed an accessible strategy for personal insight, capitalizing on modern virtual-reality and sleep technology to supplement dreaming experiences. People spend a third of their lives asleep, usually oblivious to the opportunities that sleep offers. Excessive pressure in people's lives makes some consider sleep a waste of time. Yet, sleep has untapped value for mental and physical health, as increasingly acknowledged due to steady advances in the science of sleep. Today's orthodox view nevertheless holds that, although people can constructively control the context of sleep with proper habits of Sleep Hygiene, there is little control after placing a head on the pillow-sleep either goes well or it doesn't. We propose that advanced contemplative practices during sleep may hold powerful opportunities.
There is a glaring worldwide need to optimize sleep. Poor sleep is associated with many psychiatric and neurological disorders. The high prevalence of insomnia and suboptimal sleeping also contributes to other problems (e.g., low work-productivity, depression, and suicidal tendencies). A new orientation known as sleep engineering makes use of methods such as strategic sensory stimulation and sleep-and wake-based mental exercises, which can be guided by contemplative insights to enhance psychological health and well-being.
Sleep is crucial for memory, emotional regulation, and numerous aspects of health. Methods for producing transformative dream experiences and reliably provoking lucid dreaming may hold promise for reducing depression and anxiety. A randomized controlled trial was designed to test whether the intervention produces changes in sleep and waking neurophysiology, cognitive flexibility, creative insight, and self-referential focus. The intervention includes practices during dreaming and waking, whereby people learn to cultivate specific skills, aided by virtual-reality experiences and wireless sleep-technology in their own homes. As an initial step, this randomized controlled trial is designed to examine feasibility, acceptability, tolerability, and potential outcomes.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (participant, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention | Experimental | Behavioral: Dream Yoga Inspired InterventionThis customized contemplative training will guide participants in exploring techniques used in Tibetan Dream Yoga. Strategies in Tibetan Dream-Yoga manuals are thus transferred to a modern context and adapted as a group intervention. Goals will be set for dreaming that include gaining a degree of volitional influence over the dream. Wearable devices will be used to present cues during sleep both to provoke lucidity and to remind individuals of Dream-Yoga exercises to be engaged during sleep. Virtual-reality (VR) sessions provide a novel adjunct to Dream Yoga, in keeping with prior research integrating lucid dreaming and VR (Gott et al., 2021). The protocol progresses though several group activities; individuals feel themselves dispersing into a void within the VR world, and then blending with others, leading the reduced self-grasping. If this unique VR component can blur conventional self-other boundaries, it may reinforce the progressive instructions in Dream Yoga. |
| Sleep Health Enhancement program | Active comparator | Behavioral: Sleep Health Enhancement programA modified version of the Health Enhancement Program (HEP), which was developed as an active control condition for mindfulness-based interventions, with a particular focus on sleep hygiene. It controls for several non-specific factors such as expectations of positive change, group support, behavioural activation, facilitator attention, at-home practice, treatment duration, and format (MacCoon et al., 2012; Rosenkranz et al., 2013). Our modified HEP will be structurally equivalent to the Dream-Yoga condition, with high similarity on non-program-specific factors, including timing and number of sessions. The two VR sessions will focus on health enhancement. Participants will be taught positive health-enhancing practices, such as healthy diet and gentle exercise, with activity-based sessions covering exercise, sleep, dreaming, stress, anxiety, nutrition, journaling, music enjoyment, and drawing. Home practice and implementation of health-enhancing habits will be encouraged. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Healthy, English-speaking adults (at least 18 years old) with
- High dream recall (at least 1/month).
Key exclusion criteria (7 listed)
- a history of an established meditative practice
- psychological or psychiatric disorders (other than mild anxiety)
- sleep disorders, nightshift work in the past month, extreme chronotype or irregular sleeping pattern
- use of recreational drugs in the past month
- history of asthma, seizures or heart problems
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Dream Yoga Inspired InterventionAlso: Contemplative Sleep Practice InterventionThis customized contemplative training will guide participants in exploring techniques used in Tibetan Dream Yoga, including somatic awareness and intention-setting prior to sleep. Strategies in Tibetan Dream-Yoga manuals are thus transferred to a modern context and adapted as a group intervention. Goals will be set for dreaming that include gaining a degree of volitional influence over the dream. Participants will be instructed on how to work with their dream-world self-concept, which can include changing the environment deliberately, making other individuals appear, and switching identities with other individuals in the dream. Wearable devices will be used to present cues during sleep both to provoke lucidity and to remind individuals of Dream-Yoga exercises to be engaged during sleep. The intervention includes both wake- and sleep-based instructions, with instructions on learning to apply the new orientation in their daily lives. Participants will be contacted individually to assure | Behavioural | Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention |
| Sleep Health Enhancement programAlso: Health Enhancement ProgramThe control group will receive a modified version of the Health Enhancement Program (HEP), which was developed as an active control condition for mindfulness-based interventions, with a particular focus on sleep hygiene. It controls for several non-specific factors such as expectations of positive change, group support, behavioural activation, facilitator attention, at-home practice, treatment duration, and format (MacCoon et al., 2012; Rosenkranz et al., 2013). Our modified HEP will be structurally equivalent to the Dream-Yoga condition, with high similarity on non-program-specific factors, including timing and number of sessions. The two VR sessions will focus on health enhancement. Participants will be taught positive health-enhancing practices, such as healthy diet and gentle exercise, with activity-based sessions covering exercise, sleep, dreaming, stress, anxiety, nutrition, journaling, music enjoyment, and drawing. Home practice and implementation of health-enhancing habits will | Behavioural | Sleep Health Enhancement program |
Primary outcome
Study Retention
Time frame: 7 weeks (baseline to post-intervention)
Study retention as an outcome measure will be considered positive if ≥65% of participants complete data collection at both pre- and post-intervention.
Acceptability of the Intervention
Time frame: 7 weeks (throughout the intervention period)
Acceptability will be assessed through composite measures of adherence to different elements of the intervention. The intervention will be considered acceptable if at least 70% of participants attend a minimum of five sessions. Adherence to supportive practices (dream journaling and online SHEP engagement) will also be assessed. These components will be considered acceptable if ≥75% of participants engage in Virtual Reality at a rate of ≥65%.
Tolerability of Dream Yoga Virtual Reality
Time frame: 7 weeks (after each VR session)
Tolerability will be assessed using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), which measures nausea, oculomotor strain, and disorientation. The intervention will be considered tolerable if fewer than 20% of participants report severe simulator sickness or withdraw due to VR-related adverse effects. Additional safety will be monitored through adverse event logs.
Study Retention
Time frame: 7 weeks (baseline to post-intervention)
Feasibility will be assessed through study retention, defined as ≥65% of participants completing data collection at both pre- and post-intervention.
3 secondary outcomes
Frequency of Lucid Dreaming
Time frame: 7 weeks
Acceptability of the intervention
Time frame: 7 weeks
Feasibility of the Intervention
Time frame: 7 Week
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 12 Feb 2026.
- Background: PubMed 36129154Whitmore NW, Harris JC, Kovach T, Paller KA. Improving memory via automated targeted memory reactivation during sleep. J Sleep Res. 2022 Dec;31(6):e13731. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13731. Epub 2022 Sep 21.
- Background: PubMed 23092711Rosenkranz MA, Davidson RJ, Maccoon DG, Sheridan JF, Kalin NH, Lutz A. A comparison of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an active control in modulation of neurogenic inflammation. Brain Behav Immun. 2013 Jan;27(1):174-84. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2012.10.013. Epub 2012 Oct 22.
- Background: PubMed 22137364MacCoon DG, Imel ZE, Rosenkranz MA, Sheftel JG, Weng HY, Sullivan JC, Bonus KA, Stoney CM, Salomons TV, Davidson RJ, Lutz A. The validation of an active control intervention for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Behav Res Ther. 2012 Jan;50(1):3-12. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2011.10.011. Epub 2011 Nov 11.
- Background: PubMed 33607035Konkoly KR, Appel K, Chabani E, Mangiaruga A, Gott J, Mallett R, Caughran B, Witkowski S, Whitmore NW, Mazurek CY, Berent JB, Weber FD, Turker B, Leu-Semenescu S, Maranci JB, Pipa G, Arnulf I, Oudiette D, Dresler M, Paller KA. Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Curr Biol. 2021 Apr 12;31(7):1417-1427.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026. Epub 2021 Feb 18.
- Background: PubMed 31981093Katyal S, Hajcak G, Flora T, Bartlett A, Goldin P. Event-related potential and behavioural differences in affective self-referential processing in long-term meditators versus controls. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2020 Apr;20(2):326-339. doi: 10.3758/s13415-020-00771-y.
- Background: PubMed 28184322Honma M, Plass J, Brang D, Florczak SM, Grabowecky M, Paller KA. Sleeping on the rubber-hand illusion: Memory reactivation during sleep facilitates multisensory recalibration. Neurosci Conscious. 2016;2016(1):niw020. doi: 10.1093/nc/niw020. Epub 2016 Oct 17.
- Background: PubMed 35637199Glowacki DR, Williams RR, Wonnacott MD, Maynard OM, Freire R, Pike JE, Chatziapostolou M. Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics. Sci Rep. 2022 May 30;12(1):8995. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-12637-z.
- BackgroundCarr, M., Konkoly, K., Mallett, R., Edwards, C., Appel, K., & Blagrove, M. (2023). Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 10(4), 413-430. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000227
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. De-identified individual participant data (IPD) underlying the primary and secondary feasibility outcomes will be shared, including retention and adherence data, responses to feasibility and acceptability questionnaires (FIM, AIM, SSQ), and basic demographic variables (age, sex). No identifying information will be included. Exploratory questionnaire data and behavioral task data may also be shared in de-identified form, depending on journal or funder requirements.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
2 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A Early Phase 1 study testing Dream Yoga Inspired Intervention and Sleep Health Enhancement program in people with Anxiety, run by Northwestern University at 2 sites in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 Feb 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 2 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
What does this phase mean?
Early Phase 1 (sometimes called Phase 0) studies give a very small amount of a treatment to a few people, mainly to see how the body handles it.
Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Study Retention (time frame: 7 weeks (baseline to post-intervention)). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07217340, which also lists 8 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 12 Feb 2026.