Richard Miller has developed Yoga Nidra Integrative Restoration iRest to make it uniquely suitable for Westerners. He has taught the iRest protocol to thousands of individuals in classes, retreats, and individual sessions throughout North America. The goal of Yoga Nidra is to provide participants with embodied skills that they can use throughout their lives to assist them in experiencing a sense of mastery when encountering difficult circumstances, and recognition of an underlying, ever-present joy that pervades and informs their everyday life. In this 3-part series Richard invites you to discover why Yoga Nidra is fast becoming one of the most sought after practices of yoga.
The Heart of Yoga Nidra: Awakening to your Own True Nature
In this 2-part yoga audio download, Richard presents the 12-step process of Integrative Restoration – iRest, which he has developed as a modern rendition of the ancient meditative practice of Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is derived from the nondual wisdom traditions of yoga and Tantra (yoga = embodying what is timeless + nidra = across all states of consciousness) and leads to psychological, physical and spiritual healing.
Each yoga download consists of an in-depth 30-minute presentation by Richard laying out the foundational principles of his approach to Yoga Nidra, followed by an intimate and lively discussion between Richard and the participants.
The ultimate design of Yoga Nidra is to help us live contented lives, free of conflict, anxiety, fear, and suffering. Yoga Nidra is (1) integrative in that it heals the various separative splits that are present in the body, mind and senses; and (2) restorative in that it aids its practitioner in recognizing their underlying nondual ground of Being that they share in common with all sentient and insentient objects.
Yoga Nidra accomplishes its goal through two basic steps: 1) The embodiment of pure awareness, andThe release of negative body sensations, emotions, and (2) beliefs and stress that give rise to self-destructive patterns.
Yoga Nidra: The Interwoven Thread that Empowers Your Practice of Yoga
In this audio yoga download, yoga therapist Richard Miller discusses Yoga Nidra as a comprehensive view of spiritual awakening drawn from the unqualified teachings of Kashmir nondual Tantra Yoga. It is a wisdom path of the heart that will inform all aspects of your yoga practice, including Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara and the path of meditation (Dharana, Dhyana and Samâdhi).
Yoga Nidra provides you with a comprehensive map, an exquisite orientation and a straightforward path of understanding that will help you maintain a clear perspective of all the yogic teachings you will ever receive over the coming years. Its comprehensive map makes everything clear, simple and understandable in what otherwise can feel like a sea of yoga confusion.
Richard’s comprehensive understanding and easy style of delivery makes the complex field of yoga teachings clear and easy to understand.
Currently the US Army is researching Miller’s iRest protocol through studies at Walter Reed Army Hospital, in conjunction with the Samueli Foundation, with active duty soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are experiencing post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). As a result of the initial findings, Walter Reed Health Deployment Clinical Center has integrated iRest into its weekly treatment program for soldiers who are rotating through the Walter Reed clinic.
A study was also recently completed with the homeless, which was funded by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in conjunction with the Committee on the Shelterless (COTS) and the Center of Timeless Being (CTB). And another study is currently underway at Evergreen State College to assess the effectiveness of Yoga Nidra on the well-being of college students. Participants of the recently conducted Walter Reed Feasibility Study and the COTS-IONS-CTB study with the Homeless reported:
- Decreased insomnia
- Reduced depression, anxiety and fear
- Improved interpersonal relations
- Increased comfort with situations they could not control, and paradoxically
- Increased sense of control in their lives
Yoga Nidra is a non-dogmatic, non-religious secular practice. It consists of a series of 30-40 minute sessions where participants are guided through sequences that cover:
- Body Sensing Training
- Breath and energy awareness
- Systematic desensitization and disidentification to neutralize:
- negative body sensations and stress
- negative feelings & emotions, and
- negative beliefs, images and memories
- The experience of joy and well-being
- Freedom from the sense of separation generated by the senses, mind and ego-I thought
- The ability to experience equanimity with the realization that everything in life is constantly changing, and
- Embodiment of pure awareness during each life circumstance
Richard has taught the iRest protocol to thousands of individuals in classes, retreats, and individual sessions throughout North America. Research projects currently underway or under development include using iRest with:
- Active duty veterans with PTSD (Multiple VA sites throughout North America)
- The Homeless (Petaluma, CA)
- People experiencing chronic pain (Salt Lake City)
- People experiencing asthma and other breathing disorders (New York City
- The well-being of college students (Evergreen State College, U of Missouri, U of Maryland)
