iRest.
iRest was developed by Dr. Richard Miller, a spiritual teacher, yogic scholar and clinical psychologist. He combined traditional yoga practice, various ancient Eastern spiritual teachings including, Vedanta and nondualism, with Western psychology and neuroscience.
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Practiced and taught worldwide in a variety of settings including schools, prisons and veteran communities, iRest has been scientifically proven to alleviate symptoms of chronic pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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What to Expect
If you’ve practised Yoga Nidra before, you may recognise the initial invitation to lay down and rest! The first few moments of practise are dedicated to acknowledging a personal intention and if appropriate, considering a deeper, heartfelt desire for life.
Forming and nurturing an inner resource, is the next important step of iRest. Unique to the protocol, this inner resource is often described as a felt-sense of safety and ok-ness, deep wellbeing and ease. From this grounded felt-sense of comfort and safety, we can begin to enquire into our sensory awareness, through the body and breath. This practice leads the body and mind into a deep state of relaxation.
A unique aspect to iRest is the invitation to welcome and inquire sensations, thoughts, emotions, belief and images as they arise, Am I my body? Am I my thoughts? Who am I? These inquiries lead us also to explore the “I-thought” and who “I” is registering the changing nature of our perceived reality. Overtime, we realise that our reality is always changing and we become less swayed by, or identified with, any thought, belief, emotion, sensation, image or experience.
Habitual ways of reacting to things in life are replaced by a constant equanimity, even in the midst of change and uncertainty. When practiced regularly, little and often, we learn to meet each moment of life, no matter how challenging or uncertain, with unshakable peace and ease.