Council of Stewards

MFA, RYT 200, Certified iRest® Instructor
San Antonio, TX

My "Day Job", is in Adveritsing where stress, anxiety, and unrealistic deadlines are the norm. A yoga teacher suggested I practice Yoga Nidra to help manage my life, which I did for awhile....Then I decided to get my Yoga certification. The Yoga School I attended required a research paper. So with my usual energy and zeal I found the practice of Intergrative Restoration, iRest®, Contacted Dr. Richard Miller and found myself in a Level One training 3 weeks later.

For the last 4 years, iRest® has found home in most every aspect of my life. I am happy to have completed Certification and teach iRest®, in public workshops, classes, and privately. San Antonio is a MIlitary rich city and I am fortuate to have participated in a Pilot Study at Brooke Army Medical Center, studying iRest® and Compassion Fatigue. We are gearing up for a fully funded study on Resilience and Military Couples. Many thanks to the team at Yoga Corps,(now Warriors at Ease), for providing their valuable teaching to better prepare me for interfacing with the military.

So how is my life now? I am happy, smile and laugh a lot more.....and feel joy. Life is busy, but now I move thu my day with the understanding, that every thing is just perfect, remember to exhale, and be in the moment.

Mary Ellen Rose

Stephanie Lopez, L.I.S.W.-S.
Certified iRest Yoga Nidra Teacher
Columbus, OH

Stephanie holds a masters degree in clinical social work and is a Gestalt therapist who interweaves iRest yoga nidra and self-inquiry into her clinical practice. Her areas of specialization include anxiety, depression, trauma, addictions, relational and character issues, end of life, and grief work. She is also a 200-hour certified yoga teacher.

Stephanie’s teaching style creates a deep sense of safety and support, welcoming all of who you are, and engenders a meeting space based on truth and authenticity. She teaches group iRest classes, workshops, and private dyads. She has taught principles of iRest Yoga Nidra and non-dualism at 200-hour level yoga teacher trainings since 2007. She has also assisted and taught at iRest Teacher Trainings. Her intention is to join students where they are and welcome self-inquiry to resolve suffering and reveal the utter wholeness of one’s Being.

Stephanie has been devoted to Living Truth, in which the nondual teachings are a pointer, since first meeting and studying with Richard Miller in 2002. She continues to be astonished and inspired by the unfolding of Truth that comes with welcoming life and all aspects of the self, just as they are. She has served as a member of the Council of Stewards with the Center of Timeless Being, which has since developed into IRI. She considers it a great privilege to support IRI, its students, and community to bring these teachings out into the world.

Stephanie regularly finds joy in her marriage with her husband, Francisco, and with her two kittens, along with running and hiking. She also has a long love affair with chocolate.

iRest Certified Teacher
New York, NY

From her first experience of iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation with Richard Miller, long before there was the training program for teachers, long before there was an Institute and website, and long before there were research studies documenting iRest’s efficacy, Adrienne knew three things:

First, that she had finally found a meditation practice that made sense physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Second, that what is now known as iRest Yoga Nidra Meditation and Body Sensing Yoga would transform the practice of yoga and meditation in this country.

Third, that Adrienne would take an active role in introducing this practice to others. Serving on the Council is an affirmation of that first knowing years ago.

Always one who believes in the potential of the human heart to heal, Adrienne has found a way to be in the presence of healing on a daily basis. As the principle instructor in research studies in the area of substance abuse at a national residential treatment facility, she knows first hand the relief that iRest practice brings: relief from the pain of multiple gunshot wounds; relief from the debilitating effects of chronic asthma; relief from the deep desire to use chemicals to self medicate in order to feel better.

Adrienne’s iRest CD is successfully being used in the Memory Impaired/Alzheimer Program at the Jewish Home & Hospital Lifecare System in NYC. She also instructs weekly yoga classes in the day care program for seniors with various levels of cognitive and physical disabilities.

Adrienne holds a masters degree in Exercise Physiology, is a certified professional level yoga instructor and an iRest Certified Teacher. She is an anatomy instructor who has spent 20 years researching and teaching about how physical gender differences affect women practicing yoga. As the founding director of the Dharmic Institute, Adrienne is the creator and director of the nation’s first Yoga Teacher Certification training with a specialty in women’s health and healing.

For more than 17 years, Adrienne has maintained a successful private practice as a yoga and meditation instructor in New York City (www.DharmicInstitute.org) where is lives happily with her husband.