iRest Research and Programs

iRest accomplishes its goal through two basic steps:

1. The recognition of an intrinsic sense of peace during all circumstances, and
2. The release of negative body sensations, emotions, and beliefs and stress that give rise to self-destructive patterns.

iRest is comprised of ten components:

• Development of Intention
• Body sensitivity training
• Breath and energy awareness
• Systematic neutralization of:
• 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 and mind
• The ability to experience peace amidst the changing circumstances of life

Who is being served?

• Adults, kids and children from all walks of life and stages of development
• Soldiers and Veterans Experiencing PTSD
• Military Spouses and Family
• People experiencing homelessness, including adults, families and children
• Kindergarten kids ages 5-7 and other kids of all ages
• People in chemical dependency and relapse prevention programs
• People with sleep disorders
• People experiencing chronic pain
• People with breathing disorders
• College students
• Adolescents at risk
• People with Multiple sclerosis
• Incarcerated men and women
• Couples experiencing infertility issues

What are the needs that iRest addresses?

• iRest helps adults, children, couples and families increase their sense of well being, as well as heal through psychological, physical and spiritual issues including, but not limited to insomnia, anxiety, chronic pain, anger outbursts, hyper-vigilance, depression and PTSD.

People using iRest report:

• Decreased insomnia
• Reduced depression, anxiety and fear
• Decreased perception of chronic and acute pain
• Decreased stress in daily life
• Improved interpersonal relations
• Increased comfort with situations they could not control, and paradoxically
• Increased sense of control in their lives
• Increase energy levels

In 2006 the Department of Defense conducted research on the iRest protocol at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.

Following the study the Deployment Health Clinical Center (DHCC) at WRAMC integrated iRest into its weekly treatment program for soldiers. iRest classes have subsequently been set up at VA facilities in Miami, Kentucky, Ohio, Chicago and Washington, DC.

Additional research has also been completed, is underway or in the proposal stage studying iRest with:

Photo: Joy Doherty

• PTSD (Miami VA, N Chicago VA, John Hopkins)
• Chemical dependency relapse prevention (Brooklyn, NY and Washington VA)
• College students (U of Missouri, Evergreen State College)
• Multiple Sclerosis (Boise, ID)
• Sleep disorders (Brooke Army Medical Center: BAMC
• Resiliency (BAMC)
• Chronic Pain (Salt Lake City)
• Homelessness (COTS Petaluma, CA)
• iRest classes have been set up for lay individuals, children, military and veterans at various facilities throughout the US and Canada including Missouri, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, California, Louisiana, Maryland, Washington, DC and other sites. Find a teacher or class near you.

What makes iRest appropriate and effective for these populations?

• iRest empowers participants with a non-pharmaceutical adjunctive program that compliments any current program they are using for healing, as well as managing symptoms of stress, insomnia, trauma, chronic pain, and other stress-related symptoms.
• Learning to focus the mind on the present moment helps people resist the urge to revisit traumatic life events or worry about possible future ones.
• iRest helps people experience within themselves a ground of health and well-being that is present even as they are experiencing symptoms. This lessens the impact of their symptoms and provides a solid ground for health, healing and well-being.
• iRest emphasizes the practice of being aware of, and welcoming immediate as well as past experiences. This is one aspect of the iRest protocol that helps participants learn how to release tension and increases acceptance of life as it is.
• iRest teaches tools for life for dealing with difficult circumstances.
• iRest is a non-dogmatic, secular, accessible and easy to learn program that is being used and adapted by many races, faiths, cultures and geographic locations throughout the world.
• iRest is an easy to practice experience-based program that is learned through a series of structured and predictable guided practice sessions.
• Participants quickly feel successful in their learning of and experience with iRest.
• iRest is taught as a self-administered program that frees participants from being tied to a particular class, location or instructor.
• iRest has a program for all age groups and needs, ages 3 - 103 years of age. iRest can be practiced by an entire family.
• iRest fosters freedom from stress and trauma, and helps identify and heal destructive tendencies that otherwise can impede the healing process.

What do people say about their experience with iRest?

Photo: Joy Doherty

• Instead of feeling like there is something wrong with us, iRest makes us feel like there is something right with us. Gilbert, OIF Vet
• I actually feel free of the prison of my mind. Rene - Vietnam Vet
• When I can't sleep at night, I remember the techniques we do in iRest. If that doesn't work, I use the iRest CD. It is the only thing I've found that really works Joey, OEF Vet
• iRest makes me feel light again. I used to feel like this long ago. But then when the flashbacks would come, I silenced them with drugs and alcohol and darkness consumed my whole life. Sitting in this class a few weeks ago, I had the realization that choosing darkness was my choice. So, I said to myself, why can't I just choose light instead? I feel like change is in my hands. Jon, Vietnam Vet
• Please accept my deep gratitude for your practice of iRest Yoga Nidra. I listen to the CD every day. "It's a miracle. The practice cures everything in me. I can fly. It wakes up my energy. I start the day in a very calm way. It is very stressful at the clinic where I work, but not since I started doing your iRest Yoga Nidra! Today I ran for the bus, but I wasn't frantic like I usually am. I simply ran... without any nervousness. Sally, iRest Student
• You give us hope that maybe we aren't just killers after all. Ed, OEF Vet
• Since my son became ill my stress has created stress in our home. My husband and I have been fighting and I have struggled to maintain composure and control of my emotions at home and at work. After attending my first IRest class I felt calm and secure for the first time since my son became ill. When I got home my husband and I peacefully had dinner and worked together to bathe and put our son to bed. It was the best evening that we had had since before our son got sick. It was amazing the way I could feel the anxious feeling in my heart loosen as I talked myself through "I am calm" "I am strong". I am really enjoying my iRest class and the impact that it is having on my life. Thank you! Joan, Mother
• iRest brought out the 10-year old boy that I didn't even know existed anymore. I was so happy to know that a part of me is still innocent. I want to find him again and learn to laugh again. Ralph - Vietnam Vet

Photo: zlanj
• The use of iRest has taught me to truly welcome and accept my feelings and sensations just as they are; to not ignore or become enmeshed in them. I have stopped defining myself through my experiences and have come to know I am enough, just as I am. I feel less pain, both physically and emotionally. I sense peace and joy expanding outside of my practice and spilling into my everyday life. Even my relations with others feel enriched. I am deeply grateful for iRest is a profound tool, which can enhance any therapy. My hope is that anyone struggling with his or her own life challenges, or searching for deeper meaning to life, will have the same opportunity to experience this life-giving practice as I have. Cancer Survivor
• This iRest is the piece that was missing from the PTSD program. It fits with everything else they teach us, but it also teaches us a way to find our own peace without drugs or counseling that we can use once we get out of the program. It is the one thing I know I'm going to keep doing when I leave. Martin - Vietnam Vet
• I’m usually a very angry person, but now I’m able to relax. After participating in the iRest Yoga Nidra group I was so surprised to realize that I could handle my day without drugs or panic attacks. And my usual anger calmed down and I find that I can contribute more directly to whatever’s going on. Susanna, Homeless Woman
• I think every soldier returning from Iraq and Afghanistan should be required to attend iRest classes to help with their transition back. Joe - Vietnam Vet
• I listen to the CD in bed and feel ecstatic in my head but my body is still and not moving. I feel negative situations and my negative emotions are now easier to let go of. I’m resisting and fighting life a lot less. Art, Homeless Man