Part of good law practice management is taking care of yourself well enough that you are capable of managing your practice well, not to mention actually practicing law. As our February membership luncheon speaker pointed out, lawyers are notoriously bad at taking care of themselves. Meditation is becoming more and more popular as one aspect of taking care of yourself, even among lawyers. As a certified iRest® meditation teacher, I have written about meditation and iRest for the Marin Lawyer before and have briefly discussed the nonprofit behind iRest (short for “Integrative Restoration”) but the good work it does is worthy of one of our nonprofit profiles. (You can read more about meditation and the practice of iRest in my article in the September 2017 issue of the Marin Lawyer.)

iRest Origins

Fifty years ago, Richard Miller took a yoga course at the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco in order to meet people. It turned out that the teacher insisted on silence during the entire twelve-week course! But at the end of the first class, the teacher led a traditional yoga nidra meditation and Richard went home feeling connected—to himself, not least of all—and full of joy despite not talking with anyone. Thus began a lifelong journey that has resulted in changing the lives of many people.

Over the following decades, Richard—who is a clinical psychologist—adapted these ancient yogic practices to the modern world using Western psychology and neuroscience. He calls the various practices that are part of iRest “tools for life,” designed to make meditation easier and give you skills that, “empower you to skillfully meet each moment with unshakable peace and wellbeing—no matter how challenging or difficult your situation.”

That sounded pretty good to me when I first learned about iRest (which is sometimes referred to as iRest yoga nidra or even just with the traditional yoga nidra term alone). What also impressed me was that iRest is an evidence-based practice (something lawyers appreciate) and one of the largest consumers of it was the Department of Defense. The Department uses iRest as part of treating PTSD. I thought surely if iRest can do that, it could help me. If you want to know more about practicing iRest itself, read my article in the link above. What I’ll say here is that iRest is easy, powerful and effective. Most students I’ve had finish their very first guided meditation with comments like, “That was amazing,” and “I want more.”

The iRest Institute

I truly believe that iRest helps to save my life every day. It has given me the hope and strength I needed to reconnect myself to the world again.

—U.S. Marine, Iraq War Veteran with three deployments.

The iRest Institute’s history is closely tied to the service and support of the U.S. military. In 2006, the Department of Defense studied the use of iRest to treat PTSD at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The results were so promising that the Department hired the director of the study to implement iRest as part of its treatment of PTSD in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The use of iRest has since spread to nearly 100 military bases/hospitals and VA facilities.

The Institute was founded as a nonprofit to train and support the increasing number of teachers needed as well as to promote research and exploration of other specific uses, such as the treatment of pain, addiction, insomnia and many other maladies, and settings, such as in hospice or homeless shelters, for iRest. (You can read about many studies involving iRest on the Institute’s website, where it links to the studies.)

I have been doing this yoga nidra now for about 3 years and I have gotten to a point now that I don’t have to take any medication for my blood pressure. And I don’t take anything for sleeping, so it has made a big improvement.

—Tom Rusneck, Vietnam Veteran

The Institute’s small offices on Mission Street in San Rafael support programs all over the world, from Australia to Germany to Japan. The office is partly virtual, with some key employees in other parts of the country. The primary activity of the Institute is teaching. Much of that is training future teachers but increasingly there are programs for the general public.

I went through the Institute’s teacher certification program, which can take several years. Many of my student colleagues were from military settings, if not the military itself, such as therapists at VA facilities. iRest has helped tens of thousands of soldiers and veterans. A medic with PTSD after two tours in Iraq discusses his experience with iRest in this moving YouTube video. He was able to continue serving in the military, was deployed to Afghanistan and started teaching iRest to soldiers there to prepare them for what he calls “the second war”—returning to civilian life. The VA has even developed a program available free to all veterans where they can dial in by phone to access iRest teachings.

The Institute also supports teachers as they develop iRest programs in different settings. One example is Thrive Inside, a nonprofit in the U.K. where certified iRest teacher Paul Collins developed a program to help prisoners deal with lifetimes of trauma in the hopes of rehabilitation and recovery. Says Collins, “Thrive Inside is a complete personal development program to help these residents find meaning and purpose in their lives, and to become worthwhile members of society.”

I learned from Richard Miller the other night that China has reached out to the Institute for help for medical personnel treating COVID-19 and Australia reached out for help for the legions of firefighters who battled the extraordinary fires this Australian summer. Gratitude from both has been flowing in ever since.

In addition to trainings, the Institute offers retreats—again, all over the world but also right in our backyard at Dominican’s Santa Sabina retreat center. Of varying lengths, they are open to anyone with an interest. You can learn more about the Institute’s retreats and trainings on its website. You can also try out free guided practices. Or you can come try it out at my Thursday evening meditations in the City at the Integral Yoga Institute—yes the same place Richard Miller first experienced yoga nidra. If you are interested, ask me about it and if there is enough interest, I can teach MCBA members.