Richard Miller and iRest

What a weekend! It has been intense in terms of all the great experiences and the yogis and yoginis I had the opportunity to interact with.

Let me start with last Friday and work my way through Sunday.
On Friday there was a free event at one of YogaYoga studios. The room was almost full and everyone was ready to listen and meet Richard Miller Ph.D.

Dr. Miller is author of Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga; he is a clinical psychologist and contemporary spiritual teacher of non-dualism. Richard Miller is the founding president of the Center of Timeless Being, co-founder and CO-president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology, and co-founder of the International Association of Yoga Therapy.

He told us about his first encounter with yoga back in 1970. To his surprise, (he was expecting an active class) his first class was a Yoga Nidra class. From that class he found a mentor that guided him into yoga and psychotherapy. During those years he even taught some classes for Bikram for a couple of years.
During his presentation, Dr. Miller said “Yoga is knowing feelingly and exponentially that what I see is part of me, it awakens the 7 senses and moves us from the illusion of separation”

He has come to understand that all the practices are skillful means to explore the mind. Miller had a realization after being able to have his foot behind his head that “I wasn’t any better than anyone just for doing that.” At that moment he decided to become a witness in presence.

The difference between Yoga Nidra and iRest is that we use a more western language and approach so the practice is available to everyone. Dr. Miller said that in India the practice of YogaNidra seems a little bit like an imposition in terms of the symbols this practice use. He let the student decide which symbols to use and explore his own space.

Dr. Miller started applying it to post traumatic stress disorder patients; “ the military wanted to have a clear and simple way to use it,” he ads. The result was the title of Integrative restoration (iRest)
As for what he expects to see in the future of Yoga, Dr. Miller wishes that Meditation will become more prevalent in the studios so we can have a better understanding of the mind. “Violence only arises as a sense of separation,” he concluded.

To learn more about the Center of Timeless Being and Integrative Restoration iRest Yoga Nidra programs please visit CTB's website: www.nondual.com.