Yoga Nidra: The iRest Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing

by Richard Miller

Overview

A new edition of this acclaimed guide—updated with the most current, research-supported iRest® practices and insights

Within you resides an ever-present self that is always whole and healthy, filled with an abiding sense of inner peace, and completely indestructible. This is your true Essence, and no matter what you’ve been through in the past, it is here, waiting to be recognized, embodied, and remembered.

In this updated edition of his groundbreaking book Yoga Nidra, yogic scholar and clinical psychologist Dr. Richard Miller invites you to experience iRest®—a research-based approach to the ancient meditative art of Yoga Nidra.

While Yoga Nidra is perhaps best known as a practice for deep relaxation and better sleep, at its heart lies a profound path to inner freedom. With practice, we discover that everything we need to find healing, presence, and joy is already within us.

With clear instruction, new insights into the deeper roots of well-being, supplemental worksheets, and online audio practices, Miller guides you step-by-step to:

• Discover life-changing practices for vibrant health, personal empowerment, and inner transformation
• Enjoy complete relaxation and deep sleep—awaken refreshed and full of inspiration
• Find healing from trauma, addiction, chronic pain, daily stress, and more
• Explore the Vedic roots of Yoga Nidra—we are at once unique individuals and interconnected parts of a greater whole
• Access the state of consciousness between waking and sleeping at will and learn to work with your subconscious mind for greater healing and insight
• Awaken to your true Essence and the unshakable goodness, health, and joy already within

“Wholeness, presence, and indestructible well-being exist innately within us,” teaches Miller. “With Yoga Nidra, we realize that these aren’t qualities to attain down the road—they are gifts to be experienced from the outset of whatever journey we’re on.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683648970
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/01/2022
Pages:	168
Sales rank:	294,913
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Richard Miller, PhD, is a master of yoga and meditation who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology. Recognized as a leading authority on the practice of Yoga Nidra, he has founded and cofounded several key organizations including the International Association of Yoga Therapy, the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology, and the iRest Institute. Currently he is helping research the efficacy of iRest, a healing program Miller developed based on Yoga Nidra, with diverse populations. He lectures and teaches this method across the globe.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Foreword Lorin Roche xiii

Preface to the Second Edition xvii

Introduction The Open Secret 1

Chapter 1 The Marvelous World of Yoga Nidra 15

Chapter 2 The Practice of iRest Yoga Nidra 37

Step 1 The Search for Truth

Setting Your Intention 39

Step 2 Discovering Footprints

Affirming Your Heartfelt Desire 46

Step 3 Perceiving Truth

Experiencing Your Inner Resource 55

Step 4 Catching Truth

Sensing Your Body 63

Step 5 Knowing Truth

Awareness of Breath and Energy 67

Step 6 Taming Truth

Awareness of Feeling and Emotion 70

Step 7 Riding Truth Home

Awareness of the Body of Intellect 78

Step 8 Transcending Truth

Awareness of the Body of Joy 82

Step 9 Truth and Self Transcended

Awareness of the Body of Ego-I 85

Step 10 Reaching Source

Living the Natural State 91

Back in the Marketplace

Living Essential Nature in Everyday Life 99

Chapter 3 Final Reflections 103

iRest Yoga Nidra Worksheet 107

Examples of Opposites 117

Resources for Supporting Your Practice 123

Notes 125

References 129

Readings in Nondual Saivism 133

About the Author 135

Editorial Reviews

Whether you’re looking for deep relaxation, stress reduction, or spiritual transformation, you’re in good hands with yoga master and nondual psychotherapist Richard Miller, whose wise, warmhearted, accessible instruction in the time-honored practice of Yoga Nidra has the power to guide you all the way home!” —Stephan Bodian, former editor in chief of Yoga Journal, author of Meditation For Dummies, coauthor of Buddhism For Dummies

“In this collection, Richard brings us the practice of Yoga Nidra with a sophistication and power that it has not previously known in the West. Yoga Nidra is in so many ways the perfect tool for his nondual teachings, and his practices are absolutely delicious—simple, deep, and transformative. Like all authentic spiritual work, these practices produce fruit from the very beginning. They require only presence, and as such represent both the path and the goal of nondual practice.” —Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self and The Wisdom of Yoga

“Dr. Richard Miller is the ultimate teacher of teachers. In Yoga Nidra he shares from his personal experience the clear, concise path to our essential nature. Highly recommended for teachers and students on the spiritual path.” —Larry Payne, PhD, founder of Yoga Therapy Rx, coauthor of Yoga For Dummies and Yoga Rx, author of Yoga After 50 For Dummies

“Richard Miller’s book on Yoga Nidra makes an enormous contribution to our understanding of this most ancient practice. In a sea of new and often empty publications, this book deserves a place on the bookshelf of every yoga practitioner, be they beginner or teacher. Richard’s warmth and radiant presence, so familiar to his students and colleagues, ring through on every page.” —Donna Farhi, author of Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit and Bringing Yoga to Life

“Richard Miller eloquently invites everyone, from all pathways and spiritual traditions, to join him in this most powerful practice of Yoga Nidra. His wise guidance is clear and inspiring. This book is a must for everyone who hears the call and feels the inner longing for enlightenment.” —Lilias Folan, author of Lilias! Yoga Gets Better with Age

“Gratitude filled my heart as I turned each page of this book. It was gratitude, of course, for the deep teaching it offers. But gratitude also for the clear and gentle way Richard guides us on a most personal journey—the journey home to ourselves. This is a book to read slowly and ingest on the deepest levels.” —Judith Hanson Lasater, PhD, author of Yogabody

“Whether your goal is peace of mind or the secret of enlightenment, your journey begins here. Richard Miller leads you on a journey (which you can repeat every day for the rest of your life) to discover, beneath your current mood, beneath your body’s aches and pains, and beneath your mind’s self-limiting beliefs, the ‘vastness’ of who you really are.” —Amy Weintraub, author of Yoga for Depression

From the Publisher