Yoga Nidra iRest Trauma Treatment Protocol (YNiRestTTP)1

Guidelines for a Verbatim Transcript2 Introduction The Yoga Nidra iRest Trauma Treatment Protocol is a form of guided meditation that allows you to reprocess any trauma or distressing event so that it no longer causes feelings of disturbance. You can also use it on a daily basis to meet and greet any uncomfortable emotion or situation that might be upsetting your sense of calmness or presence in the moment. The YNiRest TTP helps us to live more fully in the NOW. Before we begin, it is prudent to identify a safe place for you to go if you begin to feel uncomfortable at any time during the protocol. Resource Installation Id like you to choose a safe place where you feel completely comfortable. It can be real or imagined. Just tell me where you are and with whom. (Pause 15-20 seconds). Do you have that place? Can you describe it for me? (Record this information in case you need to prompt the client later.) This is where you may choose to go if the work is too uncomfortable or upsetting. Youll just put up your hand or say, Stop and then just go there for a few minutes. Take a break and let me know when you are ready to resume again. So, when you imagine yourself there, right now, do you feel safe? Great, then we are ready to begin3. A. Set Up & Pre Test Identify an issue or emotional trauma that has occurred that is still disturbing: Id like you to choose an incident that happened in the past that is still bothering you. You dont have to tell me what the memory is, just give it a label so we know which one we are talking about. (Record the label.) How old were you when it happened? (Record the age of the client when the trauma occurred.) Have client identify the scene (or freeze frame of the actual event) that represents the most painful aspect of the memory: Could you now identify one sceneor freeze framethat is the most disturbing part of that particular
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The protocol was developed by two psychologists: Dr. Richard C. Miller (nondual.com) in collaboration with Dr. Teeya Scholten (empowermentplus.org). It is a Yoga Nidra protocol designed to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and also to help people meet, greet and respond to any challenge they face in life. 2 This verbatim transcript is designed to assist beginning practitioners and is consistent with the iRestTTP as outlined in Appendix VIIc of the Level 2 Yoga Nidra Training Manual, p. 375-377. 3 Practitioners may wish to allow the client to choose any memory to work on. Alternatively, for a multiply traumatized client, it may be advisable to have the client select the 10 worst traumas of his/her life. Data is gathered according to the guidelines in Section A. Set-Up and Pre Test, including all SUDS ratings. On each subsequent session, the SUDS ratings of all 10 traumas can be reassessed, to see what has resolved between sessions.

memory? You dont have to tell me what the scene is, but just where it is and who is there, in case I need to remind you later. (Record basic details of the scene.) Measure SUDS (Subjective Units of Distress4): When you go back and put yourself into the scene that represents the most painful aspect of your memory, how disturbing does it feel to you right NOW, in this moment, today, on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is no disturbance and 10 is the most disturbance you can imagine. How disturbing is it NOW? (Record the rating out of 10.) B. Feel and Experience the Ground of Pure Being (GopB) Have the individual move or step back into a feeling-experience their Ground of pure Being or pure Awareness: Can you get in touch with that aspect of you that never changes? This is an aspect of yourself that has been here from the beginning since you were a child, no matter what is happening to you, and is here now. (Pause for a few seconds to see if they can get in touch with this part of themselves.) Some people like to think of it as Openness, Stillness, Presence, Peace Awareness, Light, The Witness, or the Ground of pure Being (GopB). What would you like to call it? (Record the label that the client prefers and use it to replace GopB in this transcript.) If they cant feel or experience themselves as pure Being, invite them to reflect back to an earlier age as you help them locate times when they felt happy or sad, worried or calm, etc. Then have them feel back to the present moment as they feel/experience the aspect of their subjective experience that has never changed, even as all of their experiences have constantly been changing. C. Administer Stage One and Two of the iRest Protocol5 As with any meditative practice, you may find your mind wandering or thinking about other things from time to time. If this happens, just bring yourself gently back to the task at hand without feeling frustrated or critical, just noticing and coming back to what we are doing. Sensation (Kosha #1 Physical Sensations): So, lets begin now with eyes closed if that feels comfortable, while noticing how your body feels right now. Feel where your back comes in contact with the surface that is supporting it. Feel
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SUDS: Subjective Units of Distress is a subjective measuring scale from 0 to 10, with 0 representing the absence of disturbing feelings or emotions and 10 representing the present of the most disturbing feel or emotion that can be experienced. 5 When using this protocol with multiply traumatized clients who may be dissociative, it is very important for the therapist to stay in touch with where the client is at all times. You may wish to remind them a little more frequently to ensure that they can feel the connection of their body with the floor. You may also wish to have them tell you what emotion they have identified and which image emerges (calmly and with their eyes closed while maintaining a meditative state). Detailed debriefing can take place after Section F. the Bilateral Stimulation.

where your legs touch and, if you are sitting, the connection of your feet with the ground. This experience of feeling grounded is very important. Now scan through your entire body from head to toe and allow yourself to feel deeply into the sensations you discover. If you encounter parts of your body that feel tense, just be aware of the tension and let it be just as it is. It may let go, or remain just as sensation in your awareness. Let the tension melt into sensation, or dissolve into the ground where it is transmuted into positive energy. Sense your way from your head to your toes.becoming completely present to all of the sensations you experience along the way. Check your head, shoulders, arms and hands, torso, legs and feet, letting go into the sensations you experience. If you notice tension coming into your awareness at any point while we are working, just experience it as pure sensation. Now turn your attention to your mouth, and notice how it feels. You are not visualizing, you are feeling. Feel the sensations on the inside of your mouth, your tongue, the insides of your cheeks, the roof of your mouth thats it. Now feel the sensation in your earsyour inner ears, the outer architecture of your ears. Your eyes, now, orbs of radiant sensation Your hands, the palms of your hands you may even feel a pulsation there. Your torso, legs and feet feeling the connection of your body with the floor. Thats it. Breathing (Kosha #2 Breath and Energy): Now pay attention to your breathing just the natural coming and going of your breath. Without changing it, just notice your body breathing in and breathing out. Good. Global Body Feeling: Now, be aware of the feeling of sensation throughout your entire body. Just notice how your whole body feels. D. Administer Stage Three and Four of the iRest Protocol: Traumatic Negative Emotion and Image Negative Feeling/ Emotion (Kosha #3 Feelings and Emotions) Now Id like you to focus on the freeze frame or scene that you identified earlier that represents the worst part of your painful memory. What negative emotion, feeling or word is associated with that scene for you at this point? Identify the emotion and find a place on ONE side of your body either on the right or the left side (anywhere below your head), where this negative emotion or feeling is stored Just nod when you have identified it. Good. Negative Image (Kosha #4 Imagery and Cognitions) Now, while really focusing on that negative emotion, allow an image to emerge that represents that negative feeling, emotion or word. Feel it on the same side of the body as the negative emotion. Just notice the color, texture, size and shape of that negative imagean image or thought that represents the negative
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emotion... Just nod when you have become aware of the image6. (Pause for 1520 seconds and after they have nodded, say,) Good or OK. Now I invite you to move, step or feel back into your Ground of pure Being (GopB) or what you call it in your own words (x - Insert the label the client chose during Section B. 1.a.) Just step back into this GopB for a few seconds, and then step forward into and re-experience the image you have identified. Step back and forth and back and forth several times, from the GopB into the negative image and notice what happens to the image; to its color, shape, size and texture. Just notice what happens to the image without judging or analyzing itjust noticing whats present. Keep doing thisback and forth from the image into GopBuntil the image stops changing. Just nod when you notice that the image has stopped changing. (Wait for as long as it takes for the image to stop changing, not likely more than 5 minutesbut every 30 seconds, you may wish to say) Is the image still changing? Are you still going back and for between the image and the GopB? O.K. Good. E. Focus on the Opposite: Positive Emotion and Image Positive Feeling/ Emotion (Kosha #3 Feelings and Emotions) Now Id like you to identify a feeling or emotion that is the OPPOSITE of the one that you identified as negative. Identify the positive opposite emotion and find a place on the OTHER side of your body where you feel iton the opposite side to where the negative feeling was stored. Just nod when you have identified it. Good. Positive Image (Kosha #4 Imagery and Cognitions) Now, while focusing on the positive emotion, allow an image to emerge that represents that positive feeling or emotion. Notice the colour, texture, size and shape of that image. Just nod when you have identified it. (Pause for 15-20 seconds and after they have nodded, say,) Good or OK. Now I invite you to move, step or feel, once again, back into the GopB (Insert the label the client chose for GopB during Section B). Step back into the GopB for a few seconds and then step forward into the positive image. Now move back and forth from the GopB into the positive image and notice what happens to the image, to its color, shape, size and texture. Notice what happens without judging or analyzing itjust notice. Keep doing thisback and forth from the positive image into GopBuntil the image stops changing. Just nod when you notice that the image has stopped changing. (Wait for as long as it
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If it is difficult for the client to identify an image, encourage them to stay with the negative FEELING on one side of his/her body. Really feel the negative emotion and notice what comes up.

takes for the image to stop changing, not likely more than 5 minutesbut every 30 seconds, you may wish to say) Is the image still changing? Are you still going back and for between the image and the GopB? O.K. Good. It is likely that the student/client will experience a change or transformation of their original negative and then positive image. Do not ask for this or prescribe it, but have the client describe this to the practitioner during the debriefing phase after the steps are complete or simply make a note of the transformation if this has happened. F. Bilateral Stimulation Resolution (Kosha #5 Joy): Now being aware of whatever each of the images has morphed or transformed into, go back and forth from the image on the right side of the body to the left side, and back to the right. Back and forth, right to left to right again, as quickly as you can. You are not doing anything at all to the images, just being aware of themback and forth. (Pause for 10-15 seconds.) Go back and forth from the left side of your body to the right side, being aware of the images. Do this quickly for a little while and then when you feel that the time is right, HOLD THE IMAGES TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIMEjust hold them together and notice what happens to the images, to your emotions, sensations or thoughts. After you have held the images together and watched what has happened, feel free to open your eyes when you feel comfortable doing so. The practitioner may or may not notice that the clients eyes are moving back and forth behind closed eyelids. The length of the bilateral stimulation step will vary with each client, but may last up to 3 minutes in length. Once the images have been held together, it should only be 10-20 seconds before they open their eyes. The client may wish to journal if doing the YNiRestTTP independently or debrief later with the therapist as to what was observed. Clients or students who are in a group environment may wish to journal or debrief with someone else as to what they experienced. G. Debrief Have the person sit quietly with all that they are now experiencing, giving them the opportunity to fully describe their experience and all that has occurred as they went through the YNiRestTTP. You may wish to review with the client what the negative emotion was, the image that represented it and how it changed when alternating with the GopB. Review with the client what the opposite or positive emotion was, the image that represented it and how it changed when alternating with the GopB. Finally, what happened after the bilateral stimulation when the images were held together? Invite them to describe new insights or revelations. Be sure to welcome all that is.
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H. Post Test Have client revisit the original scene that was identified in Section A. Set Up and Pre Test above: Go back now to that scene that you originally identified as the worst part of your painful memory. Measure SUDS (Subjective Units of Distress): How disturbing is the scene NOW on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is no disturbance and 10 is the most disturbance you can imagine. How disturbing is it NOW? If the SUDS rating is 0, the trauma has been resolved and the client may wish to choose another one to address. If the SUDS score is greater than 0, there is some other aspect that needs to be resolved. If there is time, repeat this protocol from Section C. Administer Stage One and Two of the iRest Protocol to Section H. Post Test. Begin again with sensing and breathing and then the original scene that represented the most painful part of the memory. Identify a negative emotion that is now associated with it, feel it on one side of the body, allow an image to emerge that represents the negative emotion, etc. Continue until the SUDS is 0 out of 10. Closing At the end of the session be sure to leave enough time for the client to process their experience, relax and ground again before they leave the session. You may wish to facilitate the client becoming re-aware of the Ground of pure Being as follows: Sensing your body the room around you Imagining going about your waking life yet all the while awake and aware as pure Being in which all of life is unfolding Pure Being awake and aware of itself and the world around Taking a moment and perhaps affirming that in every moment your body, mind and spirit always know the perfect response to each situation in life feel yourself as unchanging pure Being in which all of life is unfolding and affirming how your body, mind and spirit always know the perfect response to each and every situation Taking your time transitioning back into your waking life... your body fully awakening into its natural state of eyes open alert, wakefulness Re-orienting to your surroundings to where you are and where you are now going coming fully back Alert, wide-awake and grateful for taking this time for yourself
C: YNiRestTTPVerbatimFINAL2009RMTS-3.doc