Spring Meditation Series with Bhante Pema
Believe it or not, Bhante Pema’s Spring Meditation Series at Yoga Matrika is almost full already and it is not even February! This is a very special opportunity for all adults who are interested in meditation in Pittsburgh to gather in this intimate space and learn from this most wonderful teacher. If you are interested in practicing with Bhante Pema on Monday nights, please register soon to save your place in this series. If space is available, we will open the class to drop-in students, but please do not count on this. Pregnant students are welcome to attend as meditation is a beautiful and supportive practice while you are expecting. Chairs are provided for anyone who would be more comfortable sitting in a more supported way during class.
Spring Series:
Monday Nights from 7:30 to 8:45 pm
March 12 through May 28th
12-classes in the series for $130
REGISTER HERE
Join Bhante Pema, the current Abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center, for this 12-week mediation course. The cost for the series of 12-classes is $130. Everyone is welcome—from absolute beginners to more experienced practitioners—to this course that will cover a variety of meditation techniques, how to find your seat, movement, breath and ways to face common challenges in meditation. Although the instructor is a Buddhist monk, the meditation techniques that will be taught are secular and are appropriate for all adults regardless of your other beliefs or religious affiliations. Please note that there are no make-up classes, refunds or tuition transfers. If you know you will miss multiple classes in the series, please know that a portion of your tuition is donated to the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center to help maintain their efforts to share the healing power of meditation in Pittsburgh. We ask that you bring your own meditation cushion, bolster, pillow or blanket to sit on for your comfort. We are happy to provide folding chairs to students who are not able to sit on the floor.
Stress Free Stress Reduction
At the Duke University Center for Integrative Medicine, an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program costs $454. At Yoga Matrika, Kirsi Jansa is offering a beautiful meditation-based stress reduction program called Healing Relaxation in the Tara Rokpa Style and the 6-week tuition is $150. [ Flyer] While I recognize that even $150 is a singificant investment for most of us “normal” people and, even more challenging may be finding 2-hours free on a Saturday afternoon to make it happen, the reality is that this is an investment of $150 that can change your life. This program is priced competitively in comparison with other programs of similar quality and is open to everyone—-absolutely no experience is required. This is not a religious practice and we are very respectful of all religious and spiritual practices and orientations. If anything, a program like this is likely to deepen your commitment to your current spiritual practice.
How do yoga and meditation help reduce stress? There are a lot of different answers to this question, but one of the most basic ways that these types of practices help you reduce stress is that they teach you how to BE in the present moment. Stress is generally a condition of trying to hold your mind in the future and the past while also participating in the present moment. Concerns about the future,worries, to do lists, goals, obligations and responsibilities, strategies for projects that will unfold in the future, unknown considerations and all the trappings of a better or worse future moment create stress in our bodies.
What kind of skills do you learn in this type of stress reduction course? You learn how to use the tools of your body and senses to keep yourself in the present moment. This slows the central nervous system and the mind down giving your adrenal glands, nervous system and circulatory system a considerable break. The more you practice these skills and learn to use your body as a tool for healing, the greater healing you will feel. Specific skills include:
Breathing Awareness: learning to become aware of the process of breathing. This sounds simple, but really, there are infinite ways of looking at and feeling the breath. And, since you are always breathing, learning this skill gives you something you can do to reduce stress at any time in any place.
Body Scan: learn to feel your body using all of your senses and actively relax all the parts of your body. Can you relax your little toe? Sure you can! You will be amazed at what you discover about your body when you take the time to experience it in a non-judgemental way.
Loving Kindness: use your awareness to extend compassion to yourself and others.
Exploring the mind: without a specific focus for awareness, learn to watch the movements of the mind and do so without becoming attached
Pleae take advantage of this amazing opportunity to change your relationship to time, your body, mind and spirit. Release stress and tension and learn new skills for maintaining equinimity and balance. See the flyer for more details. You can REGISTR ONLINE HERE. The course start on January 28th and runs on six consecutive Saturdays from 4:00-6:00pm.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Director of Yoga Matrika and Matrika Prenatal. If you are not local to Pittsburgh and looking for a Healing Relaxation Course or more information about Tara Rokpa, you can find more information here.
Meditation Series
This fall, Yoga Matrika is offering a 12-week Meditation Series facilitated by Bhante Pema. This is a very unique opportunity in Pittsburgh to study and practice meditation. By making a 12-week commitment, you will start to see the benefits of regular practice over the course of three-months.
Dr. Josephine Briggs, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine, says that, “It is now well established that the meditative state can be associated with changes in electrical function of the brain, and recent imaging studies suggest that there may actually be neuroanatomic changes as well.” In addition, a new study by the Public Library of Science suggests that regular meditation can have a significant impact on stress related illnesses. “The study found that in comparison to a control group of people who had never meditated, a group of regular meditators actually suppressed twice the number of genes that induce stress responses such as high blood pressure and inflammation in the body.Long term effects of the expression of stress-related genes can have very harmful effects on health, including high blood pressure or chronic pain. Those who meditate regularly are thus at a greatly decreased risk for developing these problems.”
According to NCCAM, over 20 million Americans practice meditation for a variety of health benefits. You can find out more about meditation and the types of research that are being conducted now regarding meditation and impact on specific health problems here.
Our course instructor, Bhante Pema, is a Buddhist monk and is currently the resident teacher and abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center. He is also working on a Ph.D. in Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. While the instructor is a Buddhist monk, the meditation style and techniques that are taught in this course are secular and this is not a religious group and instruction in Buddhism is not provided. Everyone is welcome to learn these techniques to benefit their health and well being.
REGISTER HERE: $130 for 12-week course
Ven. Soorakkulame Pemaratana (aka. Bhante Pema)
Ven. S. Pemaratana was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1986 and received higher ordination in 1997. His monastic training was under the tutelage of the most Ven. Attangane Sasanaratana Maha Thero at Sripathi Pirivena, Diyakalamulla, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka. He holds a bachelor’s degree with first class honors in Buddhist Studies from the University of Peradeniya and a master’s degree in philosophy from the National University of Singapore.
He has lectured at the University of Peradeniya and the Buddhist and Pali College of Singapore. He conducts regular lectures and workshops in Buddhist teachings and meditation. The Transcultural Society for Clinical Meditation in Japan gave him the 2008 Haruki Award for his research paper on Meditation and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. He is currently the resident teacher and acting abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Programs for Yoga Matrika, an intimate yoga studio located in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Discover more about our unique programs that explore the incredible healing power of yoga, breath and meditation on our website.
Frozen Food Month
Seriously, did you know that March was Frozen Food Month? I didn’t know this until I received an e-mail from Giant Eagle supermarkets here in Pittsburgh indicating that there was just one week left to appreciate frozen foods. From Lean Pockets to Ego waffles to Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (my personal favorite of the frozen edibles), we had a whole month to appreciate frozen foods and I squandered it not realizing my loss. But, it’s not too late, there’s still a whole week to take advantage of this special time to explore the delights of our freezers.
Did you know what else March is? Women’s History Month. Yes, women share the glory of this month with frozen foods. So far, President Obama has not yet made an official Women’s History Month 2011 Proclamation. When he does, it will be posted here. Now, while we mere citizens have an entire week to honor frozen foods and the ladies we love at the same time by buying them some ice cream, the President only has one more week to come up with an official proclamation on the topic of Women’s History Month 2011. Might I suggest that he enjoy the convenience of a frozen food while writing? The thing is that I didn’t know that all of the Presidential Proclamations were available like this. I have to admit, it’s a rather curious collection. This month*, President Obama has offered Proclamations on topics ranging from from “Save Your Vision Week” to honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire to the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy. It seems that when you are President of the United States, remembering your own wedding anniversary is the least of your problems. So far, nothing yet on either frozen foods or the important contributions of women in the history of the United States.
What does any of this have to do with yoga or meditation? It has everything to do with yoga! Yoga and meditation are practices that encourage us to become aware in this moment. By proclaiming a day, week or month a certain theme, we are suggesting that there are things we appreciate or that we should recognize that we may generally ignore. This is what we do in our practice as well. All day long we breathe, but when we practice, we watch the breath. We see all the qualities of the breath—fast, slow, shallow, deep. We experience the sensation of each in-breath as an in-breath and each out-breath as an out-breath and we feel our body’s response. Setting aside some time each day for your yoga and meditation practice is like proclaiming that the next hour is “Sensation of Breath Hour.” We come to appreciate what we generally take for granted.
Posted by Sharon Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can find out information about classes and teacher training programs with Sharon at http://www.yogamatrika.com/ and prenatal/postnatal programs and support services at http://www.matrikaprenatal.com.
*Wondering what President Obama proclaimed about this special month in March 2010? Check out the proclamation archives here.
Spring Preparation #5: Spring Ahead in Time
This Saturday night (Or on Sunday morning when we wonder why we are at church/yoga class/work when everyone else failed to show up and know quite honestly that it isn’t about moral superiority …..) we will change our clocks so that they are an hour ahead. In a pessimistic essence, we lose an hour of sleep and then, by Sunday evening, we’ll have trouble falling asleep as it will feel way too early to turn in. In our most optimistic essence, we could see this as a head start. Taking a middle path, we can take this opportunity to explore our attachment to time and re-negotiate our relationship to time.
Here are two books that I can recommend that may help you think about time in a different way:
Infinite Life (2004) by Robert Thurman
This is a series of meditations and spiritual guidance that suggests we can be happier if we live as though our actions and thoughts have infinite implications for both our own happiness and the happiness of all living beings. The meditation guidance is valuable both for beginners and for experienced meditation practitioners.
Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps (2003) by Peter Galison
In this book, Galison explores how Einstein and Poincare’s ideas about time and space changed how it was possible to think about simultaneity and the way that physics, philosophy and technology were changed by these ideas. Within this history of science narrative is a complex story of how the perception of time changes and the social and political implications of both our understanding and use of time.
Written by Sharon Rudyk, an independent yoga and meditation instructor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Check out my teaching schedule online at http://www.yogamatrika.com/.
Spring Meditation #1: Faith
Each year, in preparation for spring, I read this book:
Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience
by Sharon Salzberg
In my practice of both Catholicism and Judaism, I always appreciated the statements of belief that come at the beginning of a mass or service. I like the idea of a gathering of people who very clearly state, up front, what joins them together and what they wish to publicly announce as their main practices and beliefs. It’s a very powerful feeling to be a part of that prayer. The ability to state, with such certainty, these statements of belief that provide the foundations that both define the religion and the basis of the prayers and practices of that religion, requires faith. By repeating these statements, and especially by repeating them as a group, they provide a significant structure of support for those beliefs and practices. But, it isn’t belief that brings that group together. It is faith.
This book by Sharon Salzberg is a profound exploration of what faith is and how it continues to work as a powerful force even when we feel that we have lost it. Although it is written from a Buddhist perspective, or, at the very least, the perspective of a Buddhist, the ideas can be applied to the human condition in general and are not specific to any particular religious practice. Perhaps, a Buddhist exploration of the idea of Faith can be so open precisely because questioning is an important part of Buddhism. Practitioners are told not just to believe, but that they should practice and see what the reality of their own experience is. Not only are you not going to hell for asking the question, but questioning is an integral part of the faith and practice.
Why this book? Why spring?
First, I learned this concept of re-reading certain books at certain times of the year from my mother. Each December, she would sob her way through the New York City subway system reading Charles Dickens’, Christmas Carol. The first time I read Faith it was in the fall and I was drawn to re-read it that spring. It has become my “spring book” and this ritual is part of my spiritual preparation at the end of winter, when I just can’t take one more minute of cold or darkness, to remember that the seeds of spring have been cradled and nurtured deep within the earth the whole time.
Second, I learned to see that our biggest and smallest choices in life reflect our faith on a daily basis from my father. At a speech he gave at my first wedding rehearsal dinner, he expressed the idea that the act of getting married is one that reflects our ability to have hope and faith. If we didn’t feel like we could carry love into the future, we wouldn’t do it. Even with the awareness that marriages fail, the act of getting married reflects a faith that it is also possible that some will not fail. Our ability to have faith in our relationships, even while knowing that the people we love and that love us the most are not perfect and can’t be loving all the time is a spiritual practice. This preparation for spring and considering the role of faith in my relationships, my work, my family and in my own choices is an important ritual that, just as powerful as a statement of belief, helps me to re-gather my spirit after a time of darkness.
Third, the truth is that I start to lose it by the end of winter. The kind of “losing it” that requires more than a new lipstick to feel better. Reading this book on faith reminds me that the seeds of spring have been cradled deep in the earth all winter long. It is only my inability to see the life and to focus only on what is not living that causes my discomfort and un-ease. Within the ground, not even that deep, lie the bulbs we planted this last fall. They are happy and safe in the darkness of the earth, resting all their forces for the burst of life that will come when they feel the sun start to warm the surface. And this, of course, is a wonderful reminder that I can choose my focus and my perspective at any time, in any season and apply this lesson of spring to all the winters of my life.
Meditation in Motion
Read more on the benefits of meditation.
Read more on how regular meditation can impact your genetic expression.
Read here on basic instructions for mindfulness meditation.
Meditation in Motion: 4-class Series
Mondays 6:00-7:30 pm, 3/14 through 4/4
Facilitated by: Sharon Rudyk
Cost for 4-class series: $65 (Online Registration HERE)
Research indicates that the benefits of mindful breathing, gentle physical movements and a variety of techniques including visualization and meditation are powerful tools for health and healing. From reversing heart disease to changing the expression of your genes, a regular meditation practice has a significant impact on your quality of life. In this small group series, we will specifically explore a variety of meditation techniques that can be used by anyone regardless of your previous experience with yoga or meditation. We will do some physical movements, but these types of movements are very natural and can be accomplished by any adult regardless of your physical shape or abilities (they can even be done while sitting in a chair!). Relieve stress, relax the body and learn quick and simple ways to improve your quality of life every single day.
Here is a video about walking meditation
Direct vs. Indirect
As I like to keep this Yoga Matrika blog focused on yoga and take a mindful approach to all issues, I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to bring this highly charged issue to the blog. I decided to bring it here, not to have a debate on abortion—right or wrong? Legal or illegal? Instead, I wanted to question and explore what happens when we fail to use all of our intelligence to consider challenging questions. The original posting is below and it is from the Women’s Health Policy Report that is put out weekly by the National Partnership for Women and Families.
The issue in the article, in case what I have already said has infuriated you or led you to believe that you don’t want to or just can’t read any further, is that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made a clarification on abortion. Direct abortion is when you terminate a pregnancy for the only purpose of terminating the pregnancy. In summary, direct=bad, very bad, super bad. Indirect is when a pregnancy is terminated in order to save the life of the mother. In summary, indirect=bad, very bad, super bad, but allowable in extraordinary circumstances.
When I read this, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Part of me wanted to laugh out loud thinking about all the meetings and arguments of the men in charge as they debated the difference between direct and indirect abortions. Seriously, any woman who has ever been pregnant and any man who has ever known a pregnant woman knows that this kind of dialogue fails to reflect the mysteries of the whole situation, never mind the realities of pregnancy, miscarriage and abortion. Certainly, any family that has faced the terrible situation of weighing the continuation of a pregnancy vs. the life of the mother, wife, daughter, WOMAN, would assure all of us dear readers that there is no worse hell imaginable. Considering the state of health care for women in the United States, this type of dialogue also seems to steal the stage from the more banal and everyday questions of health for women—not just our reproductive status, but our hearts and minds. Why isn’t the leadership group of any religion focused on addressing the incredible health disparities in our country? Why is the maternal and infant mortality rate so very high here in the United States when we have the resources that we have? Another part of me wanted to cry because these men, men who have made a significant lifetime commitment to their spiritual practice and service of their communities, have missed something important—-how could time invested in this madness ever produce a more positive human experience for anyone? How is this in service of God? While I imagine that those who feel differently about the issue at hand than I do would be delighted to tell me with great passion about how this is very much so in service, it still seems a fair question—at least philosophically, if not otherwise.
How is this related to yoga? This is yoga. A very wise and brilliant student at Yoga Matrika recently communicated her revelation that what happens in her life is her practice. What happens on her yoga mat is just a trial run. What we realize through yoga practice is that just when we think we have the answer, the game shifts. Life is like being invited onto Jeopardy and practicing for months only to find yourself, with no notice, as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune! Direct or indirect, perhaps we can just use this as a public example of what happens when we use our brains to attempt to find logic in what we need to bring our higher intelligence to.
I invite you to read this article and think of a time when you struggled to make logic of a situation in which there is no logic. Thinking back on this time, see if you can now, even with hindsight, go back to the process and use your deeper intelligence to make peace. To do this, sitting on a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor or in a comfortable seated pose on the ground gently create distance between your lowest rib and your hips. As you feel the sides of your body lengthen, bring your navel center over your pelvis. This allows your pelvis to support your enteric nervous system—-otherwise known as your gut. Now, bring your heart over your navel. This allows your heart to be supported by your instincts. Now, gentle tuck your chin towards your heart so that your neck lengthens and you relax your facial muscles. This allows your brain to be supported by your intuition and your heart. Watch your breath for a few moments and feel the peace that comes from equanimity. Even if it is just for a moment. Isn’t it a relief to take the world off your shoulders? Now, breathe this sense of peace and calm to everyone in the world. Let us all heal and put our energy into work that benefits the health and wellness of all living things.
Catholic Bishops Clarify Abortion Definitions in Light of Ariz. Case
June 28, 2010 — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops‘ Committee on Doctrine released a statement last week clarifying how the church classifies direct abortions and indirect abortions, the Arizona Republic reports.
The statement refers to a recent case in which Sister Margaret McBride, an administrator at a Catholic hospital in Arizona, was excommunicated for her role in authorizing an abortion to save a woman’s life. The statement did not review the particulars of the case or take a position on the excommunication; instead, it said USCCB wanted to clarify “confusion” about the church’s stance on abortion.
According to the Republic, the church condemns direct abortion — meant to terminate a pregnancy — but permits indirect abortion — in which fetal death is a secondary effect of another necessary procedure — in some cases, such as a hysterectomy to treat uterine cancer. “As the church has said many times, direct abortion is never permissible because a good end cannot justify an evil means,” the statement said, adding, “There are no situations in which it can be justified.”
The statement “appears to confirm” the Phoenix bishop’s classification of the Arizona case as a direct abortion, the Republic reports (Clancy, Arizona Republic, 6/25). In the case, the young mother of four was 11 weeks pregnant and had pulmonary hypertension, a rare condition in which continuing the pregnancy often jeopardizes the life of the woman. Physicians concluded that the placenta had to be removed to prevent the patient from dying (Women’s Health Policy Report, 6/9).
Posted by Sharon Rudyk, owner of Yoga Matrika http://www.yogamatrika.com/
You’re a Star…..Literally.
In my estimation, of the greatest joys of being a parent is that you get to reconnect with children’s literature. Sure, there are nights when I’m quite sure that if I ever even accidentally trip over a Dr. Seuss book again that I might immediately burst into flames–never mind READ it again. For the most part, I am delighted by the beautiful illustrations, the kind and meaningful tone and the idea that there is such great potential in this life.
Recently, we checked out The Greatest Intergalactic Guide to Space Ever by the Brainwaves from our local library. The illustrations by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar are imaginative and, quite frankly, hilarious. The book is a brilliant collection of facts about space and it is everything that I had hoped my college course on astronomy would be, but without the physics.
Then, on page 25, I read something that awed me and put me in touch with a sense of wonder and wonderment that made me kiss my sleeping blondie on his little head before I continued my new favorite book:
“The Sun is mostly hydrogen and helium, but it also includes small amounts of other elements. Earth formed close to the Sun from the same cloud of matter. Humans are material made from Earth’s elements, so everything in our bodies was once a star.”
Just in case you didn’t catch it—–EVERYTHING YOU ARE MADE OF WAS ONCE A STAR! Now, I’d heard something similar in some yoga or energy text that suggested that our bodies are made up of the same elements that stars are made of, but this is something different entirely because it creates a chronology. The statement in this children’s book suggests a past for all of us, a past when our parts were shining clouds of matter in the night sky. This idea is at once humbling and liberating.
No matter what kind of yoga you practice, the foundation of the practice is a kind of mindfulness that becomes available when we focus the mind and acknowledge the constant stream of thoughts that so many of us make the mistake of identifying with. Maybe that stream slows down somewhat with time and practice, but for many of us, what we can obtain in this lifetime is just an awareness. In many classes, the smallest element that we break our awareness into is the cell. What I would like to suggest is that, based on this idea that our most elemental parts were at one time a star, we spend some time in meditation getting in touch with our inner star.
The first step, and perhaps the most challenging, is to release our physical body—the body of organs and bones and blood and guts. Especially if you are in pain, this may be a considerable challenge. But, to give it a try, just lie on your back and systematically relax from your toes to the crown of your head. Then, just wait for your breathing to naturally slow down and become shallow. Don’t rush it or try to control the breath. Just lie there until you feel everything slow down.
The second step would be to watch the transitions of the breath. Focus on the space where the in-breath becomes the out-breath and the out-breath becomes the in-breath. If you lose your focus, just return to it whenever you realize that you’ve drifted. If you constantly lose focus, then you can try to add counting—-count your inhale (1) and then just listen to the sound of your exhale, count your inhale(2) and then listen to the exhale and so on until you count to ten. Anyone who has tried this before knows that you will probably get lost before you reach ten, but just keep it up and return to one when you realize you are lost.
The third step is starting to feel the way that energy is moving through your body. There is no right or wrong answer. Bring your mind’s eye to your navel and just see how energy is moving from your center to the periphery. Maybe your center feels numb—that’s interesting! Maybe you can only feel your right side—that’s interesting! Please try not to make judgments. Instead, just be incredibly curious.
Finally, start to feel the pulse of energy through the body and give that pulse a golden light. When you feel the energy rise, feel yourself glow. When you feel the energy start to wane, then feel a complete release as your light dulls a bit. Just pulse energy and light like this for as long as you wish, until you fall asleep or until you wake up.
Confirmed by a children’s book—-you ARE a star!
REFERENCES
Stott, Carole
The Greatest Intergalactic Guide to Space Ever by the Brainwaves. London; New York:DK Publishers, 2009.
Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika, a lovely little studio in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 6520 Wilkins Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Contact information for Sharon is available on the website: http://www.yogamatrika.com/. Please feel free to share and re-post, but be kind and give credit back to the Yoga Matrika blog and Sharon. Namaste!
What is iRest?
This Sunday, Mickie Diamond is going to be facilitating a Yoga Nidra: iRest workshop, this Sunday, June 6th from 4:00 to 5:15 pm. The cost of the workshop is $15. REGISTER HERE
This workshop is for everyone and no experience with yoga or meditation is required. Just wear comfortable clothing and keep an open mind—-it will be lots of fun and you will leave deeply relaxed with some skills that you can use in your real life off the mat.
Here is some information about iRest that I have taken from the Integrative Restoration Institute website:
Would you like to live with greater ease of being, feel more relaxed, and sleep more soundly? Would you like to develop “tools for life” that enable you to rise above stress, anxiety, fear, pain, and emotional and mental turmoil? iRest is a deeply relaxing transformative practice that leads to physical, psychological, and spiritual health, healing, and well-being.
A non-movement-based meditation, iRest invites you to discover an intrinsic sense of peace that is always present, regardless of your life circumstances. You will learn to release negative body sensations, emotions, beliefs, and stress that otherwise give rise to self-destructive behaviors.
People who practice iRest report: • Decreased insomnia, • Reduced depression, anxiety and fear, • Decreased chronic and acute pain, • Improved interpersonal relations, • Increased inner peace and well-being. Extensively researched, iRest is used with PTSD-diagnosed soldiers and veterans, students, children, and the homeless, and people experiencing chemical dependency issues, chronic pain, and insomnia.