Richard C. Miller | |
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Born | 1948 |
Occupation(s) | Clinical psychologist Author |
Organization(s) | International Association of Yoga Therapists Integrative Restoration Institute Institute for Spirituality and Psychology Marin School of Yoga |
Known for | nondual yoga research |
Richard C. Miller (born 1948) is an American clinical psychologist, author, yoga scholar and advocate of yoga as therapy.[1] He is the founding president of the Integrative Restoration Institute (IRI), co-founder of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT)[2] and founding editor of the professional Journal of IAYT. He is also a founding member and past president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology, Senior Advisor to the Baumann Institute, and was the founding president of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Marin School of Yoga.
He is known for his work on the use of Yoga nidra for rehabilitating soldiers in pain using the iRest methodology.[3]
Miller's primary interests have included integrating nondual wisdom teachings of Yoga, Tantra, Advaita, Taoism, and Buddhism with Western psychology. In addition to his research and writing projects, Miller lectures and leads trainings and retreats internationally.[4] Among his mentors, he credits T.K.V. Desikachar and Jean Klein.[4]
Miller worked with Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the United States Department of Defense studying the efficacy of iRest Yoga Nidra.[5][6] The iRest protocol was used with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[7][8][6] Based on this work, the Surgeon General of the United States Army endorsed Yoga Nidra as a complementary alternative medicine (CAM) for chronic pain in 2010.[9] Continuing studies are being conducted with the use of the iRest Yoga Nidra protocol as a treatment for PTSD and related symptoms.
Miller and his organization have iRest programs in the military (active duty and veterans),[10][11] homeless shelters, prisons, hospices, senior facilities, universities, chemical dependency clinics, multiple sclerosis and cancer outpatient clinics,[12] as well as yoga and meditation studios.