Daring to Rest Fall Workshop

DARING TO REST: A Fall Workshop for the UCI School of Physical Sciences

Facilitated by Prof. Aomawa Shields, UCI Department of Physics and Astronomy

Rest can seem elusive and low priority during busy times at work and at home. Rest is also often viewed as lazy and unproductive. Yet national bestselling books and NYT articles are centering the importance of rest as both revolutionary and critical to thriving physically, mentally, and emotionally. In this 10-week workshop for faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students in the School of Physical Sciences, join Aomawa Shields, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy and certified Daring to Rest Facilitator, for an exploration of the practice of yoga nidra - a sleep-based guided meditation carried out lying down. Yoga nidra meditation is helpful for improving sleep quality, reducing anxiety, and enhancing resilience in stressful situations, and has been used in partnership between the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Department of Defense to treat soldiers suffering from PTSD. Clinical studies have shown that yoga nidra meditation is associated with both positive physiological and mental health outcomes among numerous populations, including college faculty. It has been said that 30 minutes of yoga nidra feels like three hours of sleep in your body.

Over the course of the quarter, participants will learn how to use this practice to navigate traditional work-, course-, and research-based evaluative situations and high-pressure environments, and begin to approach these situations with greater ease, peace, wisdom, and self-esteem. Participants will receive resources to continue the practice on their own, including help developing a "rest prescription" to nourish their rested paths while rising as researchers, teachers, and professionals.

Sessions will meet weekly on Tuesdays 1-2pm PT on Zoom (recordings available on replay for those unable to attend live) beginning Oct. 1, with an optional second, in-person session conducted weekly on Thursdays 1-2pm on campus in NS2 1201. Undergraduate students are welcome.

Registration is open now!