The Rest Coach

Uncover your unique path to deep stillness,
calm and resilience

Book Appointment

Personal Coaching

Working 1-1 with James will set you on the path to feeling deeply rested and at ease in your life and in the world. He is renowned for offering gentle direction and helping his clients welcome themselves fully so they can find the calm that’s already inside of them, every moment of the day.

Whether you’re seeking help with a specific life issue or want to establish or deepen a meditation or teaching practice, James can help.

Sometimes, you don’t know what you need until you turn up and see what emerges.

Find Deep Rest Today

  • The ultimate package for learning to feel deeply rested and at ease in the midst of daily life. You’ll receive

    • 2 x 1-hour Coaching Sessions

    • 1 x 30-minute Follow- up Session

    • Self-guided Deep Rest Toolkit

    Session One - answer five simple questions to identify what’s blocking your ability to feel at ease, balanced or rested.

    Session Two - explore how to move past your obstacles; discover the calm, steady nature that is already within you; and develop a personalized practice so you can access this rested state every day.

    Follow-up: Within 30 days of your second session, you’ll have a 30-minute refresher session to ask questions, review your progress and discuss ways forward.

    You’ll also receive a bonus Deep Rest Toolkit of generic rest practices to explore on your own.

  • An hour to explore any aspect of Deep Rest's work: how you can be better rested, understanding the art of meditation, practicing or teaching Yoga Nidra, or working through any personal/life challenges in the context of our work.

  • Founded on an age-old tradition of being present, open and curious with a guide or mentor, and backed by a modern neuroscience-based protocol called iRest Meditation, these sessions explore emotional or relational challenges. The approach is a powerful way to meet ourselves at a psychological level, while being distinct and different to traditional psychology. People who participate in these sessions regularly report significant breakthroughs and powerful insights.

  • These sessions will support you in exploring meditation from a variety of perspectives. Whether you are a complete beginner or have a meditation practice that has been maturing for years, it can be incredibly valuable to have the opportunity to investigate, share and reflect on where you may be headed on your journey toward greater stillness and wholeness. You can expect to leave these sessions with fresh insight, reigniting your interest in this simple yet often-confounding practice!

  • Whether you are practicing or teaching Yoga Nidra, the complexity, variety of approaches, and nuance can sometimes be confusing and leave us needing to know more. Be it guidance on teaching groups or individuals or having support to reflect on personal challenges, mentoring can provide insight and clarity. This kind of one-to-one mentoring has helped many people move forward on their journey with this profound and healing practice. You can’t learn it all from a book!

What people say…

  • “Co-meditating with James was the first time I’ve experienced that blissful state of meditation when you’re feeling like everything but at the same time nothing. It’s like I was fast-tracked to my true inner being. It really is one of my top examples of how something so simple can be so powerful. James has a beautiful gift of being able to guide you to that exquisite state of being.”

    Lucinda Inch, Coach

  • “It is difficult to find the words to describe my Co-Meditation sessions with James, but maybe that is what it is, it is too big, it is beyond words, beyond the stories, beyond thinking, beyond doing. We sit together, actively giving space for feelings and emotions to emerge and within that space and connection, absolute transformation occurs. For me, this was the beginning of healing without fixing, meeting parts of me that I didn’t know existed, and recognising that part of me was never broken to begin with.”

    Margot Van Der Val, Yoga Teacher

  • “I approached James a few years ago expecting a few sessions of professional mentoring. Mentoring turned out to be something quite different - and a whole load more helpful - than I had imagined. In a very skilled and gentle way, James has led me often into a space of co-meditation, a space he holds with warmth, open sensitivity and a refreshing lack of judgement. In these sessions, I have been able to independently explore and be with arising fears, loves, anxieties and passions.  As a result, I've been introduced to resources for living, working and simply being, that I didn't know were accessible to me. I cannot recommend James highly enough as a trustworthy and tender guide into meditation, reflection and insights for a fuller, richer life.”

    Rebecca Ellis, University Lecturer and Yoga Teacher

Corporate Mentoring and Training

Deep Rest offers a simple yet powerful approach to employee well-being through the unique combination of deep rest, mindfulness and meditation.

The 10-step protocol we teach – which is supported by scientific research – is an antidote to work-induced stress, anxiety and burnout.

Our corporate packages are motivated by the knowledge that healthier people mean healthier business. We can bring these practices into your workplace or career through:

·      1-1 mentoring for senior-level executives, exploring responsibility, control, leadership, insight, direction and stress relief

·      Training, group sessions and tailored recordings for dissemination across teams and divisions

·      Keynote speeches and conference appearances about the power of deep rest and the benefits it brings to our professional lives

Deep Rest specialises in teaching meditative rest in a format that is easy to understand and can be put into practice immediately. Once your executives or employees learn the basics, they can practice anywhere and reap the benefits, whether it’s a 10-minute rest break, a deeper, 30-minute session using a recording, or a longer personalised session.

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Well-being at work

There’s a lot of stress-relief and meditation content out there. The challenge for many businesses is implementation: ensuring employees engage in self-care that has proven benefit. We can help by:

·      Crafting a set of practices targeted at the specific needs of your workforce and organisational ethos.

·      Delivering the content via a bespoke app, including employee tracking, push notifications and personalised content.

·      Making this more than a box-ticking exercise, with evidence-based content that can increase productivity, decrease absenteeism, and empower your people at work and in their personal lives.

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Simple yet profound solutions

Through our well-being programmes, workshops, presentations and mentoring, we offer restorative, transformative and empowering experiences that deliver lifelong benefits.

We have a passion for fostering better understanding of stress and relaxation and their effects on mind and body. And we aspire to play our part in ending the stigma surrounding mental health challenges at work.

Please don’t hesitate to drop us a line if you would like to discuss a corporate package – we cater to bespoke briefs.

The Science

Extensive scientific evidence now exists in support of the deep rest practices we offer.

Many of these practices have ancient roots which can sometimes appear shrouded in spiritual and philosophical tradition. At Deep Rest, we like to respect and honour the origins of these practices while situating our offering resolutely in the 21st century, where it can really help. 

Research shows that:

  • Meditation and mindfulness programmes delivered in the workplace reduce the effects of stress, anxiety and burnout, and improve health and overall performance (1-3)
     

  • Meditation offers physiological stress reduction, as shown by reduction in cortisol level (4-5)
     

  • Leadership wellbeing is critical: improving wellbeing at the top of organisations creates ripple effects throughout an organisation (6)
     

  • Meditation and mindfulness initiatives are also effective at all levels (7-11)
     

  • Meditation and mindfulness help to cultivate the key leadership competencies of focus and presence, clarity of mind, compassion, selflessness, self-awareness and resilience. (12-17 ) And do so competitively when compared with other forms of leadership training. (18)
     

  • Structured rest breaks are more effective at increasing vigour and decreasing fatigue than unstructured breaks – taking a guided meditation or using a relaxation technique at breaktimes is more effective than taking a nap, eating or drinking. (19, 20)
     

  • Relaxation is more effective than physical exercise on employees' level of concentration, strain and fatigue. (21)
     

  • People don't tend to take rest breaks independently when they need to, despite the rest breaks improve their wellbeing and ability to perform their job optimally (22)

  • [1] Dent S, et al. Do workplace-based mindfulness meditation programs improve physiological indices of stress? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2018;114:62-71.

    [2] Ravalier JM, Wegrzynek P, Lawton S. Systematic review: complementary therapies and employee well-being. Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) 2016;66:428-436.

    [3] Luken M, Sammons A. Systematic Review of Mindfulness Practice for Reducing Job Burnout. The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association 2016;70:7002250020p7002250021-7002250020p7002250010.

    [4] Virgili M. Mindfulness-Based Interventions Reduce Psychological Distress in Working Adults: a Meta-Analysis of Intervention Studies. Mindfulness 2015;6:326-337.

    [5] Lomas T, Medina JC, Ivtzan I, et al. Mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace: An inclusive systematic review and meta-analysis of their impact upon wellbeing. The Journal of Positive Psychology 2019;14:625-640.

    [6] Yocum S, Lawson K. Health Coaching Case Report: Optimizing Employee Health and Wellbeing in Organizations. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership 209;12.

    [7] Mulla ZR, Govindaraj K, Polisetti SR, et al. Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for Executives: Results from a Field Experiment. Business Perspectives and Research 2017;5:113-123.

    [8] Adhia H, Nagendra HR, Mahadevan B. Impact of Adoption of Yoga Way of Life on the Reduction of Job Burnout of Managers. Vikalpa 2010;35:21-34.

    [9] Wongtongkam N, Krivokapic-Skoko B, Duncan R, et al. The influence of a mindfulness-based intervention on job satisfaction and work-related stress and anxiety. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2017;19:134-143.

    [10] Schmidt-Wilk J, Schmidt-Wilk J. Consciousness-Based Management Development. Journal of Transnational Management Development 2000;5:61-85.

    [11] Wasylkiw L, Holton J, Azar R, et al. The impact of mindfulness on leadership effectiveness in a health care setting: a pilot study. Journal of health organization and management 2015;29:893-911.

    [12] Reitz M, Chaskalson M. How to Bring Mindfulness to Your Company’s Leadership. Harvard Business Review 2016;1 December 2016.

    [13] Kersemaekers WM, Vreeling K, Verweij H, et al. Effectiveness and feasibility of a mindful leadership course for medical specialists: a pilot study. BMC medical education 2020;20:34.

    [14] Tjan AK. How Leaders Become Self-Aware. Harvard Business Review. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing, 2012.

    [15] Birk M. What Meditation Can Do for Your Leadership. Harvard Business Review. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing, 2019.

    [16] Carter J, Hougaard R. The 3 Qualities of a Successful Leader. Mindful. Chicago: Mindful Communications, 2020

    [17] Donaldson-Feilder E, Lewis R, Yarker J. What outcomes have mindfulness and meditation interventions for managers and leaders achieved? A systematic review. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 2018;28:1-19.

    [18] Brendel W, Hankerson S, Byun S, et al. Cultivating leadership Dharma: Measuring the impact of regular mindfulness practice on creativity, resilience, tolerance for ambiguity, anxiety and stress. Journal of Management Development 2016;35:1056-1078.

    [19] Singh U, Ghadiri A, Weimar D, et al. “Let’s have a break”: An experimental comparison of work-break interventions and their impact on performance. Journal of Business Research 2020;112:128-135.

    [20] Blasche G, Szabo B, Wagner-Menghin M, et al. Comparison of rest-break interventions during a mentally demanding task. Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress 2018;34:629-638.

    [21] Sianoja M, Syrek C, de Bloom J, et al. Enhancing daily well-being at work through lunchtime park walks and relaxation exercises: Recovery experiences as mediators. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 2018;23: 428–442.

    [22] Bosch C, Sonnentag S. Should I Take a Break? A Daily Reconstruction Study on Predicting Micro-Breaks at Work. International Journal of Stress Management 2018;26.