Deep Rest: Spiritual, Emotional, and Cellular Rejuvenation

Deep Rest: Spiritual, Emotional, and Cellular Rejuvenation is a daylong wellness retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, led by Elissa Epel, PhD and Nichol Joy Chase. It brings together meditation, breathwork, restorative yoga and live contemplative music for anyone who wants to learn how rest works, and to practice it. It suits all levels, and no prior meditation or yoga experience is needed. The program is offered both on-land at Spirit Rock and online via Zoom.

What to Expect

The day runs from 10:00am to 3:00pm Pacific time on a Saturday, about five hours of instruction and practice. The teaching looks at the science and art of restoration: how meditation, breathwork, sensory immersion, restorative yoga and live music support emotional and cellular renewal. Practices are designed to be accessible and to help regulate the nervous system.

Creativity is part of the day too. Poetry, music, dance and other forms of expression are explored as ways to soften stress patterns, widen perception and open new ways of thinking and being. Live contemplative music accompanies the practice throughout. There is a lunch break in the middle of the day.

The aim is a spacious, receptive quality of awareness, held by community and by the earth itself, in which deep rest becomes a generative force rather than simply a pause.

About Elissa Epel, PhD

Elissa Epel is a Professor at UCSF. Her research looks at how chronic stress affects biological aging, including the telomere and telomerase system, and at food addiction, along with how self-regulation and meditation may buffer the effects of stress and support psychological and physiological thriving. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and President-Elect of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine.

About Nichol Joy Chase

Nichol Chase, ERYT-500, TSM, is an educator, program leader and contemplative teacher who specializes in resilience science, trauma-informed care and embodied wisdom practices. A Fellow of the Garrison Institute, she designs and leads programs that weave mindfulness, movement and music to help individuals and communities move through stress, heal from trauma and cultivate well-being.

Before You Go

The practices come from mindfulness and contemplative traditions, and they are meant to be restorative for everyone, whatever their experience. Languages listed for the program are English and Spanish.

Registration includes unlimited access to the program recording, which becomes available roughly ten days after the day itself. Admission to Spirit Rock's Community Meditation Center is also included. Meals are not provided, so bring your own lunch and a water bottle. Overnight accommodation is not part of the program.

Pricing is on a sliding scale, and paying at the highest level you can afford supports the teachers, Spirit Rock and fellow practitioners who need to pay less. Scholarship rates are available for BIPOC participants, young adults, and Mudita/Karuna members. For the online program, no one is turned away for lack of funds, as space allows. Choose either the on-land or the online format, not both. Registration closes on the morning of the program, and a waiting list is created if it fills early.