Learning Lab Series
Rest from Within
Mindfulness, Compassion, and Hypnosis for Sleep and Pain After Brain Injury
With Esther Estey, PhD
Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 6:00 - 7:15 pm ET on Zoom
Sleep disruption and persistent pain are common after brain injury and can affect mood, energy, cognition, relationships, and overall quality of life. At the same time, science-backed mind-body approaches can help people relate to restlessness, insomnia, and difficult body sensations in new ways—creating more safety, ease, and choice in the nervous system.
This workshop brings together evidence-informed foundations from contemplative approaches, compassion interventions, clinical hypnosis, pain reprocessing therapy, and mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral strategies for sleep and pain. Rather than framing healing as “pushing through” or “fixing yourself,” this workshop takes an empowering approach: learning how to work with the brain and body with curiosity, courage, and care.
Featuring Esther Estey, PhD, a psychologist, yoga and meditation teacher, and Harvard faculty member, this experiential workshop brings together practical tools for supporting deeper rest, nervous system regulation, and compassionate pain coping after brain injury.
Sponsored By
Whether you've experienced a TBI/concussion, stroke, or other acquired brain injury, are a caregiver, clinician, yoga or meditation teacher, or are simply interested in mindfulness, compassion, hypnosis, sleep, pain, and healing after brain injury, this event is for you.
You can expect to:
Learn why changes to the nervous system, attention, and threat response can intensify sleep and pain challenges after brain injury
Understand core principles of mindfulness, compassion, and hypnosis for sleep and pain.
Experience brief guided practices designed to support restlessness, insomnia, and pain.
Join us to gain a compassionate, empowering set of tools for working with your mind and body—not by fighting your symptoms, but by learning how to relate to them with greater skill, steadiness, and self-trust.
Register below!
LoveYourBrain offers trust-based sliding scale options for your participation.
If you are able to join us at the Supporter or Sponsor rate(s), your contribution will also support others to attend, and contribute to all of our programs and resources. You can learn more about our DEIAB work here, and our Programs here.
Can’t join us live? A recording will be available and shared afterwards with everyone who signs up.
About the Facilitator
Esther Estey, PhD
Esther Estey, PhD, RYT-200, is a rehabilitation psychologist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, affiliate of Stanford University School of Medicine, and a Harvard Medical School faculty member (part-time) integrating mindfulness, yoga, and compassion-based interventions into brain injury recovery. Her work draws from MBSR, MBCT, MSC, and other evidence-based contemplative therapies.
As a researcher, teacher, and clinician, she is advancing embodied practices within neurorehabilitation and trauma recovery.
Ready to go deeper? Sign up for Mindset Online, our free, evidence-based interactive online program for people with brain injury (including concussion) and caregivers combining yoga, mindfulness, and education to build resilience after brain injury.
See upcoming Learning Labs and explore the Learning Lab Archive