This is one of a three-part wellness exercise series developed and led by Vanessa Marrufo of Solrise Wellness (https://solrisewellness.com/). In this exercise, Vanessa will help you process and release stress stored in your body through self-massage and stretching. Take 12 minutes to move to a place of calmness and ease with this exercise.

If you haven’t already, please listen to the other exercises in our series, Body Scan and Emotional Freedom Technique.

This series was produced in association with Policy Research Associates. For more information about PRA Well-Being, please visit prainc.com.

View the podcast transcript: https://www.prainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/VagusNerveTranscript.pdf

Mindfulness Exercise: Vagus Nerve Reset

In May 2023, Mathematica hosted a convening on Capitol Hill about embedding evidence in federal decision making, with a focus on the legacy of the nearly five-year-old Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, also known as the Evidence Act. One of the attendees that day was Robert Shea, an expert on performance improvement in government who served on the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, a group whose recommendations informed the Evidence Act. Shea is the chief executive officer for GovNavigators, a government management consulting firm, where he hosts a podcast called The GovNavigators Show. His career has also included posts at the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.

On this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Shea discusses the improvements he has witnessed since the mid-1990s in the use of data and evidence in federal decision making.

“We have seen a sea change in the ability of agencies to understand that they need to articulate what they’re trying to accomplish in terms of outcomes, report that transparently,” Shea says on the episode. “A lot of what we’re talking about today is sort of dig deeper—find out whether it’s what we’re doing that’s contributing to the ultimate outcome rather than some other factor.”

This episode is part of an occasional series on the show called Evidence in Government, which explores new developments in the halls of government and the role that evidence can play in decisions that could improve people’s lives. Mike Burns, Mathematica’s senior director of communications and public affairs at Mathematica, conducts the Evidence in Government interviews.

SHOW NOTES

Listen to The GovNavigators Show, a podcast Shea hosts with Adam Hughes about government management: https://www.govnavigators.com/podcast

Watch a recording of the event Mathematica hosted in May 2023 on the Evidence Act: https://www.mathematica.org/events/evidence-at-work-for-the-american-people

Learn more about the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, which made recommendations ahead of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/management/commission_evidence

Read a fact sheet from the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/fact-sheet-foundations-for-evidence-based-policymaking-act/

Read a press release about the resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking: https://kilmer.house.gov/media/press-releases/kilmer-spearheads-legislative-change-with-introduction-of-evidence-based-policymaking-resolution

Read the bipartisan resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking to further embed the use of data and evidence in federal decision making: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/49/text?s=1&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Evidence+commission%22%5D%7D

100 | Robert Shea on the Federal Government’s Progress in Using Evidence

Listen to the article: Reframing employee health: Moving beyond burnout to holistic health

This episode features Travis Parker, Lisa Maye, and Ashley Krider from Policy Research Associates, who discuss the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) and its role in driving systems change for people with behavioral health conditions.

Data Points is an ongoing podcast series produced by Policy Research that discusses research for social change.

Episode Transcript: https://www.prainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DataPoints-SIM-Transcript-FINAL-508.pdf

Resources:
-Sequential Intercept Model Mapping Workshops: https://smtc.prainc.com/services/sequential-intercept-model-mapping-workshops/
-Sequential Intercept Model: https://prainc.com/sim
- Incorporating 988 Into the SIM: A Nationwide Opportunity for Deflection From Law Enforcement Contact at Intercept 0: https://www.prainc.com/incorporating-988-into-sim-nationwide-opportunity-deflection-law-enforcement-contact-intercept-0/
- Exploring Intercept 0 of the Sequential Intercept Model: The Earliest Off-Ramp on the Road Toward Criminal Legal System Involvement: https://www.prainc.com/intercept-0-sequential-intercept-model/
- Brief Jail Mental Health Screen: https://www.prainc.com/product/brief-jail-mental-health-screen/
-Systems Mapping and Training Center: smtc.prainc.com/
-PRA eNews Sign Up: signup.e2ma.net/signup/1834746/1788027/

Data Points | Systems in Focus: The Sequential Intercept Model and Why It Matters

Creating positive social change for people and communities through technical assistance, research, and training.

Data Points | Systems in Focus: The Sequential Intercept Model and Why It Matters

Policy Research Associates, Inc.

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