Date: September 20, 2014
The Mayo Clinic, UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Duke Univ., Univ. of AZ, Cleveland Clinic, and many other centers of excellence in healthcare offer yoga therapy and meditation as both wellness methods and treatment modalities. Duke University’s health care center for Integrative Medicine, with ten physicians and a large number of supporting health care providers introduces its work with these words: “More and more people of varied ages, abilities and health conditions are turning to yoga to find ease in body and mind. This trend is fueled, in part, by a growing body of research suggesting that yoga may offer relief from a host of ailments—ranging from hypertension and fibromyalgia, to cancer, depression and insomnia. In fact, nearly 14 million Americans, say that a doctor or therapist has recommended yoga to them, according to a study by Harris Interactive Service Bureau.”
The National Institutes for Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) lists its ongoing research projects involving meditation on its website which notes that: “Most meditative techniques started in Eastern religious or spiritual traditions” but that “A 2007 national Government survey…found that 9.4 percent of respondents (representing more than 20 million people) had used meditation in the past 12 months” for health related matters.
The numbers have continued to rise in tandem with strong growth in research on the mental and physical health implications of yoga and meditation practices. We are witnessing a sea change in the way health will be perceived and preserved in the foreseeable future. But at the present time, we are at a watershed moment where the foundations of our understanding of the nature of well being are being challenged and transformed by insights that are both very ancient and completely novel at the same time.
The USC International Conference on Yoga, Mindfulness, and Integrative Wellness seeks to explore the latest advancements at the forefront of the intersection of yoga, meditation, and integrative health. We are inviting papers on reviews of current scientific research in any aspect of Yoga, Mindfulness, Breath Control, and Other Meditation Methodologies Applied to Physical, Mental, Social or Relational Wellbeing and Wellness.