Concurrent Session 3 – Health Care (Medical) Implications of Meditative/ Contemplative Practice

This panel will explore the medical relevance of contemplative practice, from brain and nervous system function and structure, to the role of positive emotions in boosting immune system function and furthering life satisfaction and meaning. Dr. Barry Kerzin will present experiences as a physician, ministering on the one hand to monks, and on the other, to patients who do not have the benefits of contemplative practice. Dr Magdalena Naylor will discuss the application of mindfulness meditation to pain management, as well as her fMRI studies of brain activity during meditative pain-control practices. Peter Wayne, Qigong teacher and trauma therapist, and Dr. Mardi Crane-Godreau will copresent on the mediating role of the autonomic nervous system in the medical effects of contemplative practice. They will clarify the interface between the autonomic nervous system and the immune system, and their roles in influencing outcomes in a wide variety of inflammation-related medical conditions.