Mindfulness topic of SUNY conference at UB

Mindfulness has been defined as maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and surrounding environment.

So how does this cognitive training process — one that upon first glance may seem more touchy-feely than pragmatic — fit into an academic, research-focused environment?

More than 300 researchers and practitioners from across New York State will convene on March 4 at UB to discuss how mindfulness-based practices can improve health, learning and well-being — as well as chart the path for a SUNY-wide research agenda — as part of a multidisciplinary conference, “Launching SUNY Initiatives on Mindfulness & Health.”

The conference, sponsored by SUNY’s Conversations in the Disciplines program, will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. It is the first SUNY-funded scholarly conference designed to foster research and education on mindfulness across the disciplines.

Attendees will include representatives from SUNY institutions across the state, as well as those from other colleges and universities, school districts, hospitals, businesses and organizations, and other community members, says conference organizer Lisa Napora, a visiting scholar in the Department of Learning and Instruction, Graduate School of Education.

Napora notes that more than two decades of research has shown that mindfulness offers far-reaching benefits, including improving symptoms of chronic illness; managing stress and stress-related disease; treating anxiety and depression; improving focus, critical thinking and academic learning; and enhancing emotional resilience.

One of the goals of the SUNY conference, she says, “is to build community statewide to bring together researchers, faculty, staff, students, clinicians and community participants, and bridge the mindfulness and health work across the disciplines, and across institutions and organizations.”

The conference aims “to provide a forum where people can learn about the latest mindfulness-based approaches across the disciplines and also provide a space to share and discuss future research possibilities and foster new research collaborations and scholarly change across the state,” says Napora, professor in the Executive Leadership & Change master’s program at Daemen College and chair of the Western New York Contemplative Faculty & Staff Group. She received a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from UB’s Graduate School of Education.

“Those interested in this area don’t think there are other people out there doing mindfulness work,” she notes. “They might only know one other person. In some disciplines, mindfulness work still seems to be on the fringe of systems-level acceptance.”

The conference will feature two keynote speakers, both experts on different aspects of mindfulness. They are:

• Daniel Barbezat, professor of economics at Amherst College and executive director of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, the national hub for contemplative teaching and learning in higher education. His keynote address is titled “Contemplative Pedagogy in the 21st Century University: A Research Agenda.”

Barbezat has lectured on contemplative learning and pedagogy at more than 60 teaching and learning centers nationally. His latest book, “Contemplative Practices in Higher Education: Powerful Methods to Transform Teaching and Learning” (Jossey-Bass), was released last winter.

• David Vago, an associate psychologist in the Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Vago will speak on “Neuroscientific Assessment of the Impact of Mindfulness on Brain Functioning.”

Vago studies the basic neuroscientific mechanisms of mindfulness-based practices and the use of mindfulness-based techniques to treat illness. He has twice presented on his scientific findings to the Dalai Lama.

The conference also will feature panel sessions on such topics as clinical education and training of health care professionals, mindfulness and campus services, mindfulness-based interventions for health promotion and disease prevention, and mindfulness and education.

SUNY Trustee Joseph Belluck, who has promoted the mindfulness concept across the system and encouraged SUNY leaders across the state to attend the conference, will give the opening address.

Napora notes that conference registration remains open, although there are limited spots left.

To register and for more information, visit the conference website.