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Presentations Outlines

Kristen Neff, PhD
Self-compassion: A healthier way of relating to yourself and your body
This talk will discuss the role of self-compassion in creating a kinder and more connected way of inhabiting our minds and our bodies. It will discuss research on the health benefits of self-compassion, including yoga as a way to enhance self-compassion. It will also compare self-compassion to self-esteem, arguing that that self-compassion provides a more stable and less contingent sense of self-worth. Finally, a brief self-compassion practice will be taught for use in daily life.

Deborah Kesten, MPH
Ancient Yogic Nutrition Meets Modern Nutritional Science
Yogis turn all eating into a potentially sacred activity, each encounter with food into an opportunity to meet the Higher Self. This presentation is steeped in anna yoga, India’s ancient dietary wisdom. Discover the what-and-how-to-eat guidelines of yogic nutrition, and the science behind its ability to nourish the “whole person”—physically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially.

Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D., C-IHYT
The Healing Power of the Yogic Lifestyle
The author will present his 20+ year journey as a research director with Dr. Dean Ornish into discovering how a 4-component yoga-based lifestyle change program can reverse a host of related chronic diseases including coronary artery disease, diabetes, and prostate cancer. While the results of several studies will be reviewed the focus will be upon the effects of yoga practice, exercise, social support, and a plant-based diet on angiographic measured changes in the blockages of coronary arteries. The author will present unpublished new results on how important each of the 4 components is to disease reversal, how much change is necessary to reverse the disease, and what specific foods were eaten by those whose disease progressed and reversed. Also, presented will be surprising findings on which of the 30 different types of fat intake are most related to disease progression. And a multiple regression analysis will show the strength of yoga practice when compared with dietary cholesterol and fat in predicting 5-year coronary artery disease reversal. The presentation will end by discussing possible mechanisms by which a yogic lifestyle has it healing powers including studies showing the benefits of this 4-component lifestyle changes program on oncogene expression and telomere lengthening.

David Ring, MD PhD
Recovering from Injury and Surgery: How the Stories We Tell Ourselves Can Enhance of Hinder Our Ability to Heal
The story we tell ourselves about our experience of pain can either strengthen or weaken our recovery. There are effective strategies that we can use to create healthier narratives for optimal recovery. This in part involves understanding the difference between tissue damage and our experience of it, which can include unpleasant thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. In this presentation we will discuss and define nociception, which is the physiology of actual or potential tissue damage in contrast to the narrative that often accompanies injury and pain, and management strategies.

Marshall Hagins, PhD
Yoga and Science: The Basics
How a human being changes through the practice of yoga and meditation is a truly complex phenomenon. Even the best science can only reveal some of the truth about yoga. This talk will describe foundational concepts related to the scientific study of yoga. In particular, how the questions and methods which scientists use influence and limit the interpretation of the results. Despite the inherent limitations of Western science, a case will be made that a factual scientific consensus of what yoga can and cannot do will generally expand the use of yoga in society and help us personalize and target our practice to ourselves, our clients and patients more specifically.

Eddie Stern
Breathing Exercise and Joint Panel Questions & Answers

Conference Schedule

Sunday June 16, 2019
14:00 – 14:10 Presentation of the program by Petra Bianco, yoga teacher
14:10 – 14:20 Welcome speech of H. E. Mr. Arindam Bagchi, Ambassador of India in Croatia and Mr. Pradeep Urs, Ministry of AYUSH, India
14:20 – 14:25 Welcome speech of Jelena Jadreško, president of Croatian Yoga Federation
14:30 – 15:00 THE ORIGINS OF YOGA FROM A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE, presentation by academic Mislav Ježić, Ph.D, Croatian philosopher, indologist and author of Croatian Yoga Declaration
15:00 – 16:00 ON YOGA AND SCIENCE, presentation of the Conference by Dr. Marshall Hagins, Ph.D, Eddie Stern, yoga teacher, author, and lecturer, Ing. Jadranko Miklec, yogacharya, author and lecturer
16:00 – 16:15 EXPERIENCING YOGA by Jadranko Miklec, yogacharya, author and lecturer
16:15 – 17:15 – BREAK-Tea and vegan snacks by our sponsor Garden organic food store
17:15 –18:00 GENE EXPRESSION AND YOGA presentation by Ivana Burić, Ph.D
18:00 – 18:45 PAIN MANAGEMENT, presentation by Dr. Marshall Hagins, Ph.D and Eddie Stern, yoga teacher, author, and lecturer
19:00 – 19:15 PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK: One Simple Thing: A New Look at the Science of Yoga and How It Can Transform Your Life with Eddie Stern, author of the book
19:15 – 19:45 EXPERIENCE SHARING AND MODERATED TALK on how we can begin to include Yoga in social structures. Speakers: Marshall Hagins, Eddie Stern, moderated by Petra Bianco

Conference Schedule

DAY 1 – Saturday January 19, 2019
9:10-9:20 Welcome: Alexandra Seidenstein and Sara-Lee Ramsawak
9:20-9:35 Opening Address: Chandrika Tandon
9:35-9:50 Introduction: Dr. Marshall Hagins and Eddie Stern
9:50-10:50 Keynote: Dr. Stephen Porges Ancient Wisdom Meets Contemporary Neuroscience: Yoga practices can be deconstructed through an understanding of Polyvagal Theory as a system of efficient and effective ‘neural exercises’ that promote self-regulation, resilience, and social connectedness.
10:55-11:15 Break
11:20-11:45 Dr. Sat Bir S. Khalsa The Multiple Mechanisms of the Multiple Practices in Yoga: Putting it All Together: Yoga includes many differing practices, each of which exerts effect via different and sometimes overlapping mechanisms. This presentation will summarize these mechanisms into a logic model that accounts for the full range of practices, mechanisms and final outcomes on psychophysiology, health and behavior.
11:45-12:00 Pranayama practice led by Dr. Sat Bir Khalsa
12:05-12:30 Dr. Gail Parker Healing the Wounds of Racial Distress: What’s Yoga Got to Do With It? Racial stress and trauma are realities that impact all people, not just people of color. Various yoga practices are ideal for easing the pain and discomfort of ongoing race based stress and trauma and can lead to more adaptive responses to stressful and traumatic events.
12:30-2:30 Lunch and poster session
2:30-2:55 Dr. Pam Jeter NCCIH, Science, and You: This presentation will focus on the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) as a primary source of research funding and briefly discuss the review process that leads to funding decisions for yoga studies conducted in the U.S. In addition, it will discuss the importance of being an informed science consumer and NCCIH’s initiative to “Know the Science”.
3:00-3:25 Bethany Kok, PhD Physiological and emotional foundations of loving-kindness: An upward spiral. Emotions and the autonomic nervous system form a complex interplay that exhibits itself in behavioral tendencies. Loving-kindness meditation can harness that interplay by increasing moments of prosocial positive emotions and higher vagal tone, which accumulate and compound to produce changes in body, behavior, and brain.
3:30-4:10 Q and A Moderator: Erich Anderer, MD
4:10-5:30 Pro-Social Yogi-Scientist Exercise: Drinks, Food, Music, Conversation, Poster viewing, Book signing

DAY 2 – Sunday January 20, 2019
9:15-10:15 Yoga practice led by Dr. Gail Parker (bring your mat!)
10:15-10:45 Break
10:45-11:45 Keynote: Dr. Shirley Telles Physiological effects of pranayamas and yoga-meditation: This presentation will cover the physiological effects of various pranayamas and yoga meditation giving an insight into possible applications and precautions of these yoga techniques.
11:45-12:10 Dr. Stacy Hunter Hot Yoga and Vascular Function: Effects of Practice Temperature on Health Benefits: Hot yoga has improved vascular health in young and middle-aged and older adults; however the mechanism remains unclear. This presentation will report the results of a seminal investigation comparing the effects of 12 weeks of thermoneutral versus heated yoga practices on endothelial function in middle-aged adults at elevated cardiovascular disease .
12:15-1:45 Lunch
1:45-2:15 Dr. Crystal Park The stress-reducing effects of yoga: Mechanisms of effect: Yoga is a complex set of practices that reduces stress through multiple pathways. This presentation will describe the evidence base for yoga’s stress-reducing properties and the physiological and psychological mechanisms that underlie this stress reduction.
2:20-3:00 Deepak Chopra Exploring Reality: The Science of Yoga
3:05-3:45 Q and A with all speakers Moderators: Eddie Stern, Marshall Hagins, and Alexandra Seidenstein
3:45-5:00 Yoga/Science Genius bar Step up to the various stations of the Genius Bar and ask questions of our conference speakers while partaking of refreshment.