Conference Schedule

DAY 1 – Saturday January 19, 2019
9:00-9:15 Welcome: Chandrika Tandon
9:15-9:45 Eddie Stern and Dr. Marshall Hagins
9:50-10:50 Keynote 1: 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. 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
11:50-12:15 Dr. Sat Bir S. Khalsa The Multiple Mechanisms of the Multiple Practices in Yoga: Putting it All Together: Yoga includes many differing practices (e.g., postures, movement, pranayama techniques, deep relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, ethical standards, philosophy and even subtle energy manipulation) 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
12:05-2:20 Lunch and poster session
2:25-2:50 Dr. Pam Jeter Know the Science: 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”.
2:55-3:20 Bethany Kok, PhD
3:25-3:55 Q and A Moderator: Erich Anderer, MD
4:00-4:20 Break
4:25-4:35 Chandrika Tandon Music Performance
4:40-5:30 Gail Parker Yoga Practice

DAY 2 – Sunday January 20, 2019
9:30-10 :30 Keynote 2: Dr. Shirley Telles Physiological effects of pranayamas and yoga-meditation: The talk will cover the physiological effects of various pranayamas and yoga meditation. This would give an insight into possible applications and precautions of these yoga techniques.
10:35-11:00 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.
11:00-11:20 Break
11:25-11:45 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 talk 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 risk.
11:50-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:25 Special Guest: TBD
1:30-2:00 Q and A Moderator: Erich Anderer, MD
2:20-3:20 Deepak Chopra Closing Keynote Address
3:30-5:00 Cocktails and Q and A: Yoga/Science Genius bar Have an opportunity to ask questions of our conference speakers at the various stations of our Yoga/Science Genius bar while partaking of refreshment.