Focusing awareness on present-moment sensory experiences of the body and breath is a foundational meditational practice that helps bring stillness to the agitated mind and provides opportunity to strengthen and focus attention. Learning to focus our awareness on somatic sensations within our bodies such as our breath, while sitting, lying down, or engaged in movement, brings us into the present moment and can provide a sense of spaciousness. These practices can help us to move out of automatic thoughts and modes of reactivity, to strengthen our ability to shift our attention to broader perspectives.
This day-long experiential workshop will provide instruction and guided practice in several forms of body and breath-based mindfulness and mind-body practices commonly used in stress management programs such as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction.
It will also provide a comprehensive and up-to-date explanation of the psychology and neuroscience of mindfulness meditation on the breath and body that is accessible and understandable. We will discuss cutting-edge neuroimaging work about effects of meditation on attention and cognitive function, the autonomic nervous system, and psychoneuroimmunology, as well as positive health-promoting effects of mindfulness on managing stress and improving mental and physical health.
Anthony King is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at University of Michigan Medical School, and adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Michigan. He is a certified teacher of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and a staff psychologist at Michigan Medicine Anxiety Disorders Program, where he leads the MBCT program for Anxiety and Depression. He is director of the Michigan Laboratory for Mindfulness and Compassion in Psychotherapy, and conducts NIH-funded clinical neuroscience research on Mindfulness and Compassion-based psychotherapy for PTSD, anxiety, and depression, and their effects on neural networks using functional MRI neuroimaging. Tony has been a student of Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche Dorjechang for over 30 years, and an instructor of Jewel Heart Tibetan Buddhist Centers since the mid-1990s.
DATE/TIMES
Saturday, February 27, 2021
10:00 am – 1:00 pm and 2:00 – 5:00 pm Eastern
REGISTRATION
Fee: $80
For more information about Anthony King https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/psychiatry/anthony-king-phd
