4th Annual Mindfulness Conference: Norman Farb

“Befriending Breath: The Subtle Neuroscience of Breath Awareness“
Norman Farb

Oct. 25, 2021; 5-6:30 p.m.

Breath monitoring is a foundational practice in many contemplative traditions and secular adaptations such as modern mindfulness training, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation. Why is monitoring the breath, an omnipresent body signal, so challenging and yet potentially transformative? Emerging neuroscientific research reveals that breath monitoring requires walking a “middle path” between inhibiting conventional patterns of thought and working to preserve the subtler signals of the breath in each moment. Behavioral studies suggest breath awareness may not be the critical ingredient for mental health; instead, it seems that subjective confidence and comfort with engaging in breath awareness has more relevance for well-being than objective measures of perceptual acuity.