This historic conference brings the world's leading researchers on yoga and the brain together with renowned yoga teachers to explore how yoga can be used in a therapeutic context to enhance emotion regulation. As science begins to appreciate the power of the mind-body connection yoga is quickly becoming one of the most well recognised practices for reducing stress and enhancing well-being. We will consider yoga's function as a body-based therapeutic intervention, not simply within its own cultural tradition but in contemporary western societies where individuals face exceptional levels of stress, anxiety and depression.

Yogis have long understood the transformative power of yoga. To effectively share the knowledge with the wider community, including healthcare practitioners and students, it is important that teachers and therapists appreciate the physiological mechanisms that underpin its curative properties. This conference is a unique interface, bringing together the wisdom of yoga with the insight of modern medicine and science. The lectures will scientifically examine the extent to which yoga may establish neural pathways that contribute to well-being. We will be guided through the latest research to explain how such physiological changes may occur and develop through aspects of the practice.

For those who teach yoga as the core of their work, we will think about how particular forms of yoga and yogic techniques are best suited for various mental health populations and why. For mental health professionals, the event will guide participants through the specific applications of yoga practice that support clients or patients suffering from trauma and emotion dysregulation. Lecture presentations of scientific findings will thus be combined with practical workshops on a variety of themes, which provide practical skills for working with emotional health. Yoga sessions will be an important aspect of the 3 days.