Releasing the Grip

Can a mere eight weeks of meditation change brain structure? Harvard Medical College’s Sara Lazar demonstrated this in 2011. What advances in understanding the effects of meditation on the brain have been made since then? This conversation follows a short filmed portrait of Sharon Salzberg “On Meditation”, part of an on-going series first introduced during last year’s Brainwave. A book signing with Sharon Salzberg follows the program.

Meet the Speakers

Sharon Salzberg, a teacher of meditation for more than 30 years, co-founded the Insight Meditation Society, the Forest Refuge, and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Sharon’s work is based on the practices of mindfulness and metta, (lovingkindness), the aim of which is to cultivate love and compassion both for ourselves and for others. Her books include Lovingkindness, Faith, The Force of Kindness, and the New York Times bestseller Real Happiness. This is Sharon’s fifth appearance at the Rubin.

Sara W. Lazar, PhD is an Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. The focus of her research is to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, both in clinical settings and in healthy individuals. She is a Board member of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and also the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and is a contributing author to Meditation and Psychotherapy (Guilford Press). She has been practicing yoga and mindfulness meditation since 1994. Her research has been covered by numerous news outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and WebMD, and her work has been featured in a display at the Boston Museum of Science.