Next weekend an amazing group of mindfulness teachers, thinkers, writers and researchers are gathering October 5-7 at UCLA for the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy: Cultivating Well-Being In the Present Moment conference.

I’ve already signed up and look forward to Saturday’s keynote address by Thich Nhat Hanh (walking meditation, silence and box lunch included), a Q&A with Jack Kornfield, and chanting by the nuns and monks of Plum Village and Deer Park monasteries.

There’s also an array of workshops and speakers that will surely enhance any level of meditation practice. I’m fairly new to meditation and have been fascinated by the work of neuroscientists, like conference presenter Sara Lazar, PhD (also a yogi), who conducts double-blind, clinical studies proving that meditation is more than just a stress reducer; it can change the brain much like asana can change the body.

In fact, Lazar’s most recent study – one of the first to look at ordinary westerners who meditate and not Buddhist monks who meditate all day – found evidence that daily meditation thickens the part of the brain responsible for decision making, attention and memory and it can even slow the natural thinning of the brain that occurs with age.

Even if you can’t make it, a look at the program line-up will give you a google primer to start your own educational discovery on the role of meditation in emotional well being. And I’ll report back next week to tell you what I learned.