Background

On October 13-16, 2011, The Mindfulness Center (TMC) hosted Mind-Body Week D.C. (MBW-D.C.) 2011—a ground-breaking public health initiative designed to increase awareness about the science and practice of evidence-based mind-body therapies for health and well-being. MBW-D.C. 2011 was a huge success with over 1,000 attendees participating in lectures and classes featuring pioneering researchers and practitioners in the field of mind-body medicine including Dr. Herbert Benson, Director Emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute (BHI) for Mind-Body Medicine, and Mr. John Schumacher, Founder and Director of Unity Woods—one of the first and highly respected local yoga studios in the D.C. Metropolitan area. On the heels of this success, TMC is looking forward to MBW-D.C. 2013 with a focus on the role of mind-body therapies for the prevention, management, and treatment of chronic disease.

MBW-D.C. events have been inspired by earlier efforts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with the 2008 NIH Yoga Week and 2009 NIH Conditioning and Relaxation Week events. MBW-D.C. is now a private venture that has been gaining momentum through partnerships with other academic and wellness centers and practitioners from the D.C. Metropolitan area including American University and Suburban Hospital of John’s Hopkins Medical Center. Equally important, the event has garnered significant community response in the past several years which we hope will continue to evolve.

Want to Get Involved? Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in working with us either as a sponsor, speaker, or participant. Together, we hope to help us build an alliance of mind-body researchers, practitioners, and consumers to further advance the field of mind-body medicine within the context of rapidly rising rates of chronic disease that are threatening the health and well-being of far too many individuals from our local, national and global communities.

Mind-Body Week D.C. Mission

The Mindfulness Center and other mind-body Centers and practitioners in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area are committed to promoting and improving the health of our community, and thereby also contributing to the health of the nation. Mind-Body Week D.C. takes these efforts into the private sector, and considers evidence-based medical research and knowledge as the foundation for the appropriate application of mind-body therapies, and their role in the standard of medical care.

The goals of this program are to:

1. Advance the evidence-based body of knowledge of mind-body by bringing together scientists, practitioners and interested health consumers, by facilitating the integration of research on mind-body-spirit therapies at all levels, and by encouraging translational research and the application of new scientific knowledge to develop improved disease prevention, disease treatments, cures, and the capacity for optimal wellbeing.
2. Provide professional development activities, information, and educational resources for scientists at all stages of their careers, including undergraduates, graduates, and postdoctoral fellows, and increase participation of scientists from a diversity of therapeutic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
3. Promote public information and general education about the nature of scientific discovery and the results and implications of the latest research in mind-body therapies. Support active and continuing discussions on ethical issues relating to the conduct and outcomes of mind-body research, and their role in the legal and medical Standard of Care.
4. Inform Medical and other health care practitioners about scientific knowledge and recent developments in mind-body research, and their implications for the medical standard of care, societal benefit and continued progress in medical care and the health of our community and nation as a whole.
5. Inform legislators and other policymakers about new scientific knowledge and recent developments in mind-body research and their implications for public policy, medical standards, regulatory standards, societal benefit, and continued scientific progress.