Join the University of Toronto's Buddhist Psychology Student Union's first independent conference. The audience will gain a clear understanding of what mindfulness meditation is and the positive and negative effects it may have on its practitioners. There will be an emphasis on why mindfulness meditation is not a practice for everyone as negative reactions from the powerful practice of training the mind are not uncommon. Your views and beliefs of the ancient practice are sure to be challenged from what our society brands "mindfulness" as.

Lunch will be included (as well as vegeterian and vegan options). Our four speakers include experts on the practice, authors, researchers and professors who have studied mindfulness meditation for an extensive period. Our speakers are Jeff Warren, Dawn Mauricio, Dr. Lynette Monteiro and Dr. Norm Farb.

Jeff Warren is the author of The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness and co-author (along with bestselling author, Dan Harris) of Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book. Jeff Warren teaches meditation and personal growth practices to help people live more fulfilling lives. Recently, Jeff appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast to share his thoughts on these important topics. Jeff is also the founder of the Consciousness Explorers Club (CEC), based in Toronto.

Lynette Monteiro (PhD) is a registered psychologist, Clinical Professor at the University of Ottawa, and co-founder of the Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic. Director of Training at the OMC, she has published several articles on the topic of ethics and mindfulness, co-authored Mindfulness Starts Here, and co-edited Practitioner's Guide to Ethics and Mindfulness-based Interventions.

Dawn Mauricio has studied and been a student of Insight Meditation since 2005, and has attended numerous silent residential retreats in Canada, the US, Thailand and Burma, including a 3-month silent retreat at Insight Meditation Society. She is a retreat teacher for teenagers with Inward Bound Mindfulness Education and is a student in Spirit Rock's 4-year teacher training program to enable her to lead silent retreats for adults.

Dr. Norman Farb is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto Missisauga, and a fellow of the Mind and Life Institute. He studies the social neuroscience of the self and human emotion, with a focus on how biases in self-representation shape emotional reactions that determine well-being. He is particularly interested in how training practices such as meditation and yoga foster resilience against stress, reducing vulnerability to disorders.