BURLINGTON, MA- From smartphone apps to the workplace, meditation has become a vital part of finding wellness in 2017. The 5th Annual Health, Fitness & Wellness Expo announced that a panel of expert practitioners will speak at North America’s largest South Asian Health Expo on March 5 at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA about the evolution of meditation from an obscure practice to a mainstream phenomenon.
While some people practice meditation for religious reasons, many today have accepted it for practical health reasons. For something that seemed like a mere fad in the beginning of the 21st century, meditation has become a billion-dollar industry in the United States. From permanent spots in fancy airports to course listings of Ivy league schools, meditation is becoming a constant in our world that is rapidly changing every moment.
The panel will consist of five dedicated long-time practitioners of meditation, each with their own unique perspective on the benefits of meditation. The panel will be moderated by Dhanashree Ramachandran, who teaches holistic wellbeing and development in New England
The 5th Annual Health, Fitness & Wellness Expo is on March 5th, 2017 from 10: 00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA. It free to all attendees but they must pre-register. For more information and to register for FREE, please visit Health Expo website at http://healthfitnesswellnessexpo.com/
The expo is organized by IndUS Business Journal and INDIA New England News and is sponsored by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Lahey Health and INE MultiMedia, Inc.
Speakers
Angela Babuschak
Angela Babuschak
A loyal yoga and meditation practitioner from Cohasset, MA, Angela is a renowned yoga instructor in the community. Angela holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nutrition from Immaculata College, Philadelphia, PA, along with her yoga certification. After practicing for many years as an oncology and pediatric licensed and registered dietitian in both acute and long-term care, Angela has dedicated her life to promoting yogic wellness practices for the physical and spiritual benefits that they offer. Angela will be discussing how combining meditation with physical exercises and yoga can enhance the benefits of practice.
Ram Chelakara
Ram Chelakara
The recipient of Raytheon’s highest engineering award, the Innovation Excellence Award, Ram got introduced to meditation 17 years ago. Since then, he has been regularly practicing and teaching meditation and other practices like Sudarshan Kriya and pranayams. An ardent student of yoga and meditation, Ram credits his professional success to his meditation practice. Ram brings the precision and curiosity of science to the ancient knowledge of yoga. He will be leading discussion on research and scientific inquiry of traditional outfit of meditation practices and how they are very much relevant today.
Jeff Schneider
Jeff Schneider
As a lawyer, law professor and judge for decades, Jeff has witnessed elements of social structure contributing in the making or breaking of the greater good. A coach to “high-achiever” professionals and executives, Jeff has also served as a leader of a nonprofit dedicated to the mentally-ill homeless. As a secular meditator for 25 years, Jeff strongly believes in transformative effects of mindfulness and meditation on adults as well as practical benefits for children and adolescents. He is a certified hypnotherapist and currently studying mind, brain and education at Harvard University. Jeff is passionate about bringing meditation to education system. He is currently developing a metacognition curriculum that includes contemplative practices both experientially and academically. Jeff will focus on the social and cultural aspects of meditation.
Kavi Wagholikar
Dr. Kavi Wagholikar
Dr. Kavi Wagholikar is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Assistant in Computer Science at Massachusetts General Hospital. Kavi believes in the healing and transformative powers of meditation and has been actively involved in proving the same scientifically through various research projects. A long-term meditation practitioner, Kavi has been teaching meditation for the past few years. Kavi dedicates all his free time to promoting meditation in universities, among medical professionals and youths. He will be leading discussion on the role of meditation in the medical faculty.
Ajay Jaisingh
Ajay Jaisingh
Ajay’s spiritual journey started in his late teens when his quest for truth and proverbial “meaning of life” led him to experience various religious, spiritual and new-age teachings, enabling him to understand not only the differences but also the similarities between them; the universal message that they all convey. He spent a significant time of his youth travelling to various cities sharing his understanding of life as a meditation instructor for a non-profit organization. A technology/management consultant by profession, Ajay also enjoys theater for the open transaction of experiences between the audience and performer. He has been working on designing and testing some of the best personal development courses with his wife, Sneh, who is a well-known nutritionist in New England area. Sneh and Ajay regularly offer health and wellness workshops under the umbrella of NutriAge, a company they formed more than a decade ago. Ajay brings a fresh, neutral and independent view on meditation as a right of all beings.
Moderator
Dhananshree Ramachandran
Dhanashree Ramachandran
Dhanashree Ramachandran teaches holistic wellbeing and development in New England. Her journey on the spiritual path began at an early age with learning to meditate and to chant from her grandmother. A strong advocate of using the body’s internal power to heal and flourish, Ramachandran has been teaching the Art of Living course to adults, young adults and children since 2009.
She has successfully taught stress relief and management techniques in various settings, such as hospitals, schools, corporate offices and community centers to hundreds of people in the New England area. Some of the many prominent service projects that Ramachandran has led are trauma relief for children from Haiti and Nashua meditates- a movement to bring awareness towards ancient wisdom and proven techniques.