Fadel Zeidan(Photo: Submitted)

For 4,500 years, practitioners of meditation have sworn it changed the way they felt.

But it's only been in the past decade or so that researchers have been able to use technologyto show how meditation can change the brain's activity and physiology.

"Clinicians, and people as a whole, have been skeptical of mindfulness because of a lack of objective evidence," said Fadel Zeidan, a researcher, assistant professor and director of the Brain Mechanisms of Pain and Health Laboratory at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

But with improved neuroimaging, "it's something we can actually see," and that physical evidence makes doctors more likely to recommend it.

Zeidan, who is studying the use of mindfulness and guided meditation to manage pain, is one of several experts scheduled to present at the second annual MindfulnessTN symposium, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the Knoxville Convention Center, 701 Henley St. Admission is $10, which goes to East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Students with valid IDs are admitted free.

Zeidan is particularly interested in whether people including those already addicted can reduce or eliminate their use of opioid drugs through mindfulness practices. He's done some small studies that indicate they can and is seeking grants for a large-scale controlled study. Meanwhile, he's partnered with Knoxville's Dr. James Choo of Pain Consultants of East Tennessee, who uses meditation with some of his patients.

Overall, people who were using opioid drugs, either for pain or medication-assisted addiction therapy, "reported using significantly less medication," Zeidan said.

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Zeidan said his work focuses on "brief bouts" of meditation training, because he's working with people who might choose to take "take a pill, and in 30 minutes, start feeling some relief." Longer-term practice is necessary for large, more permanent changes, he said, but most people aren't interested in expending that effort until they see rewards.

"We can teach folks to self-regulate how they react to their pain, daily stressors and other life events," Zeidan said.

He said his research, performed over 16 years, has demonstrated thata change in perspective can have a "dramatic" impact on health,positivelyor negatively.

"When one learns how to utilize self to benefit health, they are less likely to catastrophize the experience of pain and become dependent on drugs," he said.

Other presenters at this year's symposium include East Tennessee Children's Hospital nurse practitioner Lorna Keeton;Norman Farb, University of Toronto,"Turn yourself in! A neuroscientific account of why mindfulness begins with the body";J. David Creswell, Carnegie Mellon University,"Pathways linking mindfulness training programs with health"; and Dave Vago, Vanderbilt University,"Mindfulness Research: Past, Present, and Future."

A panel discussion and question and answer session will close the event.

For information, seewww.mindfulnesstn.com.

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Can meditation replace opioids? Presenter at MindfulnessTN says yes - Knoxville News Sentinel