Presence

How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life

Paul Verhaeghen

Integrates meditation concepts and research evidence from cognitive psychology and neuroscience literature.
Written and compiled in an accessible manner to more easily understand the science of mindfulness.
Points out convergences between studies, to show the broader effects of mindfulness.
Offers advice for meditation practice, rooted in the underlying science.
Presents future prospects for further research.

Presence

How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life

Paul Verhaeghen

Description

Mindfulness and one of the roads to it, meditation, have become increasingly popular as a way to promote health and well-being. Meditation can create mindfulness in daily life, which becomes an ingrained habit if applied consistently-it can boost immune function; lower levels of stress, anxiety, or depression; lift affect; regulate emotion more easily; and make you happier.

Presence reviews how meditation calms the body and what goes on inside the brain during meditation-how it impacts control over attention, awareness of the body, and the experience of self. It examines how meditation leaves telltale lasting traces in brain structure, and how it impacts important areas of life such as well-being, stress, and health. In addition, it examines how mindfulness can be useful as therapy, alleviating depression, anxiety, worry, and pain. A final chapter provides advice on how to meditate and practice mindfulness in a scientifically sound way, based on what we know about how meditation works.

Over the last decade, research on these beneficial effects has boomed in the cognitive and behavioral psychology and neuroscience literature, and Presence provides an overview of this research that is thorough and accessible for the curious meditator, seasoned or beginner, as well as for students and practitioners of contemplative science and related fields.

Presence

How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life

Paul Verhaeghen

Preface
Chapter 1: What is Mindfulness?
CHAPTER 2: Your Body and Brain on Meditation
CHAPTER 3: The Meditating Brain in Action: Attention, Body, and Self
CHAPTER 4: Telltale Traces in the Brain
CHAPTER 5: From Monkey Mind to Monk's Mind: Mindfulness Practice and Attention
CHAPTER 6: Mindfulness Practice and Well-Being
CHAPTER 7: Mindfulness as Medicine
CHAPTER 8: Meditation and Mindfulness: Final Words
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Presence

How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life

Paul Verhaeghen

Author Information

Paul Verhaeghen is professor in Psychology at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he mainly studies attention, memory, aging, and their interfaces, as well as the link between rumination, depression, and creativity. He is also a long-term meditator and occasional mindfulness teacher. He has previously written The Elements of Cognitive Aging: Meta-Analyses of Age-Related Differences in Processing Speed and Their Consequences (OUP 2014), as well as the award-winning novel Omega Minor (2007).

Presence

How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life

Paul Verhaeghen

Reviews and Awards

"Paul Verhaeghen's book artfully combines science and mindfulness practice, creating a comprehensive exploration of how mindfulness can change your life. You get an inside perspective about mindfulness, learn the background and current state of the art, as well as effective meditation guidance." --Ted Meissner, Founder, Secular Buddhist Association

"Paul Verhaeghen's Presence is a present, a gift to all of us who want a clear and unbiased view of the science of meditation. Paul does a masterful job of taking complex neurophysiology and making it both interesting and understandable. Whether you are a complete novice to brain research or a seasoned scientist, you will enjoy this detailed but entertaining journey through the vast quantity of research data, and end up with an excellent understanding of the meditating mind and the benefits of this ancient practice." --Holly B. Rogers, MD, Duke University Counseling and Psychological Services and Co-founder of the Center for Koru Mindfulness

"This book is a profound, illuminating description of a journey into mindfulness. Perhaps even more rare, it is so well written it is both practical and a great joy to read." --Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness

"You will currently find no better comprehensive account of the scientific investigation of meditation. I would recommend reading it with an open, critical mind, being aware of the limitations and caveats, and see it as what it is, a snapshot of a field that can--and will--change." --PsycCRITIQUES