Post by Admin on Oct 15, 2019 17:59:52 GMT -5
Mindfulness Under Attack: 5 Book reviews
Part Two: Review of Altered Traits, Goleman & Davidson (2017)
(Link to Part One HERE).
October 14,2019
Dana Kenneth Lewis
Mindful Veterans Connection
www.mindfulvets.net
Under Discussion:
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body, ( 2017) by Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson
When I saw the announcement of a new book by Richard Davidson & Daniel Goleman, Altered Traits (AT), I was delighted as it fit with where my study and thinking about mindfulness was at the time (Fall 2017). I had just finished reading several authors who were highly critical of what they called “McMindfulness” . Then, having read both authors’ previous works, I looked forward to learning how these experts portray the Mindfulness Movement.
These two prominent experts set out to tell us not only their own personal journey as neuroscientists, but also to describe where the science of Mindfulness stands after only a few decades as a true ‘science’. Told in almost loving terms, AT shared the stories of Richard Davidson & Daniel Goleman since beginning their research decades ago. Davidson paired with Daniel Goleman for this publication (the latter famous for his science writing, in particular on Emotional Intelligence). Davidson was the first to study what he calls the Olympians of meditation: Tibetan monks with thousands of hours of life-long meditation. In a casual narrative, the book weaves their personal and research stories from the Seventies onward. If you are concerned about the spread of Mindfulness into the mainstream, this is a must-read.
This reader’s key takeaways from Altered Traits:
• Mindfulness can be thought of as a state and as a trait. Most research up to now has been focusing on the ‘state’ of mindfulness. This book looks at the shift towards finding how – or if – regular mindful meditation can lead to changes in one’s traits; that is where Richardson and others’ research is now focusing; Also, the semantics around mindfulness are evolving with considerably greater parsing of terms and their meaning.
• The neuroscience of mindfulness is in its infancy, perhaps as antagonist Purser asserts, in its neo-natal stage. As a result, Altered Traits urges that we treat conclusions of mindfulness research more as early indicators or precursors; it is not helpful on many levels to present these early findings as established fact -- or “doctrine” in an effort to ‘sell’ someone on the benefits of having a mindfulness practice. Instead, the authors urge readers to consider research findings as indicators of directions in which our understanding of the brain and mind are heading.
• There is way too much hype about what mindful meditation is, can do, fix or treat—much of it touted by all manner of mindfulness ‘teachers’ across various contexts worldwide; but most of all, this thing called ‘mindfulness’ is NOT a panacea, even as new research studies appear almost daily studying still other fields and subsets within which the value of mindful meditation is being studied. Why this is important will be treated in later parts of this review.
As for their conclusions in their examination of “State / Trait” mindfulness, Richardson and Goleman assert that regular meditation does show changes in three areas: equanimity, prosocial behavior and the relationship to the self. In an interview about the book,
Richardson says:
SUMMARY:
Overall, this book is a broad brush look at the history of mindfulness research up to 2017 and includes timely introspection by leaders within the field of mindfulness itself: assessing where it’s been and how it’s doing, with some advice for the future. If you are looking for a detailed academic sort of review of the literature (research) on mindfulness, this is not the book for you. However, as the authors are thought leaders of the field, I believe it was important and valuable for them to come out with this book when they did (2017) so that the development of “McMindfulness” and its attendant problems can be addressed and hopefully influenced.
For an excellent academic look at the state of Mindfulness research, the next book to be reviewed here (Vehrhaegen*) is an excellent and objective review of meta-studies with considerable details and well-explained conclusions, pro and con. This will follow in Part 3 of this article.
Review, Part One
Review, Part Two
Review, Part Three
Dana Kenneth Lewis
Mindful Veterans Connection
www.mindfulvets.net
--
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body, (September 5, 2017) by Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson
*Presence: How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life, (2017), by Paul Verhaeghen
Part Two: Review of Altered Traits, Goleman & Davidson (2017)
(Link to Part One HERE).
October 14,2019
Dana Kenneth Lewis
Mindful Veterans Connection
www.mindfulvets.net
Under Discussion:
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body, ( 2017) by Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson
When I saw the announcement of a new book by Richard Davidson & Daniel Goleman, Altered Traits (AT), I was delighted as it fit with where my study and thinking about mindfulness was at the time (Fall 2017). I had just finished reading several authors who were highly critical of what they called “McMindfulness” . Then, having read both authors’ previous works, I looked forward to learning how these experts portray the Mindfulness Movement.
These two prominent experts set out to tell us not only their own personal journey as neuroscientists, but also to describe where the science of Mindfulness stands after only a few decades as a true ‘science’. Told in almost loving terms, AT shared the stories of Richard Davidson & Daniel Goleman since beginning their research decades ago. Davidson paired with Daniel Goleman for this publication (the latter famous for his science writing, in particular on Emotional Intelligence). Davidson was the first to study what he calls the Olympians of meditation: Tibetan monks with thousands of hours of life-long meditation. In a casual narrative, the book weaves their personal and research stories from the Seventies onward. If you are concerned about the spread of Mindfulness into the mainstream, this is a must-read.
This reader’s key takeaways from Altered Traits:
• Mindfulness can be thought of as a state and as a trait. Most research up to now has been focusing on the ‘state’ of mindfulness. This book looks at the shift towards finding how – or if – regular mindful meditation can lead to changes in one’s traits; that is where Richardson and others’ research is now focusing; Also, the semantics around mindfulness are evolving with considerably greater parsing of terms and their meaning.
• The neuroscience of mindfulness is in its infancy, perhaps as antagonist Purser asserts, in its neo-natal stage. As a result, Altered Traits urges that we treat conclusions of mindfulness research more as early indicators or precursors; it is not helpful on many levels to present these early findings as established fact -- or “doctrine” in an effort to ‘sell’ someone on the benefits of having a mindfulness practice. Instead, the authors urge readers to consider research findings as indicators of directions in which our understanding of the brain and mind are heading.
• There is way too much hype about what mindful meditation is, can do, fix or treat—much of it touted by all manner of mindfulness ‘teachers’ across various contexts worldwide; but most of all, this thing called ‘mindfulness’ is NOT a panacea, even as new research studies appear almost daily studying still other fields and subsets within which the value of mindful meditation is being studied. Why this is important will be treated in later parts of this review.
As for their conclusions in their examination of “State / Trait” mindfulness, Richardson and Goleman assert that regular meditation does show changes in three areas: equanimity, prosocial behavior and the relationship to the self. In an interview about the book,
Richardson says:
One of key things we do in this book is to look dispassionately at the state of evidence. Is there evidence to suggest that different meditations can lead to changes that endure? One conclusion is that there is some evidence that meditation leads to changes in traits, but that ongoing practice is required and is an important attribute. We’re finding that changes in traits go hand-in-hand with new habits so the practices are consistent over time.
Richardson continues, answering the question “We hear a lot about what meditation does do. What doesn’t it do?”:
This is a really important question. There’s a lot of hype about meditation, and one of the things we do in this new book is hopefully help correct the misperception that you can use meditation to “fix” something in your life or in yourself. Meditations doesn’t fix anything, period. It’s not designed to do that. Meditation also isn’t about clearing your mind or stopping your thoughts. It’s certainly not a panacea or a one-size-fits-all.
Richardson continues, answering the question “We hear a lot about what meditation does do. What doesn’t it do?”:
This is a really important question. There’s a lot of hype about meditation, and one of the things we do in this new book is hopefully help correct the misperception that you can use meditation to “fix” something in your life or in yourself. Meditations doesn’t fix anything, period. It’s not designed to do that. Meditation also isn’t about clearing your mind or stopping your thoughts. It’s certainly not a panacea or a one-size-fits-all.
SUMMARY:
Overall, this book is a broad brush look at the history of mindfulness research up to 2017 and includes timely introspection by leaders within the field of mindfulness itself: assessing where it’s been and how it’s doing, with some advice for the future. If you are looking for a detailed academic sort of review of the literature (research) on mindfulness, this is not the book for you. However, as the authors are thought leaders of the field, I believe it was important and valuable for them to come out with this book when they did (2017) so that the development of “McMindfulness” and its attendant problems can be addressed and hopefully influenced.
For an excellent academic look at the state of Mindfulness research, the next book to be reviewed here (Vehrhaegen*) is an excellent and objective review of meta-studies with considerable details and well-explained conclusions, pro and con. This will follow in Part 3 of this article.
Review, Part One
Review, Part Two
Review, Part Three
Dana Kenneth Lewis
Mindful Veterans Connection
www.mindfulvets.net
--
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body, (September 5, 2017) by Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson
*Presence: How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life, (2017), by Paul Verhaeghen