May 3, 2021
Neurologist Laureys (The Neurology of Consciousness) encourages “a little less medication, a little more meditation” in this spirited primer. Meditation can “supplement modern Western medicine,” Laureys writes, and to that end he accessibly explains the science behind brain activity that occurs during meditation, such as changes in neural networks as they’re activated through mindfulness and decreases in meditator’s stress-related gray matter. Mindfulness also has “a positive effect on patients’ anxiety and depressive symptoms” and can improve a patient’s ability to manage pain. Laureys shares testimonials from colleagues, athletes, and “big bosses in Wall Street, who consider meditation to be their new caffeine,” and doles out tips to get started (focusing all of one’s senses on a raisin, for example) as well as suggestions for meditation apps, and websites and books to check out. Readers in search of an introduction to mindfulness that’s free of woo-woo promises should look no further.