The Healing Power of Meditation

Book excerpt: Regular meditation practice has a powerful impact on the mind and body, rewiring the brain and bringing us all kinds of benefits: contentment and well-being, resilience and focus, better mental and physical health, and greater empathy and compassion. This wide-ranging anthology brings together pioneering Tibetan Buddhist teachers, scientific researchers, and health professionals to offer fascinating perspectives on the mind and emotions, new studies, and firsthand accounts of how meditation is being applied to great effect in health and social care today. • Sogyal Rinpoche and Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche on how meditation unlocks the mind’s healing power • Jon Kabat-Zinn on the benefits of mindfulness in mainstream health care • Clifford Saron on the Shamatha Project, the most comprehensive study of the effects of meditation ever conducted • Sara Lazar on what happens to our brain when we meditate • Erika Rosenberg on how meditation helps us relate better to our emotions • Dr. Lucio Bizzini, MD, on how Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy is used to treat depression • Ursula Bates on how mindfulness supports terminally ill patients as they approach the end of their lives Plus chapters from other innovators who apply meditation in health care and social work: Dr. Edel Maex, MD, Dr. Cathy Blanc, MD, Rosamund Oliver, and Dr. Frédéric Rosenfeld, MD.