The Awakened Brain The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life

A groundbreaking exploration of the neuroscience of spirituality and a bold new paradigm for health, healing, and resilience--from a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning researcher.

Spirituality is the birthright of every human on earth. Whether it's saying a prayer or doing a meditation, whether you walk in nature or read inspirational books, there are many ways to tap into a heightened awareness. No matter what age you are, you can start your spiritual quest at any time, and in The Awakened Brain psychologist Dr. Lisa Miller shows you how.

Based on groundbreaking findings and years of clinical science, The Awakened Brain reveals not only that humans are universally equipped with the capacity to tap into spiritual awareness but that people with a positive, active relationship to spirituality are 40% less likely to use and abuse substances, 60% less likely to be depressed, and more likely to have a significantly increased sense of meaning and purpose, in addition to higher levels of academic success. Combining cutting-edge research with on-the-ground application by people of all walks of life, from students and doctors to veterans, monks, and parents, Dr. Miller has discovered that:
  •  some people are genetically inclined for a stronger felt sense of spirituality; genetic variability accounts for up to 1/3 of the difference in people's inclination toward spiritual seeking
  •  a biological clock goes off in adolescence that triggers the development of our spiritual meaning
  •  a woman who recovers from depression with spirituality gives off the same brain waves as if she had recovered by using Prozac

In this landmark, conversation-starting story of scientific discovery, Dr. Miller shares her own deeply personal journey of awakening, and shows you how you can have one too by distilling her findings into practical advice for anyone looking for concrete ways to develop their own resilience and connection to a higher power. The Awakened Brain proves unique in its conclusions and innovative in its methods, making it a first-of-a-kind book about faith that is as credible as it is inspiring.

Lisa Miller, Ph.D. is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child: The New Science of Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving and a professor in the clinical psychology program at Columbia University, Teachers College. She is the founder and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program in spirituality and psychology, and she also holds a joint appointment in the department of Psychiatry at Columbia Medical School. Her innovative research has been published in over eighty-five empirical, peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including Cerebral Cortex, the American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and three children.