It is hard to argue why you shouldn't meditate after reading this. Lots of information that is easy to digest and take in.

Beginning with his work on emotional intelligence, I have been reading, discussing, and recommending books by Daniel Goleman for roughly two decades. Therefore, I was excited to hear about his latest, ALTERED TRAITS, particularly since it seemed to fit with our school's current exploration of stress reduction and mindfulness. Goleman's subtitle is "Science Reveals how meditation changes your mind, brain, and body." He acknowledges two paths – the deep and the wide – and levels of practice which vary in intensity. Looking for a more pragmatic approach to share with students and teachers, I struggled to appreciate the majority of the book which, as promised, dealt more with scientific aspects. As Goleman notes, "the feeling of not having enough time may be the number one excuse among people who want to meditate but never got around to it" and I was glad to read that research is continuing into easier ways of incorporating daily meditation and altering traits so as to promote more "kindness, clarity, and calm."

This was a fascinating read. As a person who has engaged in almost daily meditation for years, ALTERED STATES gave me information I had never learned before about how mediation can actually alter particular character traits beyond just making one feel calmer and more centered. Some of the information has changed the way I meditate, I haven't been mediating long enough incorporating ALTERED TRAITS information long enough to know the effect but the whole book was really interesting and engaging.

The story of meditation and mindfulness told by expert and leading professor who wants to show you (trough research and scientific datas) what is really true about all this recent mindfulness hype. What is important to understand is that this book is about the concept of meditation, it doesn't give the reader tips and tricks to learn to meditate, but in the end you will have more reason to learn than before.

La storia della meditazione e della mindfulness raccontata da veri esperti, che vogliono dimostrare attraverso ricerche e dati scientifici, cosa sia emerso veramente dagli ultimi anni di ricerche applicate alla meditazione e cosa invece sia da imputare alla "follia per la mindfulness" che negli ultimi anni ha preso fortemente piede. Fondamentale é capire che questo non é uno dei soliti libri per imparare a meditare, non ci sono né schemi né trucchi, ma una volta letto la spinta alla meditazione sará basata su una comprensione migliore dell'argomento.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!