Neuroscience and Psychology of Meditation in Everyday Life

Neuroscience and Psychology of Meditation in Everyday Life addresses essential and timely questions about the research and practice of meditation as a path to realization of human potential for health and well-being. Balancing practical content and scientific theory, the book discusses long-term effects of six meditation practices: mindfulness, compassion, visualization-based meditation techniques, dream yoga, insight-based meditation and abiding in the existential ground of experience. Each chapter provides advice on how to embed these techniques into everyday activities, together with considerations about underlying changes in the mind and brain based on latest research evidence. This book is essential reading for professionals applying meditation-based techniques in their work and researchers in the emerging field of contemplative science. The book will also be of value to practitioners of meditation seeking to further their practice and understand associated changes in the mind and brain.

Dusana Dorjee masterfully presents a wealth of information from diverse areas—neuroscience, psychology of meditation, contemplative practices, existential wellbeing, and Buddhism—in a flawless narrative that is sure to prove a classic in the field of meditation. Informed by research and practice, the book lays out the essence of six meditation practices, the changes that occur in the brain as a result of short- and long-term formal and informal practices, and how meditation enhances our general wellbeing. One of the great strengths of the book is that it presents this material in a very accessible form that can be used by practitioners and researchers alike.Nirbhay N. Singh, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Mindfulness, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, USA

Dusana Dorjee, PhD, is a cognitive neuroscientist in the School of Psychology at Bangor University. Her research investigates how meditation, particularly mindfulness, impacts well-being and modifies the mind and brain. Dusana is also a long-term meditation practitioner and teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Dzogchen.