Mind over Matter: How Spirituality Changes Lives

Mind over Matter is an interdisciplinary collection of essays exploring how spirituality changes lives in a variety of ways. Unlike much philosophically rooted literature on spirituality, it encourages an understanding of what can be achieved through faith, belief, and self-confidence, without reliance on specific (or, necessarily, any) religious doctrines or views. From theistic, non-theistic, or atheistic perspectives each chapter addresses a distinctive phenomenon, for example, spirituality and healing, spirituality and art, spirituality and running, and spirituality as a response to disaster. Not only do they integrate the results of scientific research and other intellectual investigations to illuminate accomplishments, and sometimes possible sources of failure, but they are also written by academics with practical experience in relevant areas, or at least informed by ideas of practitioners.

Heather Salazar, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Western New England University and founder of Sweet Flow Yoga. Her publications include “Descartes and Patanjali’s Conceptions of the Self” (2014), Philosophy of Spirituality (2018), Philosophy of Mind (2019), and Creating a Shared Morality (2021). Roderick Nicholls, Ph.D., is Academic Vice President and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cape Breton University. Among his most recent publications are Philosophy of Spirituality (2018), “The Fictionality of Theatrical Performance” (2018), and “Nietzsche on Theatricality and Imagination” (2020).