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  • Published: 17 August 2021
  • ISBN: 9780141999128
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $26.00

The Awakened Brain

The Psychology of Spirituality and Our Search for Meaning




A ground-breaking exploration of the neuroscience of spirituality and a bold new paradigm for health, healing and resilience

Whether it's an uplifting walk in nature, meditation or prayer, there are many ways to experience heightened awareness and escape the relentless demands of modern life. The range of opportunities of this kind suggest that it isn't dependent on faith or religion, but that it's about a different mode of living; an innate spirituality.

Lisa Miller has spent decades researching the effects of spirituality on the brain. In this book she draws on her clinical experience and award-winning research to show how an active spiritual life can transform our physical and psychological wellbeing. Bringing scientific rigour to the most intangible aspect of our lives, Miller offers insights into the neurological basis for the increased resilience that comes with nurturing spirituality and highlights its measurable positive effects: decreasing the likelihood of depression and substance abuse, and shifting the course of recovery in many other clinical settings.

Woven throughout is Miller's personal story of how, while confronting her own challenges, her professional pragmatism gave way to a greater appreciation of insights that are important to so many people and yet so often dismissed as unscientific. Brimming with inspiration and compassion, this landmark book will revolutionize your understanding of spirituality, mental health and how we find meaning and purpose in life.

  • Published: 17 August 2021
  • ISBN: 9780141999128
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $26.00

Praise for The Awakened Brain

A new revolution of health and well being. She shows through scientific research, clinical insight, and personal experience that we can always choose between two modes of conscious awareness, each with profoundly different outcomes for our health and daily experience

Deepak Chopra, author of Super Brain

Lisa Miller is the leading psychologist of her generation on the benefits of religion and spirituality. She asks, 'What makes life worth living?' and finds evidence-based answers

Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism

Unequivocally shows that spirituality heals. Her pioneering research has vast implications not only for medical science, but also for the growing field of consciousness research

Larry Dossey, author of Healing Words

Ushers in a new science of healing. This work is urgent; a vision for human potential that is sorely needed in our time . . . I simply could not put it down

Liz Murray, author of Breaking Night: My Journey from Homeless to Harvard

Truly transformative . . . Lisa Miller's life's work and story weave a tapestry of science, psychology and spirituality which unfolds a world of mystery and meaning . . . reveals a unity to the universe that can be accessed by both heart and mind for our mental and physical well-being

The Rt Revd James Jones KBE, author of Why Do People Suffer?

A captivating look at what happens to our brains when we're connected to something greater than ourselves - and what it does for our lives

Adam Grant, author of Think Again

Potent, profound, and accessible . . . a compelling examination of the correlations between spirituality and mental health

Kirkus Reviews

Erudite, compelling . . . Miller's iconoclasm challenges orthodoxies and common practice . . . what makes this a credible and original investigation is Miller's solid and verifiable clinical and epidemiological data

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, i Newspaper

A revisionist account of mind and matter . . . Miller argues that spiritual awareness is to be found across religious differences and should be considered a birthright

Mark Vernon, Church Times