God is great--for your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Based on
new evidence culled from brain-scan studies, a wide-reaching survey of
people's religious and spiritual experiences, and the authors' analyses
of adult drawings of God, neuroscientist Andrew Newberg and therapist
Mark Robert Waldman offer the following breakthrough discoveries:
- Not only do prayer and spiritual practice reduce stress, but just
twelve minutes of meditation per day may slow down the aging process.
- Contemplating a loving God rather than a punitive God reduces anxiety
and depression and increases feelings of security, compassion, and
love.
- Fundamentalism, in and of itself, can be personally beneficial, but
the prejudice generated by extreme beliefs can permanently damage your
brain.
- Intense prayer and meditation permanently change numerous structures
and functions in the brain, altering your values and the way you
perceive reality.
Both a revelatory work of modern science and a practical guide for
readers to enhance their physical and emotional health, How God
Changes Your Brain is a first-of-a-kind book about faith that is as
credible as it is inspiring.