How God Changes Your Brain
Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist

The first part of this book was rather fascinating, as the authors discussed what affect religion has on the brain. In general, things like prayer and meditation and involvement in a religious community are helpful for bodily health. The big caveat I saw is that how we view God does matter. If you b......more

I see this as two books in one: first, a basic look at the malleability of our brain and how it can be trained--specifically, how spiritual practices rebuild neural paths within our brain--and second, a practical guide to basic meditation. I give the first half five stars. I didn't read all of the se......more

A better title might have been "how meditation, prayer, and spiritual practice change your brain", but this is a fantastic compilation of decades of research done into the neurological and psychological science of spiritual practice. From cloistered nuns to Tibetan monks, to average meditators and co......more

This book took me quite a while to read because I was actually also reading most of the footnotes-- and there were a lot of them! It was that kind of book, where you are almost as interested in all the studies and other reference sources as you are with the book. Andrew Newberg is a medical doctor wh......more

What I liked about this was the authors had plenty of chances to go into "woo" science territory BUT DIDN'T. They remain agnostic on any questions about the reality of God, but stick to their basic theme - actively meditating on God, morality, and the moral social contract that makes humans human is......more