Book Review: Altered Traits

By Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson

As the authors refer to themselves, “Dan and Richie” are both highly trained psychologists, with Richie being the director of a brain lab at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. This is considered one of the best books to describe from a scientific point of view, how meditation affects (and over time changes) your mind body and brain.

For years they both observed how meditation can bring people from all sorts of backgrounds different desirable benefits such as:

• Selflessness
• Equanimity
• A loving presence
• Impartial compassion

However, due to the constant stream of attention and distractions in our world, many of these benefits quickly fade away once we immerse ourselves back into the real world.

For example, imagine finishing up a quick 10 minute meditation. You feel a little better about yourself, a little more in tune with your body, and you can see your thoughts passing by in your mind like a steady flow of cars (if you don’t meditate take my word for it that it feels this way).

Now, imagine immediately being thrust into the middle of the busiest area you can think of (Times Square in New York for example). Cars rushing by, people running into you as…