The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being

The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being

By: Daniel J. Siegel  

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Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Customer Review: 2 out of 5
A Judicious Review - SUMMARY OF THE BOOK
Daniel Siegel's book is an attempt to link the health benefits of 'mindfulness' with current research into the neurology of the human brain. The concept of 'mindfulness' is borrowed directly from Buddhist meditation practices, and Siegel acknowledges this. After introducing us to the topic of mindfulness, Siegel devotes a full chapter to the human brain, complete with diagrams. Then come autobiographical chapters about conferences Siegel attended, where he was introduced to meditation. Then Siegel gives us a detailed exposition of mindfulness and the practice of meditation. The final chapters of Siegel's book discuss the current neurological research into meditation practices.

TARGET AUDIENCE OF HIS BOOK
The book is geared towards multiple audiences. Most of the book is expository, having the goal of explaining mindfulness and meditation to a general public. The latter portion of the book launches into a detailed discussion of the neurology of the brain; Siegel seems to be targeting a readership of medical health professionals.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL CONTENT
The autobiographical sections in the first chapters of the book are somewhat surprising for the depth of personal experience Siegel shares with us. Several years previous to writing his book, Siegel attended 'retreats' in which he learned about meditation. He describes his efforts to practice silence and stillness in considerable detail. We learn how difficult it was for Siegel to quiet the background 'chatter' in his mind. He tells us how he, "had a remarkable experience eating an apple at dinner". He shares the novelty of rolling a raisin around in his mouth. He tells us how rocks and gravel felt under his bare feet. Siegel's point is that with some effort he was able to free himself from mental chatter, and return to the purity of primary sense experience. These retreats were apparently a turning point in Siegel's life; he rediscovers himself through the practice of meditation. Though a recent convert to meditation practices, Siegel goes on to embrace these subjects in his professional life as co-director of UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center. Siegel's enthusiasm for his subject is obvious; he wants to share and spread the word about meditation practices; hence this book.

THE LENGTHY DISCUSSION OF 'MINDFULNESS'
Siegel is persuasive in his argument that meditation practices have considerable merit. He draws his material from the Buddhist tradition, which is 2500 years old and well practiced. And though Siegel acknowledges the Buddhist tradition repeatedly, he nevertheless imparts to us many of his own ideas about the human mind. Since Siegel is a practicing psychiatrist, we expect that he can write competently on this subject with a certain level of expertise.

Siegel follows the main tenets of Buddhist meditation closely, explaining how to quiet the mind, how to live in the present moment, how to return to our primary senses, how to regulate emotions and feelings, how to suspend judgement, and how to go about self-liberation. An original Siegel concept is his 'Wheel of Awareness", a parallel metaphor to the Buddhist "Wheel of Life". Siegel provides a diagram of his 'Wheel of Awareness' as an aid to explain how our minds work.

The goal of mindfulness is remarkably parallel to the goals of psychotherapy, and this helps explain Siegel's interest in the practice of meditation. He explains how mindfulness can help us better cope with negative emotions, such as worry, depression, and anxiety. Moreover, meditation can also enhance our positive emotions, such as compassion, joy and general well-being. In this way the practice of meditation helps relieve human suffering and develops the fullness of human potential.

The main problem with the human condition, as Seigel explains it, is that the human mind is continually beset with background chatter, a habit of mind that loops our thoughts and feelings in ways that don't always promote our general well-being. Siegel writes, "preconceived ideas and emotional reactions are embedded in thinking". He explains that we have automatic reflexes that can sometimes lead us down destructive paths. The point of achieving a state of mindfulness is to free ourselves from mental chatter; we can disentangle the mind from these automatic intrusions of thought and emotion. We can do this, Siegel argues, by returning to the primacy of our senses. The theory seems to be that there are many layers of awareness, and if we strip away the outside layer of chatter, our true selves lurk somewhere at the core, close to raw sense experience. Siegel also points out that achieving mindfulness involves the development of certain skills, one of which he tags as becoming observant. He writes, "when we observe, we disengage the automatic chatter". More detail of achieving mindfulness is given; we are advised to jettison judgement, which is deeply ingrained in human experience, and which tends to disturb the quiet of the mind.

In short, Siegel believes that the practice of mindfulness is a learnable skill that can broadly help cure the many psychological problems that plague humanity.

THE LENGTHY LISTING OF NEUROLOGICAL STUDIES ABOUT MEDITATION
While there is little original material in Siegel's exposition of meditation practices, his discussion of neurological studies does contain an original idea of remarkably good quality. He argues that "mindful awareness is a form of experience that can promote neural plasticity". In other words, the claim is that meditation can beneficially rewire the circuitry of the brain.

Siegel makes an extended effort to establish this linkage between the neurocircuitry of the brain and the benefits of meditation. To do this Siegel brings to our attention many studies describing the neurology of the brain. We are taken on a tour of therapies and research programs referred to with such acronyms as COAL, SIFT, MBSR, MBCT, FACES, YODA, CFA, SIMA, AAI, and many others. The full meaning of each acronym is usually spelled out once, yet these terms are repeatedly mentioned throughout the text. For me this list of research was dense reading and the least comprehensible section of the book. Nevertheless Siegel's exploration of neurology may have merit that I simply can not appreciate. The discussion is really targeted to health professionals and researchers in the field of neurology. But even Siegel admits that, "little is known about the neurophysiological process involved in meditation and its possible long term impact on the brain". So we wonder what is Siegel's point if this research is not yet conclusive? Perhaps it is to suggest that neurological research into meditation practices is promising, but still incipient.

CRITICISM OF SIEGEL'S IDEAS
Siegel does impart his own signature to the discussion of mindfulness and meditation. There are strong elements of the humanistic and positive schools of psychology in his writing. For example, COAL, a style of therapy advocated in the book, stands for Curiosity, Openness, Acceptance, and Love. This type of study reads more as feel-good psychology than as good science. Siegel clearly endorses this feel-good approach in his book, as can be seen in his language. He writes, "the social circuitry of the brain [...] enables us to resonate with one another". And, "we are free to flow into our balanced river of consciousness". And, "we have human minds dancing with our human brains within our social experience of the shared construction of human culture". Siegel enthusiastically gushes with such language throughout his text, even though he is no longer speaking in the language of science. I too would like to think that there are complete answers, that our goodness is radiant, that we can change ourselves and the world through positive thinking. But this is feel-good psychology, not discussion based in good science.

Siegel shows a great willingness to make proclamations on broad and complex subject matter. Are we to believe Siegel, just because he gives us a diagram of human awareness with a half dozen constituent parts? No! To be persuasive as a science writer he needs to substantiate his claims. Human consciousness is so vastly complex and Siegel's discussion is so simplistic, that many well educated readers will immediately discern the remarkable lack of substance in his writing. The science is missing in large portions of Siegel's text. He makes extraordinary claims about meditation practices and 'mindfulness', without the critical thinking we should expect from a psychiatrist and science writer.

SIEGEL'S STYLE OF WRITING:
There is nothing cogent about Siegel's writing. His style of exposition is loose and frequently without clear lines of argumentation. His heavy overuse of certain terms, such as 'mindfulness' is particularly irritating. On many pages the word 'mindfulness' occurs a dozen times or more, with perhaps a thousand occasions throughout the book. It does not occur to Siegel that he cloys the reader by overusing his favorite words. Battering his readers with his pet concepts is actually a fairly good characterization of Siegel's style.

It required considerable effort on my part just to wade through Siegel's text and extract his ideas. Despite my distaste for Siegel's writing, I have tried in this review to be judicious about the quality of Siegel's ideas.

CONCLUSIONS:
I do rather like Siegel's idea that meditation could be a scientifically proven pathway to learning, undoing self-destructive behavior, eliminating stress, regulating emotions, and living to our full human potential. It's no accident that mindfulness and meditation have already gained recognition and found beneficial applications among Western health professionals and their patients.

In rating Siegel's book he deserves a star for linking neurological science with meditation, even though this linkage is not yet well documented.

As for Siegel's exposition of Buddhist meditation practices, I give him another star. Although these ideas are not original with Siegel, he does manage to articulate them well enough.

As for the autobiographical sections of Siegel's book I deduct a star. I am doubtful that Siegel's personal experience is something of value that we should learn from. It is rather a self-important gesture to give such personal detail in anything other than an autobiography.

I deduct a star also for the general quality of discussion in Siegel's text. Most of his ideas are proclaimed rather than arrived at through careful reasoning. Siegel does not not offer any consistent quality of scientific discussion; his enthusiasm and intellect fit more comfortably into the domain of pop-psychology and self-help literature.

As for the quality of Siegel's writing, he must lose yet another star. He doesn't know whether he is writing an autobiography, a text on meditation, or a summary of neurological research. The language of his book is repetitive, wandering, abstract, and so dumbed-down that potential readers need forewarning.

My review of Siegel's book is clearly not a recommendation. I see this runs against the tide of other reviews of Siegel's book on Amazon, but popular opinion does not concern me. Scholarly opinion is what matters to me, and I have tried to provide that in this review.

This review was written by Ron Basich, a professional librarian.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
ok - This is a competent overview of the current state of affairs in the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness studies and certain types of psychotherapy. The book reviews research on neuronal processes that underlie emotional arousal, decision-making and 'self'. Siegel believes that mind has an ability to 'create itself' through brain activity. Hence, an understanding of circuitry underlying brain function should be helpful in clinical, therapeutic and 'personal growth' settings.

The strongest part of the book deals with development of the (child's) brain, attachment circuits & executive function and their relevance to mindfulness practice and therapy. Mindfulness, according to DS, strengthens the executive function of the middle prefrontal cortex and makes it more efficient in controlling downstream limbic, cortical and subcortical regions. This efficiency is synonymous with loosening of neural constrictions through which our views/beliefs ('representational categories') about the world cause 'suffering'. The brain centers involved in awareness. emotional processing and decision making are "plastic" - the connections between neurons are enhanced or weakened by activity. Thus, conscious use of the brain (through intentional living and feeling) will recreate & mold the personality and allow it to live a healthier and more satisfying/rewarding life.

Dan Siegel, a psychotherapist himself, is clearly au courant with contemporary neuroscience research, especially research performed by his friend and mentor Richie Davidson. The attachment to Davidson has its downside because, not being an expert, Siegel is compelled to uncritically sell us other people's ideas and concepts while ignoring much research that happens not to be performed or appreciated by Davidson, Lazar or Iacoboni. Another major weakness is the author's urge to publish before he has crystallized his own (original? independent?) perspective.

Here is my problem with prolific authors on any topic, but especially anything that is related to spirituality or 'mind'. Someone publishes a semi-successful book... and the immediate reflex to semi-fame is to repeat the act. Again and again. So we get the Chopra/Dyer phenomenon - which consists of ad nauseam publications of every half-digested minor insight. It is a form of greed, or better, a form of addiction that I suspect Siegel may be vulnerable to. It takes years, perhaps decades, to gain a true, original insight. Too much work for many - why not collate, catalog, recombine instead?

Thus, this book has to be seen as a compendium rather than an original work on mindfulness, awareness and/or the brain. When Siegel tries to generalize, the attempts often appear forced and unsatisfying. I found his use of acronyms (YODA's SOCK, COAL etc) especially excruciating and the many attempts to simplify (ie, 'the wheel of awareness') distracting. Above all, Siegel is way too intellectual - if his goal is to get at the root of what it means to be mindful. Even when he is meditating himself, the man clearly fishes for experiential angles for his new book ... while mindfully following his breath and distractions from it. Which kind of defeats the purpose.

Despite the caveats, i find this book to be laced with much interesting & exciting information; i value it for its breadth and ambition. at the very least I am pretty sure i'll have to reread it several times to extract and digest what it has to offer. what i like the most about MA is that there is little pretense or subterfuge even in the autobiographical parts; the writer is sincere and the information (as far as an inexpert can tell) real. So there is much to recommend.

Customer Review: 3 out of 5
Intelligent synthesis of mindfulness and neuroscience - I largely enjoyed reading 'The Mindful Brain'. It is soundly grounded in neuroscience and empirical evidence, combined with great insight and a deep understanding about how our physiology and mental states influence each other.

However, I found that on occasions the writing lacked clarity and kept moving into all sorts of directions that perhaps were not necessary. Overall it was too focussed on theory. I kept looking for more in-depth practical applications and strategies. Even when they were briefly addressed, they were short-changed. For instance 'Being Present as a Teacher' in Chapter 12 consists of only two pages.

Think Less Be More:Mental Detox for Everyone could be a good companion guide to this book, as it is practical, inviting and systematically shows how one can cultivate a 'mindful brain' through practising mindful living.

Dr Christine Maingard, Author of 'Think Less, Be More' [...]

Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Gobbledygook - I had hoped this would be a look at the scientific brain research on mindfulness, as well as a practical primer. Instead I found it full of the same BS gobbledygook that you get from 99% of the sources on meditation and mindfulness. Also a protracted story about the author tripping out on a retreat. LAME.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Excellent book! - The Mindful Brain is a great read, and probably the best single book on the latest available information connecting mindful awareness with the ongoing development of the human brain.

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