Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day

Description

'This book can catapult you into living fully the life that is yours to live while you have the chance' Jon Kabat-Zinn 'A must-read for our distracted times' Dan Goleman 'A must-have guide to experiencing every moment of our lives' Goldie Hawn 'A treasure trove of insights and exercises to enrich our lives' Dan Siegel Stop for a moment. Are you here right now? Is your focus on the words in front of you? Or is it roaming elsewhere, to the past or future, to a worry, to your to-do list, or to your phone? The good news: There's nothing wrong with you - your brain isn't broken. The human brain was built to be distractible. The even better news: You can train your brain to pay attention more effectively. Acclaimed neuroscientist Dr Amishi Jha has dedicated her life's work to understanding the science of attention at every level - from brain imaging studies in the lab to field testing soldiers, firefighters and athletes. Her mission has been to scientifically determine how we can harness the full power of our attention to better meet all that life demands. In Peak Mind, Dr Jha expertly guides readers through fascinating research, debunking common assumptions about focus and attention, and offers remarkably easy-to-adapt flexible twelve minute-a-day exercises to lift the mental fog, declutter the mind, and strengthen focus so that you can experience more of your life.

Amishi Jha is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami, where she serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. She received her PhD from the University of California-Davis, and received her postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University in functional neuroimaging. The research in her laboratory, The Jha Lab, is dedicated to studying the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion and resilience. She has been systematically investigating the potential applications of mindfulness training in education, corporate, elite sports, and military contexts. In addition to her own published body of research, her work has been featured at TED.com, the World Economic Forum, NYTimes, NPR, Time, Newsweek, the Aspen Institute, the Pentagon, the Journal of Special Operations Medicine, and Joint Force Quarterly. Her pioneering work on mindfulness and attention is currently in use broadly, from organizations like the US military and New Zealand Defense Force, to professional sports teams, medical schools, and businesses.

Proven practices to take control of our focus and become our best selves. A must read for our distracted times * Daniel Goleman, author of #1 NYTimes Bestseller Emotional Intelligence * Thriving starts with our attention and what we do with it. In Peak Mind, Amishi Jha combines the science of attention with compelling stories from those in high stakes professions to show us all how to be more present in our lives so that we can unlock our full potential * Arianna Huffington, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Thrive * Dr. Jha brilliantly blends cutting-edge science, compelling stories, and strong practical instructions--the perfect antidote for our distracted over-busy times * Jack Kornfield, bestselling author of The Wise Heart * For a while now I've thought of experiences we long for, like love and connection, as emergent properties of how we pay attention. Attention is the key factor in moving beyond just living mechanically into a life of clarity and joy. Dr. Jha brilliantly shows us how that can be so, offering a clear and useful path to paying attention differently * Sharon Salzberg, author of New York Times Bestseller, Real Happiness * Peak Mind delivers crucial insights about the human mind along with practical, accessible tools to enhance it. With clarity and skill, Amishi Jha brings you into the lab to learn how attention works, why it's essential for well-being, and how it can be trained to reach your greatest potential. Required reading for our modern world! * Wendy Hasenkamp, PhD, Science Director, Mind & Life Institute * In Peak Mind, Amishi Jha offers a brilliant guide for training our attention with mindful awareness and maximizing our human potential. You will learn the science behind mindfulness, and well-researched strategies that promote resilience against stress, and increased mental focus, creativity, clarity and strength. The true gift is the capacity to be fully here-present and engaged in your relationships and your life * Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance * How easy it is to lose your mind just in those critical moments when you need it most. Here is a friendly and compelling way to not only get it back but to optimize it for life-your own and those with whom you share this world. Suffused with Amishi's rare talent for making rigorous science commonsensical, her exquisite clarity as both a researcher and teacher, her own experiences with life's sometimes rending challenges, and her personal meditation practice, this book can catapult you into living fully the life that is yours to live while you have the chance * Jon Kabat-Zinn, Founder of MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), author of Full Catastrophe Living and Mindfulness for All * Peak Mind is a must-have guide to experiencing every moment of our lives. Equipping us with easy-to-follow exercises based in the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience, Dr. Amishi Jha reveals the unfiltered joy of paying attention * Goldie Hawn * Where our attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows' is powerfully revealed in the original research and mind-opening ideas and heartfelt stories of this powerful book by one of our world's pioneers in the science of mindfulness. Clear, illuminating, and filled with practices that will strengthen your attention, open your awareness, and cultivate compassionate connections within yourself and in your relationships with others, this is a treasure trove of insights and exercises to enrich our lives! * Daniel J. Siegel, New York Times bestselling author, Executive Director, Mindsight Institute * An inspiring book. Amishi Jha - internationally acclaimed expert on the new science of attention, mindfulness and the brain - shows beyond doubt that mental fitness is as important as physical fitness for human flourishing. This book is for all whose attention is hijacked when they least want it to be - everyone. It becomes urgent for those who have other people's lives in their hands, whether you are a parent or carer, a firefighter or surgeon or in the military. With gentle humour and (often surprising) examples she reveals how and why training in mindful awareness changes the brain's attentional systems, and how the capacity to be attentive is not a "soft skill", but is the strong and precious foundation of everything you want to be and do in your life * Mark Williams, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford, UK *