Spirituality & Meditation; An Interview with Dr. Andrew Newberg

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Dr. Andrew Newberg, one of my favorite former guests, is back with us today to talk about mindfulness, spirituality and our mental well-being. I’ve just wrapped a meditation series, Can Meditation Unite Us, that has reflected on the overlap of several spiritual traditions, and I thought it would be interesting to talk to Dr. Newberg about what happens in our minds and our bodies as we engage with spiritual practices.

Dr. Newberg is a neuroscientist and a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field known as “neurotheology.” His research includes taking brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, in an attempt to better understand the nature of religious and spiritual practices and attitudes.

In this episode of The Mindful Minute, we talk about religion as well as non-religious activities like meditation, time in nature, and creative pursuits. We talk about ways to explore unity even with those that we find challenging, we discuss the potential problems with religion and spirituality, and we talk a bit about ontological anxiety. 

I found this conversation fascinating, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Dr. Newberg’s most recent book is Brain Weaver, Creating the Fabric for a Healthy Mind through Integrative Medicine.

You can see some of the brain images that Dr. Newberg references here: http://www.andrewnewberg.com/research