Dr. Davidson’s latest book offers a new model for understanding our emotions – their origins, their power and their malleability. He has discovered that personality is composed of six basic emotional “styles,” including resilience, self-awareness and attention. Our emotional fingerprint results from where on the continuum of each style we fall. He explains the brain circuits that underlie each style in order to give us a new model of the emotional brain, one that will even go so far as to affect the way we treat conditions like autism and depression. And, finally, he provides strategies we can use to change our own brains and emotions-if that is what we want to do.
About Dr. Richard Davidson
Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., is best known for his groundbreaking work studying emotion and the brain. A friend and confidante of the Dalai Lama, he is a highly sought after expert and speaker, leading conversations on well-being on international stages such as the World Economic Forum, where he serves on the Global Council on Mental Health. Time Magazine named Davidson one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2006.
Featured Video: TEDx, How Mindfulness Changes the Emotional Life of Our Brains
Sample talk titles include:
The Science of Meditation
Well-Being in the Workplace
Well-Being with Children and the Developing Brain
Cultivating Well-Being
Books & Article
In the last 20 years, meditation and mindfulness have gone from being kind of cool to becoming an omnipresent Band-Aid for fixing everything from your weight to your relationship to your achievement level. Unveiling the kind of cutting-edge research that has made them giants in their fields, Richard Davidson and Daniel Goleman show us the truth about what meditation can really do for us, as well as exactly how to get the most out of it. Sweeping away common misconceptions and neuromythology to open readers’ eyes to the ways data has been distorted to sell mind-training methods, the authors demonstrate that beyond the pleasant states mental exercises can produce, the real payoffs are the lasting personality traits that can result. But short daily doses will not get us to the highest level of lasting positive change—even if we continue for years—without specific additions.
More than sheer hours, we need smart practice, including crucial ingredients such as targeted feedback from a master teacher and a more spacious, less attached view of the self, all of which are missing in widespread versions of mind training. The authors also reveal the latest data from Davidson’s own lab that point to a new methodology for developing a broader array of mind-training methods with larger implications for how we can derive the greatest benefits from the practice.
Accolades for Altered Traits
Arianna Huffington.“This is a book that really can change your life. Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson not only show the power of meditation, but also the smartest way to practice for the maximum possible benefit. Altered Traits is your roadmap to a more mindful, compassionate, fulfilling life — who doesn’t want that?” – author of The New York Times bestseller The Sleep Revolution
Jon Kabat-Zinn. “A happy synthesis of the authors’ remarkable careers, which grew from the intuition they shared as students that there was something deep and transformative about meditation, Altered Traits tells the story of what has been discovered since and why it matters critically at this moment on the planet.” – author of Full Catastrophe Living and Mindfulness for Beginners
Daniel Siegel, M.D. “This exquisite duet between a down-to-earth science writer and path-breaking neuroscientist is a tour-de-force, revealing how training the mind can transform the brain and our sense of self, inspiring us to create a greater sense of well-being, meaning, and connection in our world. Bravo!” – author of The New York Times bestsellers, Mindsight and Brainstorm
Chade-Meng Tan. “Here is a message that is both powerful and joyful. Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson reveal groundbreaking science showing how mindfulness and compassion practices can help each of us individually and thus the entire planet. One of the most exciting books I have read!” – author of The New York Times bestsellers, Joy on Demand and Search Inside Yourself
Accolades for The Emotional Life of Your Brain
Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. “A mind-opening journey guided by one of the world’s great pioneers in the study of emotion. Richard Davidson addresses the questions about how we become who we are with a scientific rigor and impassioned curiosity that enables us to understand others and ourselves, as well as to directly influence how we approach life with a sense of resilience and vitality. He also crucially reveals the science-proven steps we can take to improve the function and event the structure of our brain. Soak in the wisdom of these pages and enjoy! ” – author of Mindsight
Robert M. Sapolsky, Ph.D. “This superb book is many things – a crystal clear tour of the neuroscience of emotion; a primer about how the scientific process works; a personal story by a really likeable guy; and the promise of a better world. This is a wonderful book.” – author of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers and Monkeyluv
Jack Kornfield, Ph.D. “The best book I know on how to use the exciting discoveries of neuroscience to change your life. A fabulous read – a scientific adventure story like Sherlock Holmes meeting Watson and Crick with the Dalai Lama as their advisor.” – author of The Wise Heart
Daniel Goleman, Ph.D. “The Emotional Life of Your Brain is an eye-opener, replete with breakthrough research that will change the way you see yourself and everyone you know. Richard Davidson and Sharon Begley make a star team: cutting edge findings formulated in a delightful, can’t-put-it-down read. I loved this book.” – author of Emotional Intelligence
Deepak Chopra, M.D. “Richard Davidson and Sharon Begley have created a pioneering look at the brain chemistry of our emotions. By looking at Davidson’s scientific proof that meditation and other cognitive practices actually change the brain, the authors enable all of us to genuinely modify our most difficult emotional habits and create new and more fruitful ones. Look forward to cultivating keener attention, having more attunement to others, and being more connected to your own intuition. It’s all possible – and this book shows you how” -author of How to Know God
Select Articles
Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Reminds Us to Manage Emotions by Training Our Brain, Huffington Post, 2015
The Buddhist and the Neuroscientist, The Atlantic, 2015
Why Well-Being is a Skill That Can Be Learned, Huffington Post, 2015
Mind of the Meditator, Scientific American, 2014
Richie Davidson is Stalking the Meditating Brain, Mindful Magazine, 2014