Starve the Ego Feed the Soul

Reconnecting With Spirit: Lisa Miller, PhD On What Neuroscience Says About Spirituality

Nico Barraza

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Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held over a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School. Her innovative research has been published in more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including Cerebral Cortex, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.


It’s not just a book; it’s a movement.

The awakened decision is the better decision.

With an awakened perception, we are more creative, collaborative, ethical, and innovative.

The awakened brain is the healthier brain.

An engaged spiritual life enhances grit, optimism, and resilience while providing insulation against addiction, trauma, and depression. 

The awakened life is the inspired life.

Loss, uncertainty, and even trauma are the gateways by which we are invited to move beyond merely coping with hardship to transcend into a life of renewal, healing, joy, and fulfillment.



Whether it’s meditation or a walk in nature, reading a sacred text or saying a prayer, there are many ways to tap into a heightened awareness of the world around you and your place in it. In The Awakened Brain, psychologist Dr. Lisa Miller shows you how.

Weaving her own deeply personal journey of awakening with her groundbreaking research, Dr. Miller’s book reveals that humans are universally equipped with a capacity for spirituality, and that our brains become more resilient and robust as a result of it. For leaders in business and government, truth-seekers, parents, healers, educators, and any person confronting life’s biggest questions, The Awakened Brain combines cutting-edge science (from MRI studies to genetic research, epidemiology, and more) with on-the-ground application for people of all ages and from all walks of life, illuminating the surprising science of spirituality and how to engage it in our lives.

Absorbing, uplifting, and ultimately enlightening, The Awakened Brain is a conversation-starting saga of scientific discovery packed with counterintuitive findings and practical advice on concrete ways to access your innate spirituality and build a life of meaning and contribution.

Deepak Chopra, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Super Brain


“Dr. Miller’s cutting-edge research heralds a new revolution of health and well-being. The Awakened Brain is an investigation of the choice we each have in confronting challenges and limitations—and it’s a testament to, and celebration of, the power within.”

Martin Seligman, PhD, founder of the Positive Psychology movement and New York Times bestselling author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness


“Lisa Miller is the leading psychologist of her generation on the benefits of religion and spirituality. She asks ‘What makes life worth living?’ and finds evidence-based answers.”

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Warmly,
Nico Barraza
@FeedTheSoulNB
www.nicobarraza.com