false 2 0 false false Fri Sep 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 19:13:18 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 19:23:22 -0700 2009
The meat of the book is sandwiched in the middle, where the author guides the reader through the leading research on focus and attention. We learn that attention can be diffuse or focused, and there are benefits to either state. We also learn that meditation and mental exercises have been shown to improve the mind's ability to attend.

As someone with a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, I was especially disappointed at how few words Gallagher spent on this central issue. A long digression into the power of "now" -- with odes to Eckhart Tolle -- tells us that our lives have more meaning when we pay attention to the present moment. Tolle wrote a book along this theme, which I hope is less superfluous than Gallager's summary. She would have her readers surrender thoughts of the future, or any sort of social consciousness, in order to breathe in breathe out breathe in breathe out and live life in the moment. ]]>