Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body

by Daniel Goleman

They found that the stronger a person’s sense of purpose in life, the more quickly they recovered from a lab stressor.

Having a sense of purpose and meaning may let people meet life’s challenges better, reframing them in ways that allow them to recover more readily. And, as we saw in chapter three, meditation seems to enhance well-being on Ryff’s measure, which includes a person’s sense of purpose.

Our default mode continually rescripts a movie where each of us stars, replaying particularly favorite or upsetting scenes over and over.

“a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.”

The same applies to “flow,” the state where people perform at their best. Paying full attention to what’s at hand, flow research tells us, rates high on the list of what puts us into—and sustains—a joyous state. The self, in its form as mind-wandering, becomes a distraction, suppressed for the time being.

“If a thought arises, take note of it and then dismiss it. When you forget all attachments steadfastly, you will naturally become zazen itself.”