Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain

How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves

By: Sharon Begley

Narrated by: Eliza Foss

Is change possible? Everyone who has tried and failed, wished they could be happier, or has been told they were too old to learn something, has wondered why we just seem to be stuck with ourselves. But this amazing and hopeful audiobook shows us that it is not only possible for us to control our brains but also for us to rewire them.

In late 2004, the Mind and Life Institute brought Western Scientists together with the Dalai Lama and other distinguished Buddhist masters to discuss the cutting edge research being conducted in neuroplasticity, which examines whether neurons can be changed and even grown.

The findings are as astonishing as they are helpful. Flying in the face of previous assumptions, the current research shows that not only is it possible for us to change the physical brain, but it is within reach of every single one of us.

Through research into neuroplasticity, it has been shown that we can:
• Reset our happiness meter
• Heal from depression, even major episodes
• Learn new skills even in old age
• Learn—and even teach—compassion, a critical finding for personal happiness and a more peaceful world

Surprising, encouraging, and full of good news that we all want to hear, Sharon Begley's Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain will help us not only change our brains but also the way we approach our lives—for the better.

Critic reviews

"The Dalai Lama, Buddhist monks and some of the world's leading neuroscientists all gather once a year at a conference on the latest discoveries in neuroplasticity: the study of how the human brain can change itself. ...his remarkable conference serves as the center of Wall Street Journal science columnist Begley's account of neuroplasticity." - Publishers Weekly

Great book!

I really enjoyed this book and learned more about Neuroplasticity! I have been meditating a while now and really liked the research on meditation and the brain. I highly recommend this one!

Too much of Dalai Lama

If you're a scientist, this one is NOT for you. There's nothing new in this book, although some of scientific anecdotes were quite interesting (as anecdotes only, not as a new concept or an inspiration).

I don't know why almost every other sentence must end with "...told prof.XXX to Dalai Lama", or "... asked Dalai Lama", or "suggested Dalai Lama", etc. Of course, Dalai Lama is an important figure, but as a religous leader, not as a scientific expert. Why does it matter whether Dalai Lama agrees to the scientific data or not, or whether he thinks some scientific result is interesting or not? It didn't matter when the church said the earth was flat and the world went around the earth - because the scientific fact is it is round and the world does not go around the globe, regardless of what the church thought. Sure, I understand that a large portion of scientific results in this book were from the conferences organized by Dalai Lama and company. But it should have been enough just to mention it in the introduction or preface, unless this book was heading for a religious book, not a scientific one.

Slaughtering the text for shorter audio!

The book is great, phenomenal. I had to switch to audio book from the printed version because of my eyes. Early into the book, comparing audio and text, I found out that, unfortunately, almost half of the text was missing in the audio. What a shame...

Needs to be Common Knowledge

Excellent explanations of scientific info regarding mind and brain research. Encouraging breakthroughs in this field.

A good update on brain science

While some readers may be put off by the combination of the connection with the Dahli Lama and science, this book is a great review of current brain science discoveries. If you stick with the book you will get much more science than eastern religion. A very good read but if you are not used to the scientific terminology or if you do not like reading summaries of research (ala Scientific American) then you will struggle and may snooze thru some very important reviews of research.