Peak Mind by Amishi Jha, PhD
A Book Review
A potent reminder of why mindfulness meditation is an invaluable practice, Peak Mind explores the landscape of the brain and how our hard-wired functioning can lead us astray. It also teaches us how we can become aware of these default patterns so we can consciously shift into a more mindful mode that will allow us to live with more presence, intention, balance, and flexibility — thereby increasing our capacity to experience the richness of life and connect with others on a deeper level. This optimal mental functioning is what the author refers to as a “peak mind”.
Dr. Jha explains that we are actually missing 50% of our entire lives due to mind-wandering: we are not present because we get stuck ruminating about the past, imagining the future, or getting lost in our thoughts; our attention is always jumping from one thing to the next. She also explains that this mind-wandering is a natural function of our brains — not a defect, and that we can train our minds to work differently rather than wasting energy trying to resist our natural hardwiring. Our brains and the resulting behavior patterns are not fixed; they are malleable and can be transformed through practice.
As the book outlines, our attention is one of the most valuable resources we have because it is the lens through which we experience and create our lives. What we pay attention to is highlighted and what we don’t pay attention to is dimmed. So we need to be aware of what we are paying attention to. According to the research of Dr. Jha and other professionals in the brain science and psychology field, attention determines what we perceive, learn, and remember; how calm or reactive we feel; the decisions we make and the actions we take; and our overall sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. Attention is powerful (what we pay attention to is amplified), fragile (many things can intercept it such as stress, feeling threatened, or poor mood), and most importantly — trainable (we can strengthen our capacity to fully experience the present moment).
Attention is also intimately linked with working memory because working memory is what allows us to do something with the information on which we focus. Working memory is then the doorway to long-term memory so strengthening our attention via mindfulness practice has a chain of positive cognitive effects as well as positive social effects because it also strengthens our ability to be present with others. And the more present and aware we are, the richer and more vivid our experience of life will be.
But what exactly is mindfulness and how can we practice it? Dr. Jha addresses these questions in depth, providing science-backed evidence for why it works and why other practices such as relaxation and positive thinking actually don’t work as effectively. She also outlines how to engage in four foundational exercises to build a long-term mindfulness practice. Her research explains that the mind naturally wanders and fighting against this only wastes more of our attentional focus. Instead, we need to train our minds to work differently by committing to a mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness is about paying attention to present-moment experience without making up stories about it or emotionally reacting to it; It is full presence in the absence of judgement or expectations. It builds our awareness so we can make the conscious choice to redirect and reshape our auto-pilot functioning and put our attention where we want it to be. It’s how we learn to skillfully apply our free will to create a richer lived experience, allowing us to more clearly see our blind spots and step out of our singular and often limited or biased perspective. It stretches our narrow lenses, affording us a broader scope of reality.
When regularly practiced it can protect our attentional resources even in the most demanding circumstances. Dr. Jha has worked with people in high-stress, high-impact jobs and found that even in these extreme circumstances people benefited from mindfulness: It trains us to have a sharper, clearer focus and improves our decision-making skills. She discovered that the minimum amount of practice required to reap the benefits is to practice for 12 minutes a day for at least 5 days per week for at least 4 weeks, which is a very small investment considering the exponential return. And of course more practice equals more benefits.
And when we are able to be fully present with ourselves we can then be fully present with others. Mindfulness doesn’t just produce individual benefits — it also helps us build stronger connections by strengthening our ability to navigate difficult conversations and experiences with other people. Our presence is the most valuable thing we can give someone; it is true intimacy and a deep expression of love. There is no gift more precious or more potent than really seeing someone — really listening to them and being present with their joys and their pains. And mindfulness helps us bestow this gift to ourselves and to those with whom we are in relationship. It builds our wisdom and taps into our innate capacity to love — and these are the only things that transcend material existence; the only riches we can truly possess.
Another point the author explained that I found highly important and relevant is the fact that nobody is truly capable of multi-tasking. If we do multi-task, we are decreasing our performance on each task, not accomplishing more in less time. The brain is not made to multi-task and there is ample science to back this up, yet so many of us mistakenly believe that we should be able to. So many job postings list “multi-tasking” as a desired trait or as a requirement even though it’s really a counterproductive way to function. This indicates a need to reexamine and reassess what we are expecting of ourselves and how we define productivity.
Her thorough presentation of the scientific proof in support of the benefits of mindfulness is very powerful and motivating, and we need to make sure we act on that motivation. Learning about the brain and the benefits of mindfulness is best done in service of actually undertaking a mindfulness practice because it is in the lived experience that one truly learns. Similarly, one could study all the technical and functional aspects of weight training and why it’s good for us, but if you never lift a weight there’s no benefit to your body.
The author provides four practices and explains how to perform them and she also incorporates them into a four week plan to get the reader grounded in a regular practice. The practices strengthen your cognitive focus (“Finding Your Flashlight”), body-centered awareness (“Body Scan”), meta-cognition which is awareness of where your awareness is focused (“River of Thought”), and ability to connect with the self and others (“Connection Practice”). The book is also very motivational and will likely inspire even the most skeptical person to give it a try, and once the benefits are felt then there is more motivation to keep practicing.
This is the first pick of 2022 in Noah’s Book Club (check out Noah Syndergaard’s social media for more info on his book club), and it’s a highly relevant and valuable resource. We could all benefit from strengthening our attentional awareness, and if you don’t believe me you will certainly be enlightened after reading the abundance of science-based evidence presented in this gem of a book.
