What if our innate spirituality was the antidote to the escalating rates of mental health issues in the world? Dr. Lisa Miller, a Columbia University professor, studies the profound interplay between spirituality and mental health. She argues that our modern obsession with achievement has led to neglect of our spiritual side, contributing to increased depression and despair. In contrast, "awakened awareness," a state where we are receptive to life's signals and guidance, can serve as a neuroprotective mechanism against such issues. Emphasizing the universality of spirituality, irrespective of religiosity, she suggests altruistic acts as a means to strengthen our spiritual core. Such acts, according to her, could ignite a journey of recovery and holistic wellness.

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About Lisa Miller:

Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is 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. She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child.