Episode 15 — When Mindfulness Got Too Good to Be True

For a while, mindfulness seemed capable of fixing almost everything — stress, attention, depression, relationships and even the brain itself.

Then the science became more complicated.

We follow mindfulness research from the excitement of early brain-imaging studies through the replication and methodology debates, modern network neuroscience, trauma-sensitive practice and the growing recognition that meditation can sometimes produce difficult experiences.

The result isn’t the debunking of mindfulness. It’s a much more interesting and humane understanding of what meditation may actually be doing.