In the 1960s, meditation was only embraced by hippies. Then the business world became enamoured with mindfulness’s promise of better concentration and stress coping mechanisms. Now the practise is so widely spread in the West, that even the UK’s National Health Service recommends it. But with the popularity and business created around mindfulness, the myths surrounding it abound as well. Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of 14 books on emotional intelligence and mindfulness, including three consisting of dialogues with the Dalai Lama, is interested in the science behind meditation. This has been the subject of his latest book, Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain and Body, co-authored with Richard J. Davidson. Goleman discusses the attacks on mindfulness and retaliates with scientific nous in the interview below.

—Paula Erizanu

You’ve written about mindfulness for several decades now. Have you changed your mind about it?

When I started out, there was no good scientific evidence on meditation in peer-reviewed journals. Experientially, I knew I was doing something important but there was no data to back it up. And now there’s a lot of data. So I’m more firm in my belief that it can be beneficial.