Dr. Andrew Newberg, is a ten-time author, TEDx speaker, leading researcher, and neuroscientist who studies the relationship between brain function and various mental states. He's appeared on Dr. Oz and a Netflix documentary hosted by Morgan Freeman called God, and his work referenced in countless media publications including The New York Times, O Magazine, and Reuters, just to name a few.

In this episode of Unmessable, Dr. Newberg and Tanya discussed what enlightenment is and the role it plays in you being an effective leader.  Hint: enlightenment is correlated to leadership. They also discuss how one can practice enlightenment by design and how words change your brain. Additionally, Dr. Newberg shares some of his scientific findings on how to build trust and resolve conflict at work and in life.

Tune in to get the full conversation and learn about:

How your brain changes with meditation, religious and spiritual practicesWhy we believe what we believeHow words change your brainHow to build trust and resolve conflictNeuroscience conceptsLeadershipEnlightenmentMental health and states

Dr.Andrew Newberg's biography:

Dr. Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is board-certified in internal medicine and nuclear medicine.

Andrew has been asking questions about reality, truth, and God since he was very young, and he has long been fascinated by the human mind and its complex workings. While a medical student, he met Dr. Eugene d’Aquili, who was studying religious experiences. Combining their interests with Andrew’s background in neuroscience and brain imaging, they were able to break new theoretical and empirical ground on the relationship between the brain and religion.

Andrew’s research now largely focuses on how brain function is associated with various mental states—in particular, religious and mystical experiences. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, as well as surveys of people's spiritual experiences and attitudes. He has also evaluated the relationship between religious or spiritual phenomena and health, and the effect of meditation on memory. He believes that it is important to keep science rigorous and religion religious.

Andrew has also used neuroimaging research projects to study aging and dementia, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Connect with Dr.Andrew Newberg:

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Full Transcription:

Andrew:  I think a lot of my interest really did grow out of some of the thought processes I had as a kid. I was always just surprised that people had such diverse perspectives on things. I didn't understand why we had different religious, why we had different political parties. To me, I felt like aren't we all looking at the same world and shouldn't we all believe the same thing?

Tanya:  That's Dr. Andrew Newberg, ten time author, TedX speaker, leading research, and neuroscientist who studied the relationship between brain function and various mental states. He's appeared on Dr. Oz and Netflix's documentary hosted by Morgan Freeman called God, and his work referenced in countless media publications including The New York Times, O Magazine, and Reuters, just to name a few. Dr. Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and is a physician at the Jefferson University Hospital. He is board-certified in internal medicine and nuclear medicine.

Andrew:  Those distinctions, I think for me, really weighed heavily on my mind and were in some senses upsetting to me, especially jumping forward to today's world when you see such hostility amongst people for different ways of thinking and believing. To me, it's very concerning to think about that,