The Spiritually Awakened Brain with Dr. Lisa Miller

Humans are equipped with an innate capacity for spirituality and our brains become more resilient and robust the more we engage with spirituality. This groundbreaking research from Dr. Lisa Miller has enormous implications for the church. Dr. Miller joins our podcast to make a case for why the church is desperately needed today, not just as an antidote to the “diseases of despair,” but also as a key and necessary ingredient for human thriving. From her own personal journey of spiritual awakening to her passionate plea to bring religion back into the public square, Dr. Miller shares insight and inspiration that is not to be missed. 

Quotations

“Sometimes God tells you when there’s only one answer and that answer is ‘yes!’” (07:12)

“Just as we have two eyes, two ears and a nose, every single baby is born with a capacity for spiritual life” (12:01) (Quote for Graphic)

“We can no longer locate diagnosis, suffering, or despair at the level of the individual. This is a culture and climate crisis. Our entire society needs to put our spiritual heart back into the center of who we are.” (23:30)

“I feel that our culture at large is in a state of developmental depression. This is the knock at the door for our own spiritual awakening and deepening.” (31:10)

“The greatest gift that I wish for my children is not that they ace AP Chemistry, it's that they can develop a sacred relationship through which they find guidance in very unpredictable waters.” (38:56)

We discuss:

• Dr. Miller’s ‘aha’ moment that led her to study spirituality and the brain (5:23)
• Key research about the brain not to be missed (9:00)
• Our capacity of spiritual life is one third innate and two-thirds environmental (14:40)
• Why we can’t throw religion out of the public square (15:50)
• Dr. Miller’s work with the military to integrate spiritual life into the armed forces (19:30)
• The impact of spiritual decline on the mental well-being of our youth (21:30)
• The path forward out of the epidemic of despair among young people (26:20)
• Research insights about the impact of spirituality on children and young people (36:38)
• We are all born with the ability to see and know God (42:30)

About Lisa Miller

Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain, and 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. Dr. Miller has published more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in leading journals in leading journals such as The American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is also Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality and Founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of Spirituality in Clinical Practice.

Show Notes

Lisa Miller is a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University and Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. Find out more about her work at her work with the awakened brain and the spiritual child at her website.

Lisa Miller is author of The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life and the New York Times bestseller The Spiritual Child: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving.

This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission.

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