This chapter explores the intersection of neuroplasticity and mindfulness, highlighting how contemplative practices can induce structural and functional changes in the brain. It outlines the science of neuroplasticity, describing mechanisms like synaptogenesis, dendritic branching, and functional reorganization. The chapter traces mindfulness from its roots in Hindu and Buddhist traditions to...
Pranayama, the Yogic discipline of regulated breathing, has evolved from a spiritual practice into a scientifically recognized method for supporting mental and neurological health. This chapter examines its neuroplastic potential by outlining effects on major brain regions and networks, while summarizing key Pranayama techniques and their physiological signatures. Evidence indicates...
Breath and emotion are intricately connected, forming continuous waves that shape our inner experiences and outward expressions. This chapter explores the physiological, psychological, and cultural ties between breathing patterns and emotional states, demonstrating how breath acts as both a mirror and a regulator of emotion. Insights from neuroscience, somatic psychology, and cultural...
The global mental health crisis, characterized by escalating rates of anxiety, depression, and existential distress, has exposed the limitations of conventional biomedical approaches. This chapter explores the integrative potential of mindfulness, meditation, and yoga as a synergistic triad for promoting comprehensive mental well-being. Grounded in both ancient contemplative traditions and...
The essay explores the philosophical foundations of Indian contemplative traditions, offering a comprehensive understanding of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness in both traditional and modern settings. It reestablishes the connection between these disciplines and their original philosophical, ethical, and existential purposes, using ancient sources like Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras, Advaita Vedānta,...
One of the most intriguing findings of neuroscience is the ability of contemplative practice to transform the human brain. This chapter explores how neuroplasticity can use mindfulness, meditation, and yoga to strengthen psychological resilience to help us understand how ancient wisdom can be used in combination with new brain science. The chapter introduces clinical studies that demonstrate...
Amos Tutuola (1920–1997) occupies a distinctive place in Nigerian literary history as the first novelist to introduce Nigerian oral storytelling to a global audience through a fusion of Yoruba folklore and unconventional English expression. While his works have been extensively examined within folkloric, postcolonial, and linguistic traditions, their relevance to cognition and behaviour remains...
The chapter analyses cyber consciousness in the context of post-humanism and the role of artificial intelligence in developing a post-human digital consciousness. It focuses on the popular Amazon Prime series Upload (2020-2025). The paper argues that, even though technology, particularly biotechnology, offers new human experiences, including “biotechnological fantasies” of a mind existing...
The aim of this paper is to examine some of the implications that three dominant approaches to the phenomenon of mind in the philosophy of mind—physicalism, functionalism, and the phenomenological approach—may have for contemporary concepts of mental disorders. The physicalist framework, as a par excellence reductionist theory of mind, identifies mental disorders with somatic impairments,...
This article examines seventeenth-century theories of consciousness and their enduring influence on opposing nativist and behaviorist theories of language from rationalist and empiricist perspectives. Focusing primarily on Cartesian accounts of consciousness, thought, and linguistic creativity, the study traces how rationalist notions of innate mental capacities informed later developments in...