Miami, Aug. 30, 2017 – The Miami Book Fair, the nation’s finest and largest literary gathering at Miami Dade College (MDC), presents Daniel Goleman, New York Times best-selling author of Emotional Intelligence, as he introduces his new book, Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body. The event is co-presented by Books and Books.
In the last twenty years, meditation and mindfulness have gone from being kind of cool to becoming an omnipresent Band-Aid for fixing everything from weight, relationships and achievements. Unveiling the kind of cutting-edge research that has made them giants in their fields, Goleman and co-author Richard Davidson reveal the truth about what meditation can really do as well as exactly how to get the most out of it.
Sweeping away common misconceptions and neuromythology to open readers’ eyes to the ways data has been distorted to sell mind-training methods, the authors demonstrate that beyond the pleasant states mental exercises can produce, the real payoffs are the lasting personality traits that can result.
More than sheer hours, smart practice is needed, including crucial ingredients such as targeted feedback from a master teacher and a more spacious, less attached view of the self, all of which are missing in widespread versions of mind training. The authors also reveal the latest data from Davidson’s own lab that point to a new methodology for developing a broader array of mind-training methods with larger implications for how to derive the greatest benefits from the practice.
Free and open to the public, the event is sponsored with the support of Innergy Meditation, and promotional partners WLRN, and Frost Science.
About Miami Book Fair
Founded in 1984 by Miami Dade College and partners, Miami Book Fair engages the community through inclusive, accessible programs that promote reading and support writers year round. The annual eight-day festival has grown into the largest and most comprehensive community-rooted literary gathering in the United States. The Fair features readings and discussions with the world’s most renowned authors, generating discourse on contemporary literature and current issues of international importance. The Fair also include culinary presentations; live music and interdisciplinary performances; interactive, educational activities for children; and more than 200 booksellers and publishers during the Street Fair. Events take place in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and French. In addition to the annual festival, the Miami Book Fair responds to community needs with a year-round schedule of activities, including The Little Haiti Book Festival, highlighting Haiti’s literary acumen; creative writing and publishing workshops; author presentations; reading campaigns; and Read to Learn Books for Free, a partnership with The Children’s Trust that distributes more than 150,000 free books a year to children in Miami-Dade County.
Miami Book Fair is made possible through the generous support of the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Miami; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Miami Downtown Development Authority; and the Friends of the Fair; as well as many corporate partners. Miami Book Fair: Building community, one reader at a time.
About Miami Dade College
Miami Dade College is the nation’s largest, campus-based institution of higher education with an enrollment of more than 165,000 students. It is also the nation’s top producer of Associate in Arts and Science degrees and awards more degrees to minorities than any other college or university in the country. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree pathways including several baccalaureate degrees in biological sciences, engineering data analytics, information systems technology, education, public safety, supervision and management, nursing, physician assistant studies, film and others. In fact, its academic and workforce training programs are national models of excellence. MDC is also renowned for its rich cultural programming. It is home of the Miami Book Fair International, Miami International Film Festival, the MDC Live! Performing Arts Series, the National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom Tower, a sculpture park and a large art gallery and theater system. MDC has admitted more than 2,000,000 students and counting, since it opened its doors in 1960.
To register for courses and for more information, please call 305-237-3940, or visit www.miamibookfair.com.
Miami Book Fair media contacts: Lisa Palley, 305-642-3132 lpalley@bellsouth.net or Deyanira Navarrette, 305-495-7168, deyanavarrette@gmail.com.