“This highlights a weakness in what otherwise might seem quite impressive findings on the yogis: these data points are but glimpses of the altered traits that intensive, prolonged meditation produces. We do not want to reduce this quality of being to what we happen to be able to measure.”
- Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson, Altered Traits
I obviously love reading science. But, the more I learn about and practice breathing, the more this passage resonates with me (even though it’s about meditation, I think the same idea applies).
It serves as a nice reminder that we should value scientific findings but, simultaneously, remember that they’re only a glimpse of the benefits based on “what we happen to be able to measure.”