Mindfulness by Ellen J. Langer

About the author: Dr. Langer is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. She has been described as the “mother of mindfulness” and has written extensively on the illusion of control, mindful creativity, mindful aging, stress, health, and Personal Success.

Ellen is the author of eleven books and more than two hundred research articles written for general and academic readers on mindfulness for over 35 years.

She is the founder of The Langer Mindfulness Institute and a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, with three Distinguished Scientist Awards: The World Congress Award, the NYU Alumni Achievement Award, and the Staats award for Unifying Psychology.

In this summary, you’ll learn the crucial roles of mindfulness in leadership, innovation, productivity, creativity, personal success, and happiness.

let’s dive right in, shall we?

The Placebo effects

Ellen gathered a group of elderly patients in a nursing home-like environment, surrounded with décors, clothing, foods, and popular music from their youthful years.

Ellen then told them to use their imagination — chat, dance — pretend as if they were in their younger selves’ bodies and act accordingly.

In the following weeks, the physical exam showed that they increased muscle strength, tighter skin, better eyes-sight, and even higher bone density than before.