Spacious Minds

Lewis’ expertise in both Western and Tibetan approaches to trauma and resilience could not be more needed at this time, and Spacious Minds distills her expertise in a manner that is scholarly, engaging, and accessible to lay readers, clinicians, and academics alike. Her work is a profound reminder that there is no one right way to understand or experience trauma, nor one right way to recover from it.

Sara E. Lewis’s Spacious Minds is an important and engaging work for those interested in cross-cultural psychology and well-being, anthropology, diaspora studies, those seeking a better understanding of the complexities designing public and mental health interventions, and all who seek to understand ‘sociocultural practices that bolster communities under duress.’

Spacious Minds thus offers a brilliant illustration of how the anthropological study of the mind provides an innovative avenue to illuminate and engage with the very material world of policy, politics and power.

Sara E. Lewis is Associate Professor of Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology at Naropa University. Follow her on X @DeathRebirthLab.