Researchers studied the stress-reducing effects of a resort vacation, compared to the effects of that same vacation with meditation added. The results show that while both are beneficial, a meditation retreat can offer longer-lasting peace than a vacation without yoga and meditation.

“I believe in science,” says the luchador in the film, Nacho Libre (which was filmed in Oaxaca). But I believe in something more too. One thing that strikes me regarding the secular approach to contentment and joy is the seeming lack of attention and research to an alternative route – via meditation, spirituality, or however one would like to describe love. Williams does address this, in a particularly poetic chapter about the power of awe.