Have you ever noticed that trying to calm down before a high-risk event often only leads to more agitation? A surprising number of such difficulties stem from an inherited propensity of the human brain: our automatic and programmed tendency to seek pleasure and anticipate and avoid pain. Modern science shows that this mental wiring, traceable to the survival needs of our earliest ancestors, is at the root of many of the psychological and behavioral problems we face today. Here the science behind mindfulness is revealed in compelling detail and its application to an extraordinary range of human problems - psychological, social, and medical.