Jon Kabat-Zinn

Web 1 by SWolfeN18W

ISBN 0-7868-8070-8

Amazon link

Jon Kabat-Zinn is the founder and director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He has created a program there that continues to be a leading force in teaching mindfulness to persons in high stress—heart patients, patients in chronic pain, patients with stress-related illnesses, prisoners, low-income, minority, etc.

The course there is called “Full Catastrophe Living”.

In a series of short narratives, Kabat-Zinn captures a concept to illustrate the following main ideas:

Part One The Bloom of the Present Moment

Part Two The Heart of Practice

Part Three In the Spirit of Mindfulness

Excerpt from the book:
“Guess what? When it comes down to it, wherever you go, there you are. Whatever you wind up doing, that’s what you’ve wound up doing. Whatever you are thinking right now, that’s what is on your mind. Whatever has happened to you, it has already happened. The important question is, how are going to handle it? In other words, “Now what?””

“Like it or not, this moment is all we really have to work with. Yet we all too easily conduct our lives as if forgetting momentarily that we are here, where we already are, and that we are in what we what we are already in. In every moment, we find ourselves at the crossroad of here and now. But when the cloud of forgetfulness over where we are now sets in, in that very moment we get lost. “Now what?” becomes a real problem.”

“If you sit down to meditate, even for a moment, it will be a time for non-doing. It is very important not to think that this non-doing is synonymous with doing nothing. They couldn’t be more different. Consciousness and intention matter here. In fact, they are key.”

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“On the surface, it seems as if there might be two kinds of non-doing, one involving not doing any outward work, the other involving what we might call effortless activity. Ultimately we come to see that they are the same. It is the inward experience that counts here. What we frequently call formal meditation involves purposely making a time for stopping all outward activity and cultivating stillness, with no agenda other than being fully present in each moment. Not doing anything. Perhaps such moments of non-doing are the greatest gift one can give oneself.”

Tags: meditate, meditation, mindfulness, Stress, stress reduction

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Picture Credit.

By alicepopkorn

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Oirase by chi king

Anne Dilenschneider writes about Meditation-Walking in the World. In this post she gives three examples of meditation done while being alive to life and being fully conscious. In Walking Meditation #1, she suggests:

“Name an issue that is of concern to you,
something you’d like more clarity about.
Be open to seeing your concern in a new way.
Be open to letting go of your concern for this time,
and trusting it to a wider Wisdom.

Then go out for a walk.”

She also gives an excerpt from one if my heroes, Anne Dillard, from Anne’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:

“The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet. There is nothing to be done about it, but ignore it, or see. And like Billy Bray I go my way, and my left foot says ‘Glory,’ and my right foot says ‘Amen’: in and out of Shadow Creek, upstream and down, exultant, in a daze, dancing, to the twin silver trumpets of praise” (pp. 270-71).

And, finally, she suggests:  “As you go walking, try this:

When you take a step with your left foot, breathe the word “Glory.”
When you take a step with your right foot, breathe the word “Amen.”

(1)  When is the Right Time to Teach Children Meditation?

Answer from Deepak Chopra:

“There’s no hard and fast rule on this. What’s most important is to make them aware of the value of meditation through your example and then look for their receptiveness. Some children may be ready for meditation as early as eight or ten years of age. Other kids even growing up in homes where both parents meditate, may not feel drawn to meditating themselves until they are in their late teens.”

“It’s important that they don’t feel pressured to meditate because the parents want them to. When they are motivated to start from their own curiosity and desire that is the best indication they are ready, and that is the best indicator for them to continue on in their practice as well.”

(2)  20 Meditation Tips for Beginners:

“Although a good number of people try meditation at some point in their lives, only a small percentage actually persist with it. This is unfortunate, as the benefits are enormous. One possible reason is that many beginners do not start with an appropriate mindset to make the practice sustainable.”

“The purpose of this article is to provide 20 practical recommendations to help beginners get past the initial hurdles and integrate meditation as an ongoing practice in their lives.”

(3)  Meditation and Its Benefits:

“(a) Meditation is good for the brain
According to scientists there is evidence that suggests that meditation can boost parts of the brain and the immune system.”

“(b) Meditation for stress management
People started practicing meditation worldwide as a means to reduce stress or to help them with pain caused by various illnesses.”

(“c) Meditation can help maintain calm in any situation.”

“(d) Meditation develops intuition; a capacity to understand and foresee.”

“(e) Most of the diseases stem from the discord between mind, intellect and body. Meditation will bring your body, mind and intellect, into harmony and hence peace.”

“(f) It encourages deeper understanding of oneself and hence others. Thus one can follow his chosen path with more precision.”

“(g) Meditation will lead you towards the path of non violence. As a result you will gradually stop injuring yourself and other at work, in relationships, etc.”

“(h) Regular practice of meditation will certainly make the will power of the practitioner stronger. When the mind is stronger you can achieve what you want from life and stay peaceful and happy.”

wonderlane

While doing the research for the 50+ books I selected for the Changemaker Library, I realized that I love writing about good books. I have been reading for 60 years so I have a long history of what books can influence lives.

I don’t do book reviews. Instead, I give the book title, the author, the ISBN number and a link to Amazon to buy it. I also include excerpts from the book chosen so that a reader can decide if this book is a good match for him/her.

Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart

Brian Luke Seaward

ISBN 0-471-67999-2

Amazon link

From the author—

“Current statistics suggest that 1/3 of the American population is on anti-depressants. Alcoholism, drug addiction, self-mutilation, and suicide are just some of the more popular ways that people cope with their stress today. Through these tactics, people merely avoid the problems at hand, rather than work to resolve them. For stress to be dealt with effectively, no matter how much pressure is bearing down on us, avoidance is rarely a viable option.”

“If you listen closely to people’s conversations, you might notice how they tend to be stuck: not processing every aspect of a given situation to make sense of it, but rehashing thoughts and feelings, which, in turn, only validates their stress.”

“In what is often called the Universal Law of Attraction, a critical mass of negativity forms, and like a magnet, our mental focus begins to attract more things to complain about. As a result, we get caught in a whirlpool of negativity, from which it is really hard to escape. In the words of Marcel Proust, “The real act of discovery is not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” Attitude, once again, is the paintbrush with which we color our world.”

From Chapter 5: The Human Equinox: Six Ways to Bring Balance into Your Life—

1) Work life balanced with personal life

2) Freedom balanced with discipline

3) Mental stimulation balanced with quietness

4) Right-brain thinking balanced with left-brain thinking

5) Technology balanced with nature

6) Ego balanced with soul

“Rest assured, behind every unresolved personal drama lies an overactive ego trying to control, manipulate, or dominate whatever it can.”

“At its most rudimentary level, the ego is the bodyguard for the soul, to serve in the role of protector. The problem comes when the bodyguard forgets its primary position, eclipsing the soul’s splendor, to dictate a policy of human behavior.”

From the introduction:

“In the spirit of one of my heroes, Joseph Campbell (The Power of Myth), a man who certainly understood the relationship between stress and spirituality, this book is divided into sections that resemble the classic template of what Campbell called “the Hero’s Journey.”

Part I: Into the Unknown frames our departure from the familiar into a brave new stressful world and the problems often associated with that departure.

Part II: Crossing the Threshold highlights the ageless wisdom of the dance between stress and spirituality and features several stories of everyday heroes who perform the dance masterfully.

Part III: Life in the Balance contains abundant how-to advice to help you build a solid foundation or an action plan, using effective coping skills to victoriously meet the challenge of life’s stress and thus celebrate your own heroic qualities.

Part IV: Back Home Again brings you home to a hero’s welcome, with a few inspirational stories that promise that you, too, can complete the journey and return home as “the master of two worlds.”

“To support the theme of balance, sprinkled throughout the book are exercises, action plans, photographs, meditations, and poems to engage the right brain, help the left brain to process and reintegrate the information, and remind us of what we already know. It is my hope that Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart can reawaken your slumbering spirit, help you build a foundation of balance in your life, and enable you to regain a sense of personal homeostasis, so that the winds of change become the winds of grace that will allow your spirit to soar!”

Excerpt from “The Health of the Human Spirit”:

Twenty-one Strategies for Letting Go of Stress:

· A bird’s eye view: keeping everything in perspective

· Flexing the funny bone: comic relief

· Physical exercise: flushing out the stress hormones

· Decompression: the art of calm

· Do not enter: establishing healthy boundaries

· Respond, don’t react: taming that ego

· Seeking a balance: complexity versus simplicity

· Good vibrations I: turning off the TV

· Anger management: learning to fine-tune expectations

· Meditation: take five or even ten

· Adopt an attitude of gratitude: counting your blessings

(and curses, too)

· Good nutrition: avoid putting gasoline on the fire

· Empowerment: remember, you’ve got the goods

· Friends in need: having a good support system

· Back to nature: getting and staying grounded

· Diversify your interests: place your eggs in more than one

Basket

· Amazing grace: the healing power of prayer

· Reserving judgment: the power of acceptance

· Seizing the day: the future is now

· Forgiveness: the last frontier

Prison Meditation by sarvodaya.org

I am convinced that my spiritual experience in 1976 is the reason I have been able to stay clean and sober all these years. During the first six months of sobriety, I was lead to learn about meditation and prayer. I consider prayer to be talking to God, and meditation to be listening to God. It has worked for me over and over. The listening to God is rarely easy unless I have screwed up big time. At these times, God gets the message to me with a 2 x 4 over the head or a giant billboard for all to read. Sometimes, I receive humility only through humiliation.

Through the practice of meditation, I learned to get centered by focusing on my breathing in and breathing out. This technique is invaluable in stressful situations or at times when I may become unstable emotionally (which is what I call anger).

I have also learned about mindfulness which is a Buddhist concept. Although I am a Christian mystic, I have always during recovery examined and explored all concepts. I have kept the practices that help me become more loving and more content in my own skin.

I believe that there is one God; but many paths to that God. I picture a mountain with paths all over the place with forests, valleys, and other obstructions. So I hop from one path to the other in my spiritual journey always being careful to get back on the main road which is my surrender to the God of my understanding. Along the way, I practice prayer and meditation daily. It keeps me centered and focused.

Prisoners in India have been given the opportunity to practice meditation and prayer. The prison officials have brought in instructors and the prisoners are given the structured time to practice. More information about this in this article found on line in the Time magazine.

I am sure that those prisoners leave jail with far less inner turmoil and anger than they would have without meditation. The main place we should all be free is inside our own mind.

Further readings about meditation in prison:

Prison meditation project of San Diego, California

Meditation in prison gives prisoners a chance to find some much needed answers

Prison Meditation in Alabama

Meditation in prisons in Concord, New Hampshire

Vipassana meditation courses for correction facilities

Centering Meditation in California Prisons

Meditation by HaPe Gera

I love reading and posting about meditation because I believe that anyone can benefit from practicing it. Some of the posts I’ve read lately :

The Unifying Spirit of Meditation–by Brad Shore:

If you answer YES to any of these questions, I hope you’ll read on.

1. Are you preoccupied with the next item on your to-do list, rather than focused on the task at hand?
2. Do you have trouble concentrating?
3. Are you often uneasy or restless?
4. Does your mind race a mile a minute?
5. Do you feel as though there are never enough hours in the day?

If any of that sounds like you, you could get a lot out of meditation. I started meditating about ten years ago. At that time, I would have answered all five of those questions with an emphatic YES! Now, these difficulties bother me only occasionally and to a relatively slight degree.

Meditation is all about focus, about living in the moment. At its best, meditation is a physical, mental, and spiritual exercise, though many practitioners focus on only one or two dimensions. Meditation can be as simple as a focused breathing exercise. Some forms, such as certain types of contemplative prayer, can take a lifetime to master.

Meditation and Mortality: Practice and Parkinson’s–by Arthur Zajonc:

“The diagnosis came a few months ago; I had stage one Parkinson’s disease. The most prominent symptom was a persistent resting tremor in my right hand. I had been meditating for many years, and now I was experiencing firsthand the ways in which meditation and a chronic medical condition can intersect.”

“I started my meditation practice in my usual way with the cultivation of humility, reverence, and calm. I slowly opened and closed my unsettled hand in synchrony with my shallow breathing. The tremor in my right hand gradually slowed as my meditation deepened and my awareness widened. The movements of my body associated with Parkinson’s became smaller and ultimately stopped. The jitters that accompany me during the day had finally ceased, and I found a place of rest and ease. I welcomed the silent spacious calm. It seemed as if a whole day’s agitation slid from my body.”

“Then, taking up a line of poetry as the focus for a concentration practice, I noted that my hand began to tremor once again. Returning to spacious awareness, the tremor disappeared. I have noted the difference consistently over recent weeks. Concentration practices stimulate the tremor whereas a practice of deep, silent, open awareness calms it.”

Only the Buzz Words Change–by Sue:

“A wise person I know describes mindfulness this way: Imagine that you put a puppy in the middle of the room. What is it going to do? Is it going to sit still? No, it will run off to find something fun to do. So you have to keep putting the puppy back in the middle of the room. You may have to do this many many times before the puppy stays in the middle of the room. It may not stay there today, so you can try again tomorrow.”

“The puppy is everything that intrudes on your meditation. The list of things you need to pick up on your way home. The appointment you need to make later on. The possibilities for tonight’s dinner menu. The criticism of yourself for not being focused enough or not “doing meditation” correctly. Endless, endless intrusions upon simply resting in the present moment that is now.”

Into the light by mindfulness

Wikipedia identifies mindfulness as “the practice whereby a person is intentionally aware of his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally”. Although my faith is based in Jesus Christ, I am thankful that He has given me the gift of openness to explore and implement practices from other faiths and religions.

In 1976, when I began implementing breathing exercise with meditation practices, I immediately knew that finding my center and focusing on my breath in and breath out enabled calm and peace to flow through my body. Being human, I learned in a moment what has taken a lifetime to implement. Transcendental meditation has been found to decrease heart rate and blood pressure because the mind-body connection prospers when one experiences peace and calm.

The following websites can help someone to experience mindfulness, mediation and peace: From New Dream Network come several sites linked together: Energy Breath—-Healing Arts Online–-Thinking Peace. Although these blogs are selling selected books does not take away the thoughtfulness presentations here.

Some current articles or posts about mindfulness meditation:

Mindfulness Meditation and Concentration Meditation–by Matt Clarkson:

“Mindfulness meditation is also known as insight because the intention is to gain insight as to the true nature of reality.  While concentration involves the practitioner focusing their attention on a single object, in mindfulness meditation practice, every aspect of experience is welcomed and appreciated.”

“With concentration practice, we give the attention a target that keeps us anchored in the present moment.  The target can be a physical object, or more commonly, the breath.  We give the mind something consistent to focus on and this becomes the object of the meditation.”

“Whatever is used as the object for the attention, the aim is to keep the mind focused as often as you remember to do so.  As the mind starts to wander, we simply direct the mind back toward the object of attention with a sense of “friendliness.”

“What do I mean by friendliness?  Whenever we become lost in thought or confusion, we simply acknowledge those thoughts and then gently re-focus the attention.  If we consciously try to prevent thinking, it’s going to have a negative impact on our practice.  Instead, the moment we recognize we have become distracted, we gently bring our attention back.”

An Online Meditation Room (with video)

The following is a book review by  Shai Coggins:

“Arriving at Your Own Door (108 Lessons in Mindfulness) by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Non-fiction, Self-help) – A collection of short thoughts from Kabat-Zinn and some quotations that relate to the topic of mindfulness or meditation.”

“Review: If someone told me that I’d be interested in the topic of “mindfulness” or “meditation” a couple of months ago, I would’ve said they’re nuts. My mind runs a hundred miles a minute and it seriously hurts to try to make it go still. Unless I’m totally exhausted, the brain just won’t stop buzzing.”

“But, something happened to me at the end of last year that I can’t quite explain. And, that something led me to the concept of finding stillness within me. When I was trying to understand the whole thing better, I came across Kabat-Zinn’s work.”

“Since I wasn’t quite sure I’d be all for the mindfulness thing, I decided to read whatever was available from my local library. Thankfully, they had this concise version of one of his books. And, I’m glad I read it. I can’t wait to read more and to learn more. Of course, my mind still buzzes about – and I still struggle with the stillness. But, I am more aware of this concept, and I know I want to get to know it more and to see how it will work for me.”

Beginner’s Guide to Meditation

Yes, Meditation Should be Taught in Public School

How to Leverage the Power of Focus

From East to West

The interview from the notes for the CD:

1) Describe the relationship between yoga and meditation.

All forms of yoga are beginning stages of meditation. Even in deep meditation, there’s always going to be some input, some micro-movement in the body. Meditation is the observance of what’s going on both internally and externally

–without necessarily reacting to it. When we do the postures (in yoga), we are concentrating the mind within the body.

2) How do these facilitate meditation.

In this entire program we use yoga postures to go inward. The relaxation poses found here support the mind, the body and the nervous system to rest. All of these postures aid in meditation because when the mind relaxes and begins to get quiet, it becomes able to focus on the subtle movements inside the body. A lot of times people say, “When I sit down to meditate I can’t still my mind, my mind is all over the place.” And that is exactly why we do these postures first—because they settle the body, they settle the mind.

3) What is the importance of the breath?

The breath itself, as the yogas have sold for thousands of years, is the ruler of the mind and body. If you control the breath, in some sense you also control the state of your mind and the chemistry of the body. By making the breath smooth and easy, you’re going to create a quiet easy mind. Breath is what stills and quiets the mind so that meditation can take place, and the relaxation is a fundamental aspect of breath.

4) What is the best time of day for this practice?

While this program is done best in the morning, I believe many people can benefit from it at the end of the day as well. Morning is the time when you are the most quiet and the air is most pure (if you do these outdoors). Taking time for this package in the morning sends you out of the door feeling centered, present and relaxed. Everything you do is going to be enhanced by that. At the same time, at the end of the day, you’re often tired. You know you need rest, and you’re ready to place your body in positions that are good for it, that will remove the stresses of the day. To go from the asana practice into the breath work, and into meditation is the perfect segue to a peaceful, restful night.