Mindfulness
by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Can you ever get away from you?
Jon Kabat-Zinn started a stress reduction clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, teaching meditation to patients in pain. This book takes the practice to everyone else. Its title is the warning. Move city, change job, leave a partner, and your own mind comes along for the ride.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as paying attention in a particular way. On purpose, in the present moment, and without judging. Most of the time we run on automatic pilot, doing one thing while thinking about another. Mindfulness is waking up to what you're actually doing while you do it.
His simplest practice. Now and then, stop. Sit down, or stay standing, and notice your breathing and what's happening, just for a moment. It needn't be long. The point is to interrupt the rush, so you remember you're here before you carry on.
Kabat-Zinn's term for letting things be, without forcing them to go your way. It isn't laziness. You can work hard and still practise non-doing, by acting without straining after a result. In meditation it means sitting without trying to get anywhere at all.
Attention
Mindfulness is choosing to notice what's happening right now, without rating it good or bad.
Same you
A new house or a new job won't leave your mind behind. It comes with you.
Waves
Stress will keep coming. Practice won't stop it, but it helps you stay upright when it hits.
Non-doing
For a little while each day, stop trying to get anywhere and simply be here.
Patience
Be patient with yourself. Things unfold at their own pace.
A story from the book
Kabat-Zinn tells of a trap for monkeys. A banana sits inside a hollowed-out coconut, behind a hole just big enough for an open hand. The monkey grabs the banana, and its fist won't fit back out. It's free the moment it lets go, but it won't let go.
One thing to try
Pick one moment you meet every day, like waiting for the kettle. Each time this week, stop there and feel three breaths from start to finish. Notice your feet and whatever you're thinking. Then carry on. Kabat-Zinn calls this informal practice. It fits into the day you already have.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. Wherever You Go, There You Are comes with a Your Move story to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appCan you ever get away from you? Jon Kabat-Zinn started a stress reduction clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, teaching meditation to patients in pain. This book takes the practice to everyone else. Its title is the warning. Move city, change job, leave a partner, and your own mind comes along for the ride.
Paying attention on purpose; Stopping; Non-doing.
Pick one moment you meet every day, like waiting for the kettle. Each time this week, stop there and feel three breaths from start to finish. Notice your feet and whatever you're thinking. Then carry on. Kabat-Zinn calls this informal practice. It fits into the day you already have.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from Wherever You Go, There You Are in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Your Move story to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
