Mindfulness Meditation

Take a moment right now to stop reading...think about what it is like to be fully aware - to feel silence and stillness.

This is ‘Mindfulness’. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing your mind on the present. To be mindful is to be aware of your thoughts and actions in the present, without being judgmental. Mindfulness meditation is a very simple type of meditation, and is similar in many ways to Zen and Buddhist meditation. Mindfulness was first taught in the East by Buddha over 2500 years ago; Buddha’s teachings didn’t reach the West much before the 1930s and didn’t move into the mainstream until the 1960s. However, it’s not necessary to become a Buddhist to benefit from Mindfulness. 

Mindfulness techniques are increasingly being employed in Western  psychology  and medicine to help alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions. 

A wonderfully engaging proponent of Mindful Mediation is internationally best-selling author, meditation teacher and scientist, Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn. He believes that practicing mindfulness can bring profound healing and transformation to your life. “Mindfulness is simple, but not easy”, says Jon Kabat Zinn and, say the experts, ‘takes a lifetime of practice’.

Bringing mindfulness to mainstream society is at the core of Jon Kabat Zinn's life's work. Take a look at this YouTube video of Jon Kabat-Zinn leading a session on Mindfulness at Google’s Campus. It’s informative, insightful, intelligent commentary and also funny in places.

Much of Jon Kabat Zinn’s research focuses on mind-body healing and the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on the brain, immune system and other areas of the body. He's trained people in all professions—from CEOs to Olympic athletes—to use mindfulness meditation to improve their lives.

Dr. Kabat-Zinn is the author of many books about mindful living, including Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness; Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness; Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life; and, the book currently on my bedside table, Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Myla Kabat-Zinn and Jon Kabat-Zinn.

 You'll find some Amazon recommendations, specific to Mindfulness Meditation, in the link below: