Jon Kabat-Zinn

[amb3542]

Yeah. It was. I didn't quite understand everything he was saying when I saw it but part of me was so drawn to how he explained it. I understood how mindless I really am about stuff. I didn't know it was possible to actually "work on" being more mindful and aware of your thoughts and surroundings. I read the chapter about "Mountain Meditation" today. I agreed with everything he said. It's crazy because I already meditated like that before I knew about it. The only difference is that I envision a tree instead of a mountain.

[JonW]

I know what you mean. There's a real sense of "coming home" for me with mindfulness. Without knowing about mindfulness until recently, I've always endeavoured to be mindful in my life but I lacked a formal structure. Of course it's the formal structure and the daily practice that is the crucial difference between aspiring to be mindful and actually living your life mindfully.

[Steve]

I'm looking forward to the talk by JKZ in London tomorrow evening

Steve

[JonW]

A talk? In London? Tomorrow? I'd give my left kidney to be there.
I knew he was over for non-public talks in Bangor but had no idea he was doing something in London.

[Steve]

Google eventbrite but I think it's fully booked

[JonW]

I'd love to have seen Kabat-Zinn's talk.
Just finished re-reading his Coming To Our Senses. Less talked-about than his earlier books but, for my money, it's his masterpiece. The perfect follow-up to any of the eight-week course books. It's priced quite reasonably on Amazon. A real door-stopper of a book. Consummately wise from start to finish. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Steve]

Yes, I've read several of his books and the prose just flows (and at the same time instils the ideas of mindfulness into you). However, as he said last night, you can read until you are blue in the face but you need to practice it to understand it.

It was great to see him in real life and he can just talk forever (he said he could talk all night - and I believe he could). No notes or anything it just flows (as it does in the videos you can find on the internet). I like the way he just stops and breathes when he is trying to turn his thoughts into an intelligible sentence (or maybe just when he's looking for the right word).

This website gives a good summary of the evening:

http://shamashalidina.com/2013/03/5-lif ... ness-guru/

I don't have any experience with this Shamash Alidina so can't offer any opinion on his free and paid online courses (although I think he is quite well known and has an impressive CV).

It was great to meditate with about a 1000 people and, as JKZ said, mindfulness is a way of being.

Steve

[Jackie_BoyJW]

Hi, guys,

This is my first post in the Forum. Delighted to be here!

I've been meditating now for a few years. I really admire Jon Kabat-Zinn. The way he speaks about Mindfulness is hypnotic.

I'm keen to purchase one of his books. I'm particularly interested, however, in buying some of his guided meditation recordings. Having spent some time searching today, I've been unable to decide on which to get! Does anyone out there have any recommendations for me?

Thanks!

Jack

[Gareth]

The book that kickstarted my mindfulness journey was "Wherever You Go, There you Are". It feels like such a long time ago that I read it. A lot has happened since then. I cannot exaggerate the positive impact that it has had on my life, though.

I know that Jon loves "Coming To Our Senses" too, but I've never read that one.

[Steve]

I've found all JKZ's books good. I started with Full Catastrophe Living as I believe the 8 week course is based on this (which I was taking at the time). Many others have liked the other books mentioned and these may be a little 'lighter' reading the Full Catastrophe so might be a good place to start.

John has a natural flow with his writing and it was similar when I heard him speak. He said he could probably talk all night - and I quite believe he could! May of his talks are also on Youtube and elsewhere so these might be worth looking at too.

Steve