Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life

If you have tried to meditate only to discover that it's extremely difficult, this CD can get you going on the right path. If you are an experienced meditator, you may find this CD unnecessary. The package includes two CDs. In the first CD, the author starts by explaining what mindfulness is: "paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, as if you life depended on it, non-judgmentally". It explains how the mind is always busy thinking about one thing after another, incessantly. I have listened to this CD more than once, and every time I get something more out of it. In the second CD the author gives you several guided mindfulness exercises that allow you to quiet the mind in a progressive way. This is perhaps the most valuable aspect of this CD, that it guides you, through baby steps, down the path of meditation. The author leads you first to focus on a simple task: eating a raisin. As you discover that you can focus on that, the CD then takes you to focus on other things like sounds, and sounds only. As you do the sound exercises, you begin to witness your thoughts, how you judge the sounds, how you interpret the sounds and so forth. The last exercise is mindfulness as pure awareness. You no longer focus on anything but experience life by witnessing everything: sounds, thoughts, emotions, and anything else that comes in and out of your awareness. This step has the odd effect of giving you extreme peace of mind. I have bought other products by the same author: a book called "Wherever you go, there you are", "Coming to your senses" and a "Mindfulness Meditation" CD. I recommend getting the Mindfulness for Beginners first and if you find it useful, then read these other books and get the meditation CD. I have also bought several copies of this CD as a gift to friends and family, not everyone has taken to it, but those that have spent the time going through the exercises have told me that the exercises have helped them become more relaxed and "at ease in their own skin". On my end, mindfulness has completely turned around my life. I went from worrying about the future, worrying about what people thought of me, to enjoying life as it unfolds. Kabat Zinn was recommended to me by an organizational consultant that saw me stressed out worrying about my job and my life in general. Up until then, I had tried meditation multiple times by focusing on my breathing, but I failed miserably at it. When I started listening to this CD, I began to break through a wall of thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts, circling in my head. If you have been curious about meditating but struggled to do it, this CD can get you unstuck and on a journey of self discovery that will completely transform your life.

This set of CDs is a great introduction to mindfulness narrated by Jon-Kabat-Zinn who pioneered the use of it within a structured program for use in health services. The multidisciplinary approach used by the program which combines mindfulness and yoga has been replicated in many places. Kabat-Zinn's low key explanations are helpful and often soar with inspiration. In the introduction to his paper book with the same title he describes the first CD as having grown out of a series of lectures that he had given that in his words, "...described the practice of mindfulness and explained why it might be valuable to engage in its cultivation to begin with." There are ten tracks totaling about an hour of recording. Please note that it is not a recorded version of the paper book with the same title. It is an excellent alternative for folks who might not have the time or inclination to sit down and read but who might have the time to listen while doing something like driving. The second CD has 5 guided meditations, each ranging from 10 to 18 minutes long. His gentle, knowledgeable directions are terrific signposts leading into a daily practice. I think it would be helpful to beginners as well as to seasoned practitioners. The paper book of the same title is a very helpful companion guide. It is written in very short chapters, most are two to three pages, that could be read before or after a meditation as a short reflection. The 166 page book can lead one much deeper into the practice and can serve as a steadying hand as the entrant navigates their way into finding a space for mindfulness in often demanding schedules. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in mindfulness.

I recently graduated with a Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. During my studies, I came upon two concepts that piqued my interest for further study. One being Positive Psychology and the other Mindfulness. As I was reading Mindfulness by Shapiro, Jon Kabat-Zinn's name kept coming up, so I bought the CD. The package contains two CD's. Disk one is lecture format where Kabat-Zinn explains the basics of mindfulness. His conversational tone is easy on the ears. I appreciate the way he dispels myths about Budhism and other beliefs about mindfulness. Disk two is a series of mindfulness exercises that one can practice. At first I felt a bit silly trying them, but then as time went on, grew more comfortable progressing through them. (The first exercise has you examining a raisin and eating it. I don't like raisins so I substitued chocolate covered peanuts). I highly recommend the CD for those wishing to engage in the practice of mindfulness and/or those, who like myself, may be exploring the possibility of using it as a technique in clinical practice.

An excellent introduction to mindfulness from someone trained in Buddhism and psychology. Jon Kabat-Zinn provides practical assistance in mindfulness. Dd

I have been looking for a way to explain mindful meditation to my deeply religious friends, who, here in the southeast, tend to put up a wall against anything they think may be asking them to challenge their faith in the Lord. Of course, one cannot speak of mindfulness meditation without mentioning the Buddha, and Kabat-Zinn does so by placing him in the context of the great thinkers, e.g., Einstein, Newton, who have innovated ideas of such profundity that they dramatically altered our understanding of what's going on here. This is a wonderful cd for that. However, it is based significantly in an intellectual discussion and requires full attention and replaying it over and over to understand everything he is saying here. In that regard, it is exactly what I had been looking for. I prefer it, as well, to Jack Kornfield's Meditation for Beginners . Kornfield places more emphasis on the spirituality of mindfulness. My thought is that the practice of mindfulness will deepen one's spirituality. It's the direction of the causal arrow. I pursue mindfulness because of its practical applicability to my daily life. As a consequence, my spirituality is deepened. This is opposed to the causal arrow going the other way: I want to deepen my spirituality and took up Buddhist practices, and got the practical benefits of mindful meditation as a consequence. It's the same door, I suppose, but it's how the door looks, say, to a devout Christian. One looks like the door to a tool shed, the other looks like a forbidden door to to some alien mysticism. Thinking that a Christian will find the first door less intimidating or threatening, I prefer to turn my Christian friends onto the benefits of mindful mediation by handing them the Kabat-Zinn cd and saying, "This will make you a better Christian," which it will. Jack Kornfield's approach injects a little more of the spiritual aspect up front. He even tells of a cartoon he saw one time where this fellow was walking down the sidewalk with a sandwich board which said, "Jesus is coming soon." There was a little fellow behind him with a sign that said, "Buddha here now." My Christian friends would find that offensive and they would turn away from mindfulness because of its being a perceived threat to their spirituality. Whereas Kornfield comes to it from his training as a Buddhist monk, Kabat-Zinn comes at it from his training as a scientist. If you prefer the more spiritual approach, then go with Kornfield. If you prefer the more deeply intellectual approach, go with Kabat-Zinn. By using these terms to describe the different approaches, by no means do I disparage either one. I understand that by my stating my preference for Kabat-Zinn, it could feel as if I am speaking against Kornfield. I am not. They both lead to the same place, and both will be very very good at helping you get there.

I purchased my copy as a new paperback through Amazon Prime, from this webpage, which notes in product title: Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment and Your Life(Book & CD)). I think the book will be very interesting, but I expressly wanted the CD because I have a CD player in the room where I wanted to set up my meditation practice. Well, as the back cover and table of contents of the book itself confirms, and some other reviewers noted, resources are online only. I had asked the question on the buyers' Q&A, and had a reply that yes it did come with a CD... but I really should have waited for a reply from the current edition's shipper. Lesson learned.

In the introduction to Mindfulness for Beginners (p.4) Jon Kabat-Zinn tells us he has covered material on mindfulness in greater detail in other books such as Full Catastrophe Living. But as anyone who has read FCL knows, that's a big thick book which was published enough years ago that a fair bit of it had to focus on justifying meditation and mindfulness as a worthwhile endeavor. In Mindfulness for Beginners, JKZ assumes you know the value of bringing greater awareness into your life, allowing him to focus on inspiration and instructions. The book is not presented like a conventional "Intro to Meditation" with a first you do step A and then B. Rather, there are many short entries, that introduce one to mindfulness in a gradual way with the understanding you will use the enclosed guided meditation CD. While initially slightly disoriented by this, when you think about it, this is a more real-life way to learn mindfulness techniques as life doesn't usually work in a Step A-Step B way--especially for something as encompassing as greater awareness (JKZ wisely emphasizes the importance of not restricting increased awareness to the meditation bench or cushion). The greatest strength of the book is Jon Kabat-Zinn himself. I once had the great pleasure to talk to him one-on-one. Within a very short time he made me feel very comfortable and as though he had all the time in the world for me. Despite his renown as a meditation teacher and author, he was very down-to-earth. There was nothing of the aloof meditation teacher about him. That warm and realness comes through in this book. He never puts ideology ahead of effectiveness. This is why he is such a great teacher. Almost all of us can benefit from what he has to offer.

One of the best books you can read to truly understand mindfulness and being present. Most of the more than 100 chapters are 1 or 2 pages long filled with insights and wisdom into the nature of mindful presence. John points out many of the practical struggles of being aware. Although supposedly written for beginners this book is a valuable guide for anyone desiring to get free from the mind and transform your experience of life.

this book guided beginner like me to start praticing meditation. Not only tell the story under the scope science but also very easy-to-understand concept. especially the 7 fundamentals characteristics.

Der Autor schafft mit dem Buch für mich eine großartige Basis. Die Meditationspraxis mit dem richtigen "Mindset" anzugehen finde ich essentiell. Genau dafür bietet das Buch für mich die bisher erste beste Grundlage die ich bisher gelesen habe. Im Nachhinein gesehen hätte ich hiermit als erstes beginnen sollen. Dann erst als zweiten Schritt die Bücher von z.B. Eckhart Tolle. Das Buch ist für den Einsteiger verständlicher und man bekommt nicht den Eindruck von Esoterik den manch andere Bücher aus dem Genre verursachen können wenn man noch keine Erfahrung mit Meditation hat. Die Kapitel sind oft sehr kurz. Sie eignen sich hervorragend zum kurz lesen und dann Reflektieren. So entfalten Sie bei mir ihre volle Aussagekraft.

When I'm looking for a new book, I always make a research for the BEST authors in that field, and read their curricullums, and with Jon Kabat-Zinn I Did the same. Fortunately, the book totally shows the wide experience that the author has in mindfulness. I would recommend this book for you, and I'm sure you should try mindfulness at least one time in your life, no matter what you do, what kind of problems you have, Mindfulness can help you making your mind works better, helping you to solve any kind of tough issue in your life. Good lucky! if you arer reading this post, I deserve you all the best tracking your path trough mindfulness.

The title suggests it as an absolute beginners book.But it actually makes more sense after getting some introduction from other soures.It is still a very good second book to read.I had my introduction from Dan Harris's 10% Happier app.The introduction from Joseph Goldstein makes you understand the world of meditation really well.But after you get some idea, this book becomes an amazing read, particularly because you would have experienced everything Dr.Zinn mentions.And it would then certainly create enough motivation for sustainig practice. His experience really comes to play here because everything he says is quite accurate about how you would havefelt.

Jon Kabat-Zinn illustra con la precisione scientifica di un medico e la passione di un praticante buddista il modo per avvicinarsi alla meditazione consapevole. Un libro fondamentale per avviare la propria pratica di meditazione, ricco di consigli utili e completo di file audio con alcuni esempi di meditazioni guidate.