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Coming to Our Senses
Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness
Come to your senses with the definitive guide to living a meaningful life from a world expert in the connection between mindfulness and physical and spiritual wellbeing.
"[The] journey toward health and sanity is nothing less than an invitation to wake up to the fullness of our lives as if they actually mattered . . ." --Jon Kabat-Zinn, from the Introduction
Jon Kabat-Zinn changed the way we thought about awareness in everyday life with his now-classic introduction to mindfulness, Wherever You Go, There You Are . Now, with Coming to Our Senses , he provides the definitive book for our time on the connection between mindfulness and our physical and spiritual wellbeing. With scientific rigor, poetic deftness, and compelling personal stories, Jon Kabat-Zinn examines the mysteries and marvels of our minds and bodies, describing simple, intuitive ways in which we can come to a deeper understanding, through our senses, of our beauty, our genius, and our life path in a complicated, fear-driven, and rapidly changing world.
In each of the book's eight parts, Jon Kabat-Zinn explores another facet of the great adventure of healing ourselves -- and our world -- through mindful awareness, with a focus on the "sensescapes" of our lives and how a more intentional awareness of the senses, including the human mind itself, allows us to live more fully and more authentically. By "coming to our senses" -- both literally and metaphorically by opening to our innate connectedness with the world around us and within us -- we can become more compassionate, more embodied, more aware human beings, and in the process, contribute to the healing of the body politic as well as our own lives in ways both little and big.
"[The] journey toward health and sanity is nothing less than an invitation to wake up to the fullness of our lives as if they actually mattered . . ." --Jon Kabat-Zinn, from the Introduction
Jon Kabat-Zinn changed the way we thought about awareness in everyday life with his now-classic introduction to mindfulness, Wherever You Go, There You Are . Now, with Coming to Our Senses , he provides the definitive book for our time on the connection between mindfulness and our physical and spiritual wellbeing. With scientific rigor, poetic deftness, and compelling personal stories, Jon Kabat-Zinn examines the mysteries and marvels of our minds and bodies, describing simple, intuitive ways in which we can come to a deeper understanding, through our senses, of our beauty, our genius, and our life path in a complicated, fear-driven, and rapidly changing world.
In each of the book's eight parts, Jon Kabat-Zinn explores another facet of the great adventure of healing ourselves -- and our world -- through mindful awareness, with a focus on the "sensescapes" of our lives and how a more intentional awareness of the senses, including the human mind itself, allows us to live more fully and more authentically. By "coming to our senses" -- both literally and metaphorically by opening to our innate connectedness with the world around us and within us -- we can become more compassionate, more embodied, more aware human beings, and in the process, contribute to the healing of the body politic as well as our own lives in ways both little and big.
656 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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5987 people want to read
About the author
Jon Kabat-Zinn
202books2,023followersJon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., is founding Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also the founding director of its renowned Stress Reduction Clinic and Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He teaches mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in various venues around the world. He received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from MIT in 1971 in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate, Salvador Luria.
He is the author of numerous scientific papers on the clinical applications of mindfulness in medicine and health care, and of a number of books for the lay public: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness (Delta, 1991); Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Hyperion, 1994); Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness (Hyperion, 2005); and Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness (Hyperion, 2007). He is also co-author, with his wife Myla, of Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting (Hyperion, 1997); and with Williams, Teasdale, and Segal, of The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness (Guilford, 2007). Overall, his books have been translated into over 30 languages.
His major research interests have focused on mind/body interactions for healing, clinical applications of mindfulness meditation training, the effects of MBSR on the brain, on the immune system, and on healthy emotional expression while under stress; on healing (skin clearing rates) in people with psoriasis; on patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation; with prison inmates and staff; in multicultural settings; and on stress in various corporate settings and work environments. His work in the Stress Reduction Clinic was featured in Bill Moyers� PBS Special, “Healing and the Mind� and in the book of the same title, as well as on Good Morning America, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and NPR. It has contributed to a growing movement of mindfulness into mainstream institutions such as medicine, and psychology, health care and hospitals, schools, corporations, the legal profession, prisons, and professional sports.
He has trained groups of CEOs, judges, members of the clergy, and Olympic athletes (the 1984 Olympic Men’s Rowing Team) and congressional staff in mindfulness. The Stress Reduction Clinic has served as the model for mindfulness-based clinical intervention programs at over 200 medical centers and clinics nation-wide and abroad.
Dr. Kabat-Zinn has received numerous awards over the span of his career. He is a founding fellow of the Fetzer Institute, and a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. He received the Interface Foundation Career Achievement Award, and the New York Open Center’s Tenth Year Anniversary Achievement in Medicine and Health Award (1994); the Art, Science, and Soul of Healing Award from the Institute for Health and Healing, California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco (1998); the 2nd Annual Trailblazer Award for “pioneering work in the field of integrative medicine� from the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in La Jolla, California (2001); the Distinguished Friend Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (2005), and an Inaugural Pioneer in Integrative Medicine Award from the Bravewell Philanthropic Collaborative for Integrative Medicine (2007).
He is the founding convener of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, and serves on the Board of the Mind and Life Institute, a group that organizes dialogues between the Dalai Lama and Western scientists to promote deeper understanding of different ways of knowing and probing the nature of mind, emotions, and reality. He was co-program chair of the 2005 Mind and Life Dialogue: The Clinical Appl
He is the author of numerous scientific papers on the clinical applications of mindfulness in medicine and health care, and of a number of books for the lay public: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness (Delta, 1991); Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Hyperion, 1994); Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness (Hyperion, 2005); and Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness (Hyperion, 2007). He is also co-author, with his wife Myla, of Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting (Hyperion, 1997); and with Williams, Teasdale, and Segal, of The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness (Guilford, 2007). Overall, his books have been translated into over 30 languages.
His major research interests have focused on mind/body interactions for healing, clinical applications of mindfulness meditation training, the effects of MBSR on the brain, on the immune system, and on healthy emotional expression while under stress; on healing (skin clearing rates) in people with psoriasis; on patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation; with prison inmates and staff; in multicultural settings; and on stress in various corporate settings and work environments. His work in the Stress Reduction Clinic was featured in Bill Moyers� PBS Special, “Healing and the Mind� and in the book of the same title, as well as on Good Morning America, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and NPR. It has contributed to a growing movement of mindfulness into mainstream institutions such as medicine, and psychology, health care and hospitals, schools, corporations, the legal profession, prisons, and professional sports.
He has trained groups of CEOs, judges, members of the clergy, and Olympic athletes (the 1984 Olympic Men’s Rowing Team) and congressional staff in mindfulness. The Stress Reduction Clinic has served as the model for mindfulness-based clinical intervention programs at over 200 medical centers and clinics nation-wide and abroad.
Dr. Kabat-Zinn has received numerous awards over the span of his career. He is a founding fellow of the Fetzer Institute, and a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. He received the Interface Foundation Career Achievement Award, and the New York Open Center’s Tenth Year Anniversary Achievement in Medicine and Health Award (1994); the Art, Science, and Soul of Healing Award from the Institute for Health and Healing, California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco (1998); the 2nd Annual Trailblazer Award for “pioneering work in the field of integrative medicine� from the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in La Jolla, California (2001); the Distinguished Friend Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (2005), and an Inaugural Pioneer in Integrative Medicine Award from the Bravewell Philanthropic Collaborative for Integrative Medicine (2007).
He is the founding convener of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, and serves on the Board of the Mind and Life Institute, a group that organizes dialogues between the Dalai Lama and Western scientists to promote deeper understanding of different ways of knowing and probing the nature of mind, emotions, and reality. He was co-program chair of the 2005 Mind and Life Dialogue: The Clinical Appl
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
December 29, 2012
This book describes mindfulness - a practice for paying careful attention to the present moment and using meditation to focus that attention - and its potential benefits, from nearly every angle. I'd recommend it highly for those already interested, and at least somewhat versed, in mindfulness. For those with little interest or experience, large sections of the book might come across as lofty, verbose and too conceptual to help ground their mindfulness practice. That might just be my personal experience speaking (well, what else do I have?); I picked up mindfulness practice from another book that put everything into very relatable steps, and I read this book to deepen my understanding.
"Coming to Our Senses" is a very thorough exploration of what mindfulness means - and what human sentience means. At its best, the book presents intriguing evidence of mindfulness benefits, such as scientific research documenting health improvements that seem to stem from practicing mindfulness. The book also describes vividly the unique pleasures of practicing mindfulness, down to things as simple as feeling the air move over one's skin. At its lamest, the book makes vague and sweeping claims about how mindfulness could benefit things like national governance, sometimes presenting little supporting evidence or clarity on what claims it's making.
If I had to say one thing about author Jon Kabat-Zinn, I would call his mind impressively expansive, both in the directions of reductionism and holism. He can relate mindfulness to anything, from personal life and poetry to molecular processes, physics and the origins of the universe. The book has a second level, I think: Beyond what Kabat-Zinn writes, he himself is a great example of how to be mindful: allowing one's awareness to roam and find what it will (with varying degrees of control, and with the open-hearted engagement needed to really follow what it's doing), and allow whatever the mind finds to present itself, judging it as little as possible so even "negative" things can be instructive.
My main criticism is that Kabat-Zinn could distill his lengthy explorations (and run-on sentences) into something a little sharper - the book is over 600 pages and is often repetitive. The author has, however, written short books and more basic ones - so his constructively wandering mind has gone there too.
"Coming to Our Senses" is a very thorough exploration of what mindfulness means - and what human sentience means. At its best, the book presents intriguing evidence of mindfulness benefits, such as scientific research documenting health improvements that seem to stem from practicing mindfulness. The book also describes vividly the unique pleasures of practicing mindfulness, down to things as simple as feeling the air move over one's skin. At its lamest, the book makes vague and sweeping claims about how mindfulness could benefit things like national governance, sometimes presenting little supporting evidence or clarity on what claims it's making.
If I had to say one thing about author Jon Kabat-Zinn, I would call his mind impressively expansive, both in the directions of reductionism and holism. He can relate mindfulness to anything, from personal life and poetry to molecular processes, physics and the origins of the universe. The book has a second level, I think: Beyond what Kabat-Zinn writes, he himself is a great example of how to be mindful: allowing one's awareness to roam and find what it will (with varying degrees of control, and with the open-hearted engagement needed to really follow what it's doing), and allow whatever the mind finds to present itself, judging it as little as possible so even "negative" things can be instructive.
My main criticism is that Kabat-Zinn could distill his lengthy explorations (and run-on sentences) into something a little sharper - the book is over 600 pages and is often repetitive. The author has, however, written short books and more basic ones - so his constructively wandering mind has gone there too.
February 12, 2010
Compared with "Full Catastrophe Living" (by the same author), this one wasn't as seminal for me; however, the very brief, almost stream-of-consciousness chapters in this one allow the author to touch on a lot of topics linked with mindfulness, and helped reinforce the need for us to connect to what we are going through now, moment by moment and breath by breath, rather than fixating on the past or the future all the time or dwelling in a "virtual" reality. Some chapters were particularly great; others just so-so, but all in all it was a great mix of wisdom with occasional poetry thrown in, zen quotes and more. Sometimes it seemed too "granola" to me, but overall a worthwhile book. To really absorb the thoughts here, it takes a long to read the book (hard to skim). I really admire this author though.
October 20, 2024
I thought this book might help me but other than simple meditative chapters, I felt there was no substantive approach other than trying to be more mindful. I gave up about halfway through.
February 2, 2012
This is an in depth book about the history, development and experience and effect of meditation. It isn't about religion although the development of meditation is an integral part of the religious tradition in East and therefore always present.
Kabat-Zinn covered the physical/medical benefits of meditation on stress in his earlier book, . This was the text for a course I took on the practice of meditation for stress management some years ago. My personal experience meshes well with the description in that volume. Since then, I've discovered that meditation is impressively well-established as a tool for patient care.
However, mindfulness-based meditation leads to other changes in the practitioner. The most obvious is the ability to maintain a thoughtful and calm approach towards crisis. For myself, I would say this is a more mature development as a result of the practice. As the practice de-stresses you physically, you learn to regard the daily minutia of your life, not as sources of worry, pain or calamity but as challenges that can be met after due consideration. This volume - "Coming to our Senses" is for those of us who have just reached this point in our practice. The chapters in the book are actually essays (some short, some by no means short) on different aspects of the meditative experience - useful as guides for those who practice. But the philosophy that drove the development of mediation in Eastern religions is also present. Mindfulness-based stress management is based on an integrated approach towards your life; balancing your physical and mental needs with the expectations of the outside world. Coming to our Senses espouses the view that the "full catastrophe lifestyle" philosophy is driving our world, leading to short-sighted approaches in the way we care for our families, our community, our world. Kabat-Zinn writes extensively on a more integrated approach using the philosophical principles drawn from the Eastern religions and exposits a new approach in politics, medicine, our institutions and communities. Given short-sightedness is my major complaint about politicians, I cannot disagree.
Kabat-Zinn's writing is eloquent but not necessarily easy to assimilate. The book is very long and will take several readings for full comprehension. I often wondered as I approached the end of a chapter what his point was. Sometimes the chapter was so long, I wondered what the beginning of the chapter was :-) Clearly, a good careful editor could have improved the book. But to be fair, after reviewing the high quality of the writing, it would have been difficult to find an editor who could have advised Kabat-Zinn on just how to shorten the development without touching his prose.
Kabat-Zinn covered the physical/medical benefits of meditation on stress in his earlier book, . This was the text for a course I took on the practice of meditation for stress management some years ago. My personal experience meshes well with the description in that volume. Since then, I've discovered that meditation is impressively well-established as a tool for patient care.
However, mindfulness-based meditation leads to other changes in the practitioner. The most obvious is the ability to maintain a thoughtful and calm approach towards crisis. For myself, I would say this is a more mature development as a result of the practice. As the practice de-stresses you physically, you learn to regard the daily minutia of your life, not as sources of worry, pain or calamity but as challenges that can be met after due consideration. This volume - "Coming to our Senses" is for those of us who have just reached this point in our practice. The chapters in the book are actually essays (some short, some by no means short) on different aspects of the meditative experience - useful as guides for those who practice. But the philosophy that drove the development of mediation in Eastern religions is also present. Mindfulness-based stress management is based on an integrated approach towards your life; balancing your physical and mental needs with the expectations of the outside world. Coming to our Senses espouses the view that the "full catastrophe lifestyle" philosophy is driving our world, leading to short-sighted approaches in the way we care for our families, our community, our world. Kabat-Zinn writes extensively on a more integrated approach using the philosophical principles drawn from the Eastern religions and exposits a new approach in politics, medicine, our institutions and communities. Given short-sightedness is my major complaint about politicians, I cannot disagree.
Kabat-Zinn's writing is eloquent but not necessarily easy to assimilate. The book is very long and will take several readings for full comprehension. I often wondered as I approached the end of a chapter what his point was. Sometimes the chapter was so long, I wondered what the beginning of the chapter was :-) Clearly, a good careful editor could have improved the book. But to be fair, after reviewing the high quality of the writing, it would have been difficult to find an editor who could have advised Kabat-Zinn on just how to shorten the development without touching his prose.
November 20, 2018
You make problem = you have problem. Tā tas prāts strādā.
Reizēm gribu sev pajautāt, cik vēl ievadus un instrukcijas par apzinātību un meditāciju es lasīšu? Nu, cik vajadzēs, tik lasīšu; cik nāks, tik lasīšu. Pa pilienam vien saslēdzas - aptveras. Vārdi ar nozīmi piepildās; vārdi ar nozīmi par sajūtām pārvēršas; sajūtas darbībās iemiesojas; darbošanās bez vārdiem un mērķiem par būšanu kļūst.
Viena * nost, jo audio versija bija saīsināta.
Reizēm gribu sev pajautāt, cik vēl ievadus un instrukcijas par apzinātību un meditāciju es lasīšu? Nu, cik vajadzēs, tik lasīšu; cik nāks, tik lasīšu. Pa pilienam vien saslēdzas - aptveras. Vārdi ar nozīmi piepildās; vārdi ar nozīmi par sajūtām pārvēršas; sajūtas darbībās iemiesojas; darbošanās bez vārdiem un mērķiem par būšanu kļūst.
Viena * nost, jo audio versija bija saīsināta.
October 28, 2023
You are already it. It is already here. Here is already everywhere, and now is already always.
Now is already the future and it is already here. Now is the future of the previous moment just past, and the future of all those moments that were before that one.
Wake up! This is it. You have already turned out.
Now is already the future and it is already here. Now is the future of the previous moment just past, and the future of all those moments that were before that one.
Wake up! This is it. You have already turned out.
August 7, 2018
Abridged audiobook version of 3h 9 min read very well by the author himself. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s words are wise and his voice is soothing. Lay back, close your eyes and enjoy.
August 30, 2020
Mindfulness leader Jon Kabat-Zinn explores the ways mindfulness helps one's physical and mental health.
September 30, 2021
I liked the Jon Kabat~Zinn’s “Full Catastrophe Living�, but I tried and failed to get through this one (twice). Too much stream of consciousness writing diverts from any meaningful content.
April 1, 2023
1/5 ⭐️
May 4, 2024
Whew! This is a lot of book. Sticking with the many complexities it illustrated about mindfulness and its impacts on the body, health, and our world felt like a meditation practice in and of itself!
But this is a must read if you have an interest in meditation and/or the human senses and how mindfulness practice is essential for today's world. Dense as the material is, I'm grateful for Kabat-Zinn's short chapters, which made the material much easier to absorb. I also appreciated the many, many real life examples of mindfulness put into practice, especially from a medical sense.
Wide ranging study on full awareness and its impacts on now as well as future generations of our planet. Just know, this is a slow read because of how much dang information is in here! But I've come away with a lot to think about.
But this is a must read if you have an interest in meditation and/or the human senses and how mindfulness practice is essential for today's world. Dense as the material is, I'm grateful for Kabat-Zinn's short chapters, which made the material much easier to absorb. I also appreciated the many, many real life examples of mindfulness put into practice, especially from a medical sense.
Wide ranging study on full awareness and its impacts on now as well as future generations of our planet. Just know, this is a slow read because of how much dang information is in here! But I've come away with a lot to think about.
November 4, 2015
According to my ŷ page, I began reading this over a year ago. It is the type of book you read a little at a time, and maybe apply some of what your reading. I have the utmost respect for Jon Kabat-Zinn; I’ve referenced him about a million times, he’s pretty much the foremost American authority on Mindfulness. I fell in love with the first book of his I read, “Wherever You Go, There You Are�. That’ll always be one of my top recommended books for mindfulness and meditation.
With this book, I felt like Kabat-Zinn wanted to cover everything needed to change the world. One of my clients, in reading a different book of Kabat-Zinn’s, (Full Catastrophe Living) and felt it was too long. I felt similarly about this book, though I get it; he’s trying to lay down a plan for each individual to change him or herself, and the world. It’s over 600 pages, though most chapters are short. Still, it can be a little overwhelming, and there were times I just wanted to be done with it.
Kabat-Zinn can be a bit verbose, though his writing can be poetic at times. I also enjoyed the quotes from other writers that he builds upon. But at times, I felt, “okay, I get the point�. Yet the analogies kept going.
I don’t wish to be overly harsh, as I said, I have the utmost respect for his expertise. And, to be fair, this volume is full of knowledge, expertise, and suggestions to help one become more mindful. I just wish it had been more to the point.
With this book, I felt like Kabat-Zinn wanted to cover everything needed to change the world. One of my clients, in reading a different book of Kabat-Zinn’s, (Full Catastrophe Living) and felt it was too long. I felt similarly about this book, though I get it; he’s trying to lay down a plan for each individual to change him or herself, and the world. It’s over 600 pages, though most chapters are short. Still, it can be a little overwhelming, and there were times I just wanted to be done with it.
Kabat-Zinn can be a bit verbose, though his writing can be poetic at times. I also enjoyed the quotes from other writers that he builds upon. But at times, I felt, “okay, I get the point�. Yet the analogies kept going.
I don’t wish to be overly harsh, as I said, I have the utmost respect for his expertise. And, to be fair, this volume is full of knowledge, expertise, and suggestions to help one become more mindful. I just wish it had been more to the point.
November 13, 2011
Jon Kabat-Zinn implores the reader to take a step back from their everyday life and notice the world around them, in his book, "Coming to Our Senses." The text is an intimidating 609 pages, however, the author breaks the book into eight independent sections guided by their specific didactic intents. Teaching lessons about meditation, mindfulness, and present moment awareness; Kabat-Zinn has provided us a textbook for improving our everyday experience of life naturally and immediately. What I really enjoyed about this book, as a reader and a writer, is how the author included specific anecdotes and stories that related perfectly with the main topic of its section. If the reader does not have enough time to finish an entire section, they can conveniently read a single anecdote, most of which are only a few pages long and full of meaningful information. This book has certainly been beneficial to me and my life.
July 25, 2011
Kabat-Zinn has brought East and West together in his remarkable career. He shares his work from the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre which has established the ability of mindfulness training to reduce pain and improve wellbeing in many different medical conditions. He explains how simple mindfulness exercises can for example speed up the healing of psoriatic plaques. He describes the process by which CBT psychotherapists come to him for direction on incorporating mindfulness into CBT for depression, a process which has recently shown impressive results. Kabat-Zinn's writing is captivating and mesmerizing and this book takes longer to get through because the point, of course, is to try these techniques yourself. I have to say I am intrigued... The book kind of drags on towards the end, but I remain a fan.
August 7, 2013
I adore JKZ. I needed this book! I was lucky to attend a workshop on "mindfulness and education" in which JKZ was one of the instructors, and this book was recommended reading, which is why I got it. I highly recommend it for its introduction to the importance of mindfulness, and for JKZ's views on things. I will try to elaborate later, as I found this book so meaningful to me that I am finding it hard to summarize.
Oh, and the book is good for the poetry alone -- he often puts a poem in between chapters, and some of them really struck me, both relevant and beautiful.
There was so much depth in this book, for me, that I hope/plan to re-read the entire thing again.
Oh, and the book is good for the poetry alone -- he often puts a poem in between chapters, and some of them really struck me, both relevant and beautiful.
There was so much depth in this book, for me, that I hope/plan to re-read the entire thing again.
December 19, 2012
How can you not appreciate Jon Kabat-Zinn? He opened the stress-reduction clinic in 1979 based on mindfulness practice. I read Full Catastrophe Living years ago, and this book is a great companion and expansion of what Kabat-Zinn has learned in the interim years. I'd like to require this in a poetry writing class, not just because JKZ knows and quote poetry, but because poetry is about coming to your senses.
Pay attention. To yourself. To the soundscape, the touchscape, the sightscape, tastescape, smellscape, and mindscape.
Pay attention. To yourself. To the soundscape, the touchscape, the sightscape, tastescape, smellscape, and mindscape.
November 20, 2020
So good. So many wonderful messages about our human capability to heal and grow. Jon Kabat-Zinn is long winded. He seems to repeat himself quite a bit but it is always to drive home points and perspectives I don't feel we area hearing often enough. He rights in a way that feels very accessible to me. He makes mindfulness feel totally applicable to everyday life no matter where you are or what is taking place. I felt each page held gifts of healing and comfort. I read this a year after loosing my father unexpectedly and it was soothing balm to my soul.
April 28, 2009
I didn't like the style of writing of this book - almost every paragraph contained sentences that ran on and on and on and on, expressing the same idea over and over and over and over.
I think the idea of this book is good, but I didn't actually make it all the way through the book - it was driving me crazy (not conducive to mindfulness at all!)
May 8, 2013
If you want to learn all about meditation in one book, this is for you. Short chapters and definitely written for people new to meditation. Given that I am not new to meditation ... and it's a VERY thick book ... and a bit repetitive ... I didn't finish it. What can I say ... so many other books, so little time.
May 15, 2013
In my humble, opinion, many of the chapters are as powerful and thought provoking as any Kabat-Zinn I have read. Many chapters are more theoretical ruminations or metaphors. This is definitely not the book to begin learning the basics of mindfulness. BUT, do go back and mine for the nuggets when you understand more than the basics.
September 30, 2013
Not my favorite by one of my favorite authors. So many good messages, but too long to get the messages across to all but the devoted.
July 31, 2012
Too many words that get in the way. The path to mindfulness is surely less verbose than this.
September 22, 2018
To me this book is like the Tao te Ching but 500 pages longer. What can I tell you? If you're dense like me sometimes you need the longer explanation. Heehee!
July 30, 2023
The adventure that the universe of mindfulness offers is one possible avenue into dimensions of your being that may have perhaps gone ignored and unattended or denied for too long.
A long, wordy masterclass in mindfulness. So I loved it but it was also a lot. Of. Words.
The Buddha once said that the core message of all his teachings—he taught continually for over forty-five years—could be summed up in one sentence:
Nothing is to be clung to as I, me, or mine. In other words, no attachments. Especially to fixed ideas of yourself and who you are.
How we manage to see ourselves and the world at this juncture will make a huge difference in the way things unfold. What emerges for us as individuals and as a society in future moments will be shaped in large measure by whether and how we make use of our innate and incomparable capacity for awareness in this moment. It will be shaped by what we choose to do to heal the underlying distress, dissatisfaction and outright dis-ease of our lives and of our times, even as we nourish and protect all that is good?
It is difficult to speak of the timeless beauty and richness of the present moment when things are moving so fast. But the faster things move, the more important it is for us to dip into or even inhabit the timeless. Otherwise, we can lose touch with dimensions of our humanity that make all the difference between happiness and misery, between wisdom and folly, between well-being and the erosive turmoil in the mind, in the body, and in the world that we will be referring to as “dis-ease.� Because our discontent truly is a disease, even when it does not appear as such. Sometimes we colloquially refer to those kinds of feelings and conditions, to that “dis-ease� we feel so much of the time, as “stress.� It is usually painful. It weighs on us. And it always carries a feeling of underlying dissatisfaction.
Every time we become self-absorbed, we get better at becoming self-absorbed and going unconscious. Every time we get anxious, we get better at being anxious. Practice does make perfect. Without awareness of anger or of self-absorption, or ennui, or any other mind state that can take us over when it arises, we reinforce those synaptic networks within the nervous system that underlie our conditioned behaviors and mindless habits, and from which it becomes increasingly difficult to disentangle ourselves, if we are even aware of what is happening. Each moment missed is a moment unlived. Each moment missed makes it more likely I will miss the next moment, and live through it cloaked in mindless habits of automaticity of thinking, feeling, and doing rather than living in, out of, and through awareness.
I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing. And nothing happens! Nothing � Silence � Waves � —Nothing happens? Or has everything happened, and we are standing now, quietly, in the new life?
JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ, “Oceans� Translated by Robert Bly
A long, wordy masterclass in mindfulness. So I loved it but it was also a lot. Of. Words.
The Buddha once said that the core message of all his teachings—he taught continually for over forty-five years—could be summed up in one sentence:
Nothing is to be clung to as I, me, or mine. In other words, no attachments. Especially to fixed ideas of yourself and who you are.
How we manage to see ourselves and the world at this juncture will make a huge difference in the way things unfold. What emerges for us as individuals and as a society in future moments will be shaped in large measure by whether and how we make use of our innate and incomparable capacity for awareness in this moment. It will be shaped by what we choose to do to heal the underlying distress, dissatisfaction and outright dis-ease of our lives and of our times, even as we nourish and protect all that is good?
It is difficult to speak of the timeless beauty and richness of the present moment when things are moving so fast. But the faster things move, the more important it is for us to dip into or even inhabit the timeless. Otherwise, we can lose touch with dimensions of our humanity that make all the difference between happiness and misery, between wisdom and folly, between well-being and the erosive turmoil in the mind, in the body, and in the world that we will be referring to as “dis-ease.� Because our discontent truly is a disease, even when it does not appear as such. Sometimes we colloquially refer to those kinds of feelings and conditions, to that “dis-ease� we feel so much of the time, as “stress.� It is usually painful. It weighs on us. And it always carries a feeling of underlying dissatisfaction.
Every time we become self-absorbed, we get better at becoming self-absorbed and going unconscious. Every time we get anxious, we get better at being anxious. Practice does make perfect. Without awareness of anger or of self-absorption, or ennui, or any other mind state that can take us over when it arises, we reinforce those synaptic networks within the nervous system that underlie our conditioned behaviors and mindless habits, and from which it becomes increasingly difficult to disentangle ourselves, if we are even aware of what is happening. Each moment missed is a moment unlived. Each moment missed makes it more likely I will miss the next moment, and live through it cloaked in mindless habits of automaticity of thinking, feeling, and doing rather than living in, out of, and through awareness.
I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing. And nothing happens! Nothing � Silence � Waves � —Nothing happens? Or has everything happened, and we are standing now, quietly, in the new life?
JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ, “Oceans� Translated by Robert Bly
May 20, 2024
Jon Kabat-Zinn began the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction clinic at the University of Massachusetts, Worcester in 1979. He helped patients learn to relax, breathe deeply, meditate, and perform mild yoga exercises, all the while developing inner calm and self-compassion. The beneficial effects on the patient’s coping skills and resilience were soon evident to patients and care providers alike. The clinic grew. Its reputation spread widely and others developed similar clinics using meditation, yoga, and other practices to enhance rehabilitation, promote medical compliance, and encourage preventive lifestyle changes. The clinic work spawned psycho-therapeutic adjuncts such as mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based dialectic therapy. The clinic’s work has contributed significantly to the fields of integrative medical care and participatory medicine. In 1990, Kabat-Zinn first published a textbook, Full Catastrophe Living Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. Kabat-Zinn extended the possible applications of mindfulness training to non-patients when he published Wherever You Go, There You Are Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. The third textbook of the series Coming to Our Senses Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness was published in 2005.
Jon Kabt-Zinn earned a PhD in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he was influenced by one of my favorite Harvard professors, biology Nobel laureate George Wald. Like Wald, Kabat-Zinn uses biological, chemical, and physical science metaphors to great advantage in explaining numinous topics. In telling us that meditation is ‘not what we might think�, he uses the dual nature of light and sound, by way of wave theory and particle theory, to explain that meditation is a duality: focused, present-moment awareness, and non-doing or nothing-to-attain. Regular practice of meditation is the heart of the method.
To help us realize why meditation matters, Kabat-Zinn draws on another hero, psychologist, physiologist, and physician, William James who wrote: “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will. No one is compos sui (master of oneself) if he have it not. An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence. But it is easier to define this ideal than to give practical instruction for bringing it about.� William James, Principles of Psychology (1890)
Kabat-Zinn sets out to prove that mindfulness-based meditation methods are the educational step William James desired. Although Kabat-Zinn has studied Buddhism over many years and possesses a deep knowledge of Buddhist Dharma or wisdom tradition, his introduction to Buddhist mindfulness is of necessity, abbreviated. He argues that much of our suffering, stress, malaise, and disease (Dukkha) result from being out-of-touch with our bodies and feelings. Because we are so often preoccupied, obsessed with past or future thoughts, consumed by our desires, driven by expectations, fears, and cravings, we cannot bring our healing attention to the present moment. He asserts that mindfulness-based meditation can correct this lack of attention and provide healing. Akin to the fourteenth-century Christian text of contemplation, The Cloud of Unknowing, Kabat-Zinn tells us that sentience and consciousness cannot be conceptualized. Both texts argue that we can live and practice but not think our way out. Further comparison can be drawn between the Cloud of Unknowing and one of Kabat-Zinn’s favorite contemplatives, Korean Zen master, Soon Sa Nim, who introduced the author to Don’t Know Mind, or facetiously as Donut Mind (nothing in the middle). These references remind us that knowing what we don’t know is often as important, or more, than what we think we know.
The section of Coming to Our Senses that emphasizes focusing attention on each of our senses, individually, and together, is epitomized for me in two more of my favorite quotes:
“We do a lot of looking through lenses, telescopes, television tubes� Our looking is perfected every day � but we see less and less. Never has it been more urgent to speak of seeing� we are on-lookers, spectators, subjects � that look at ‘objects�. Quickly we stick labels on all that is…once � and for all. By these labels we recognize everything but no longer see anything.� Frederick Franck, The Zen of Seeing
“We should not pretend to understand the world only by intellect; we apprehend it just as much through feeling.� Carl Jung
For meditators of every level of experience, I think the idea of welcoming one’s thoughts and feelings, and then letting them go, is important:
� Put out the red carpet for whatever sensations arise
� Think of thoughts and emotions as the flow of a river
� Ponder your thoughts and emotions flowing over a precipice as a waterfall
� Greet each new thought and feeling as a guest: “Be grateful for whoever comes� as a guide from beyond� (Rumi)
Time after time, Kabat-Zinn brings the reader back to the limitations of our knowledge and thinking. He tells us that although Vitalism was seen as mystical, irrational, non-scientific� and wrong, it does not necessarily follow that a reductionist and purely materialistic approach is right� additionally, we do not know how a cell arose and we do not know if consciousness directed the birth of the universe or arose out of it. Similarly, not having physical evidence of a soul or spirit does not prove that neither exists� Consciousness, soul, the origin of the universe, and deity are all mysterious, sacred, and incompletely understood� part of what inspires awe is our lack of certainty, and our inability to put into words, regarding the numinous.
I found the section on Healing the Body Politic less helpful. I am convinced of the usefulness of mindfulness to help us cope with political and social extremes, but not of changing politics or politicians. I agree with the Dalai Lama that peace begins as an inside job - even if 'self' is a mental construct. I agree with Kabat-Zinn that self-righteousness is not helpful.
The bringing together of poetry from the likes of Basho, Rumi, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, TS Eliot, and Emily Dickinson with the ideas of an 11-dimensional universe and orthogonal thinking, despite the limitations of the Incompleteness Theorem and the Uncertainty Principle, make Coming to our Senses Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness another sentient and sapient feast. I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope you will too.
Jon Kabt-Zinn earned a PhD in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he was influenced by one of my favorite Harvard professors, biology Nobel laureate George Wald. Like Wald, Kabat-Zinn uses biological, chemical, and physical science metaphors to great advantage in explaining numinous topics. In telling us that meditation is ‘not what we might think�, he uses the dual nature of light and sound, by way of wave theory and particle theory, to explain that meditation is a duality: focused, present-moment awareness, and non-doing or nothing-to-attain. Regular practice of meditation is the heart of the method.
To help us realize why meditation matters, Kabat-Zinn draws on another hero, psychologist, physiologist, and physician, William James who wrote: “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will. No one is compos sui (master of oneself) if he have it not. An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence. But it is easier to define this ideal than to give practical instruction for bringing it about.� William James, Principles of Psychology (1890)
Kabat-Zinn sets out to prove that mindfulness-based meditation methods are the educational step William James desired. Although Kabat-Zinn has studied Buddhism over many years and possesses a deep knowledge of Buddhist Dharma or wisdom tradition, his introduction to Buddhist mindfulness is of necessity, abbreviated. He argues that much of our suffering, stress, malaise, and disease (Dukkha) result from being out-of-touch with our bodies and feelings. Because we are so often preoccupied, obsessed with past or future thoughts, consumed by our desires, driven by expectations, fears, and cravings, we cannot bring our healing attention to the present moment. He asserts that mindfulness-based meditation can correct this lack of attention and provide healing. Akin to the fourteenth-century Christian text of contemplation, The Cloud of Unknowing, Kabat-Zinn tells us that sentience and consciousness cannot be conceptualized. Both texts argue that we can live and practice but not think our way out. Further comparison can be drawn between the Cloud of Unknowing and one of Kabat-Zinn’s favorite contemplatives, Korean Zen master, Soon Sa Nim, who introduced the author to Don’t Know Mind, or facetiously as Donut Mind (nothing in the middle). These references remind us that knowing what we don’t know is often as important, or more, than what we think we know.
The section of Coming to Our Senses that emphasizes focusing attention on each of our senses, individually, and together, is epitomized for me in two more of my favorite quotes:
“We do a lot of looking through lenses, telescopes, television tubes� Our looking is perfected every day � but we see less and less. Never has it been more urgent to speak of seeing� we are on-lookers, spectators, subjects � that look at ‘objects�. Quickly we stick labels on all that is…once � and for all. By these labels we recognize everything but no longer see anything.� Frederick Franck, The Zen of Seeing
“We should not pretend to understand the world only by intellect; we apprehend it just as much through feeling.� Carl Jung
For meditators of every level of experience, I think the idea of welcoming one’s thoughts and feelings, and then letting them go, is important:
� Put out the red carpet for whatever sensations arise
� Think of thoughts and emotions as the flow of a river
� Ponder your thoughts and emotions flowing over a precipice as a waterfall
� Greet each new thought and feeling as a guest: “Be grateful for whoever comes� as a guide from beyond� (Rumi)
Time after time, Kabat-Zinn brings the reader back to the limitations of our knowledge and thinking. He tells us that although Vitalism was seen as mystical, irrational, non-scientific� and wrong, it does not necessarily follow that a reductionist and purely materialistic approach is right� additionally, we do not know how a cell arose and we do not know if consciousness directed the birth of the universe or arose out of it. Similarly, not having physical evidence of a soul or spirit does not prove that neither exists� Consciousness, soul, the origin of the universe, and deity are all mysterious, sacred, and incompletely understood� part of what inspires awe is our lack of certainty, and our inability to put into words, regarding the numinous.
I found the section on Healing the Body Politic less helpful. I am convinced of the usefulness of mindfulness to help us cope with political and social extremes, but not of changing politics or politicians. I agree with the Dalai Lama that peace begins as an inside job - even if 'self' is a mental construct. I agree with Kabat-Zinn that self-righteousness is not helpful.
The bringing together of poetry from the likes of Basho, Rumi, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, TS Eliot, and Emily Dickinson with the ideas of an 11-dimensional universe and orthogonal thinking, despite the limitations of the Incompleteness Theorem and the Uncertainty Principle, make Coming to our Senses Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness another sentient and sapient feast. I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope you will too.
June 20, 2019
This is a fairly lengthy book (609 pages in the edition I read0 that covers a pretty wide range of topics, some basic advice on how to meditate, some philosophy, some musings on science, some musings on politics and even some autobiography, among other things.
A lot of it is extremely interesting, but quite frankly I found it a bit overwhelming, just because there were so many topics and it kind of seemed to jump all over the place.
I think I might have preferred 3 books which focused more sharply on the different aspects
(1) Biographical information
(2) Meditation advice
(3) Political opinions and general musings
That way each book would have been coherent and somewhat self-contained and easier to digest.
Still, here some of the parts in this book that particularly struck me:
"On Lineage and the Uses and Limitations of Scaffolding"
-An interesting thought about not getting caught up in the "scaffolding" of meditation. I will have to think about this.
"Orienting in Time and Space: A Tribute to My Father"
-Very touching reflection on Kabat-Zinn's experience when his father, a renowned scientist, was suffering mental decline and how it made him appreciate the qualities of mind.
If you are a meditator you'll probably find some things here that are familiar to you, but also some new things.
As I said above, my only gripe is the length, it just felt a little bit overstuffed to me.
A lot of it is extremely interesting, but quite frankly I found it a bit overwhelming, just because there were so many topics and it kind of seemed to jump all over the place.
I think I might have preferred 3 books which focused more sharply on the different aspects
(1) Biographical information
(2) Meditation advice
(3) Political opinions and general musings
That way each book would have been coherent and somewhat self-contained and easier to digest.
Still, here some of the parts in this book that particularly struck me:
"On Lineage and the Uses and Limitations of Scaffolding"
-An interesting thought about not getting caught up in the "scaffolding" of meditation. I will have to think about this.
"Orienting in Time and Space: A Tribute to My Father"
-Very touching reflection on Kabat-Zinn's experience when his father, a renowned scientist, was suffering mental decline and how it made him appreciate the qualities of mind.
If you are a meditator you'll probably find some things here that are familiar to you, but also some new things.
As I said above, my only gripe is the length, it just felt a little bit overstuffed to me.
May 22, 2020
I really appreciated this book: the chapters were short, there was a variety of meditation styles and traditions discussed (but not exhaustive) and the emphasis for the bulk of the book was on the human senses. This approach to meditation really rung true with me. Kabat-Zinn encourages us to use our senses to examine our internal ecosystem PLUS he encourages us to be aware of how we use our senses to experience the world outside.
THIS BRAND of "get to know yourself" made a lot of sense to me:
- nail down which sense communicates what info
- determine how did that sense draw that conclusion
- identify how senses affect my specific perceptions
This is a tangible means of introspection.
It was fun hearing Kabat-Zinn reference our own Richard Davidson at UW Madison ()
THIS BRAND of "get to know yourself" made a lot of sense to me:
- nail down which sense communicates what info
- determine how did that sense draw that conclusion
- identify how senses affect my specific perceptions
This is a tangible means of introspection.
It was fun hearing Kabat-Zinn reference our own Richard Davidson at UW Madison ()
March 7, 2023
Jon Kabat-Zinn's 2005 book, in its introduction, quotes two questions from a meditation teacher after a ten-day, almost entirely silent retreat. Meditation Teacher: "How is the world treating you?" JK-Z: Ok. Meditation Teacher: "And how are you treating the world?"
These questions were actually different sides of the same coin.
JK-Z ends the book's introduction with "...it is past time for us to pay attention to what we already know or sense, not just in the outer world of our relationships with others and with our surroundings, but in the interior world of our own thoughts and feelings, aspirations and fears, hopes and dreams."
'Coming To Our Senses,' provides a better than good introduction to the practice of mindfulness.
These questions were actually different sides of the same coin.
JK-Z ends the book's introduction with "...it is past time for us to pay attention to what we already know or sense, not just in the outer world of our relationships with others and with our surroundings, but in the interior world of our own thoughts and feelings, aspirations and fears, hopes and dreams."
'Coming To Our Senses,' provides a better than good introduction to the practice of mindfulness.
March 30, 2018
Well mom passed along her copy with falling out pages and i made a go of it two winters running, fun to find it in the suitcase with mended together stuffed animals of an earlier creative impulse. i really thought so much written word about support for mindfulness practice dull. There were just a few quotes that I pulled for meditation, sadly they are lost among other journal pages, though I remember taking a line paraphrased as attend intake of breath, fade as it forms the exhaled breath, solving [rather than disssolving.] it carried me through a zazen sitting in Kona with much benefit. more mindfulness meditation to us all everyone, however you find and come along.
October 9, 2022
This was one of the two or three books that truly changed by life, by which I mean it made me see the world and my place in it in a new and valuable way. I've read it twice, along with most of the other published works of and have striven to incorporate what I've learned from it in my daily living.
The book has three main objectives. The first is to provide readers with an introduction to mindfulness, which is the practice of paying attention, of being present; of always being in the here and now without judgment.
The next big idea in the book is how to apply mindfulness inwardly, to strive toward building a more balanced and healthful self. Kabat-Zinn talks about the notion of dis-ease (contrasted with disease) and how living mindfully can keep you on a course to avoid thoughts and actions that are unproductive, damaging, and self-defeating.
Finally, there's discussion of applying mindfulness outwardly, to seek ways to keep the world healthy. Kabat-Zinn suggests that everyone, in his/her small way, can make changes every day to leave the world better than we found it.
After I read this through the first time, I began a meditation practice (using Kabat-Zinn's accompanying CDs for guidance), and I have made changes in my daily life patterns that I think have given me more balance and equanimity in how I live and how I view the world. It's a process that never ends, and a re-read of this book is probably in order once again to keep me on track.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
The book has three main objectives. The first is to provide readers with an introduction to mindfulness, which is the practice of paying attention, of being present; of always being in the here and now without judgment.
The next big idea in the book is how to apply mindfulness inwardly, to strive toward building a more balanced and healthful self. Kabat-Zinn talks about the notion of dis-ease (contrasted with disease) and how living mindfully can keep you on a course to avoid thoughts and actions that are unproductive, damaging, and self-defeating.
Finally, there's discussion of applying mindfulness outwardly, to seek ways to keep the world healthy. Kabat-Zinn suggests that everyone, in his/her small way, can make changes every day to leave the world better than we found it.
After I read this through the first time, I began a meditation practice (using Kabat-Zinn's accompanying CDs for guidance), and I have made changes in my daily life patterns that I think have given me more balance and equanimity in how I live and how I view the world. It's a process that never ends, and a re-read of this book is probably in order once again to keep me on track.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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