Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment--And Your Life

I have been lucky enough to take two Mindfulness courses and they have changed my life. Both were run by excellent course leaders but nothing compares with hearing Mindfulness founder Jon Kabat Zinn discuss the philosophy and methodology behind it. His wit, compassion and way with words themselves make CD1 compulsive listening as well as explaining the reasons for CD2 which are the practices themselves. I cannot recommend this highly enough to anybody who wants to learn about themselves and especially those seeking release from troubled mind states such as anxiety and depression. Buy it- Mindfulness practitioners will tell you honestly that they make no promises to 'fix things' but it might change your life too...

I bought this CD at the recommendation of a social worker. I'm a perfectionist, which frequently leads me to experience anxiety. I've lived this way for 50+ years but it's not healthy. However, it has been the norm for my life. Yes, I've done some counseling over the years, which has been extremely helpful but I constantly battle with trying to do too much, making it all perfect and then dealing with the anxiety that follows. Although I've tried relaxation techniques in the past, I learned that Jon Kabat-Zinn's information is more than relaxation. It is learning to incorporate "mindfulness" into my busy, waking day. I found the information in this CD to be very informative. I've only listened to the CD two times and will need to repeat several more times to better learn this technique. Kabat-Zinn is the narrator and his voice is excellent as a reader or narrator. I highly recommend this CD, as well as the follow-up CD I am now listening to, "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Mediation in Everyday Life".

This CD is an introduction to mindfulness that is aimed at an audience of Westerners who are not familiar with Eastern philosophy. This audio provides the foundational concepts necessary to have a meditation practice and gives a taste of several different types of practice. The first CD covers concepts such as the present moment, the definition of mindfulness at attending to what is arising in the moment, awareness, the relationship between mind and heart, etc. It also covers the importance of openness and curiosity vs. judgment and identification with what is going on. That is to say, it distinguishes between a witness of what is arising and the phenomena in question. In other words, it makes the point that there is something standing behind the mind, emotions, sensations, etc. and that this something is a type of consciousness called witness consciousness. This CD also goes into the important of allowing (non-striving) vs. a desire that pushes toward acheiving something. In the last section of CD Zinn contrasts awareness which is passive and accepting with thinking which arises out of desire. The second CD provides an introduction to some minfulness practices such as mindful eating, breath meditation, mindfulness of the body as a whole, mindfulness of objects such as sounds, thoughts and emotions. It also introduces the notion of meditation as pure awareness without judgment. One might compare this to pure experience without desire or aversion. Although one is given a taste of each of these practices, none of them are comprehensively covered and the guided meditations are not long enough for practice purposes except for a complete beginner. In general, meditative practices are divided into concentration practices (narrowing the attention) and mindfulness practices (awareness is expanded in a detached way). On the this CD, all of the practices are termed mindfulness practices, but the CD actually contains both types which in essence are about attending to different aspects of reality in different ways. As someone who teaches meditation to Westerners myself, I find this an excellent, gentle and easily accessible introduction. It achieves what it sets out to do, which is to provide a philosophical framework for a meditation practice and the very basics of starting one. If you enjoy this tape and you want to take things deeper, then Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Guided Mindfulness) by the same author would be a logical continuation. The book Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation would also be a great next step. Something complimentary that build on it, but is a bit more heart-centered would be Meditation for Beginners. There is also a listmania list on my profile for meditation that has other recommendations.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a program used in hospitals and medical clinics around the world. Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches a foundation for mindfulness that encourages healing. He is the founding director for the Stress Reduction Clinic and Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. The first CD explores the philosophy and practice of mindfulness. It is entertaining and I love Jon Kabat-Zinn's sense of humor. This is the section where you learn about positive qualities you can cultivate to enhance your life and negative aspects that can be poision to the body and heart. The second CD then explores an actual practice session where you experience keeping your attention on the moment. Paying attention on purpose can be enlightening all on its own as you awaken to a more compassionate moment and unveil inner wisdom. Meditation is a universal practice and you don't need to belong to any specific religion to experience the benefits of exploring moments of relaxing peace. Jon Kabat-Zinn's calming voice is wonderful to listen to and his guided meditation sections explore a variety of essential principles needed to enjoy a meditation session. Eventually you start to breathe more deeply, relax into not thinking and happiness rises from within. It is truly a beautiful way to reconnect with who you truly are and while you may assume sitting quietly is hardly doing anything at all, it is amazing what can be accomplished in silence. Meditation strengthens you so you walk through the earth with a different focus, more awareness and even more confidence. This CD does focus on the basics of meditation and therefore is perfect for anyone who wants to heal the mind, body and spirit. ~The Rebecca Review