Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn

Talk at Google Headquarters

In 1979 Jon Kabat-Zinn founded the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Clinic, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, to help patients cope with pain, illness and anxiety. In 1995 he founded the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society, also at UMMS.

In 2007 Kabat-Zinn gave the following talk to a group of employees at Google Headquarters.  The talk aims to demystify the practice of mindfulness and its incorporation in to daily living.  If you don’t want to listen to the whole talk, you can skip ahead to the “formal meditation” (from about 24min. to 46min, in the video). Notice the use of metaphor and suggestion, as in hypnosis. If you have the curiosity, the time, and you’re looking for creative stimulation, I think you’ll enjoy the whole talk.

Whether you are a “seasoned” or beginning meditator, or simply want to understand mindfulness (conscious awareness in the present moment), the following is illumination from Jon Kabat-Zinn, a scientist, writer and master teacher of meditation.

We are all mindful some of the time.  Where do you experience mindfulness in your life?  How or when have you harnessed its power?  Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.