An Invitation to the Practice of Mindfulness. We may long for wholeness,
suggests Jon Kabat-Zinn, but the truth is that it is already here and
already ours. The practice of mindfulness holds the possibility of not
just a fleeting sense of contentment, but a true embracing of a deeper
unity that envelops and permeates our lives.
With Mindfulness for Beginners you are invited to learn how to transform
your relationship to the way you think, feel, love, work, and play and
thereby awaken to and embody more completely who you really are. Here,
the teacher, scientist, and clinician who first demonstrated the
benefits of mindfulness within mainstream Western medicine offers a book
that you can use in three unique ways: as a collection of reflections
and practices to be opened and explored at random; as an illuminating
and engaging start-to-finish read; or as an unfolding lesson- a-day
primer on mindfulness practice.
Beginning and advanced meditators alike will discover in these pages a
valuable distillation of the key attitudes and essential practices that
Jon Kabat-Zinn has found most useful with his students, including: Why
heartfulness is synonymous with true mindfulness. The value of coming
back to our bodies and to our senses over and over again. How our
thoughts self-liberate when touched by awareness. Moving beyond our
story into direct experience. Stabilizing our attention and presence
amidst daily activities. The three poisons that cause suffering and
their antidotes How mindfulness heals, even after the fact. Reclaiming
our wholeness, and more.
The prescription for living a more mindful life seems simple enough:
return your awareness again and again to whatever is going on. But if
you've tried it, you know that here is where all the questions and
challenges really begin. Mindfulness for Beginners provides welcome
answers, insights, and instruction to help us make that shift, moment by
moment, into a more spacious, clear, reliable, and loving connection
with ourselves and the world.
