Post by Admin on Jul 5, 2016 8:03:58 GMT -5
Below is from an advertising email I got today. It is by Tami Simon a long-time mindfulness and meditation teacher and founder of Sounds True I highly respect. Her company offers audios/videos relating to mindfulness, meditation, neuroscience and more. Below she is introducing their on-line MBSR course approved by Jon Kabat Zinn(JKZ) and in this email he shares his latest definition of mindfulness; as well as that of Saki Santorelli, JKZ's colleague at the Center for Mindfulness, as well as other discussion about the Mindfulness Revolution. I share it here -- less the advertising. If you want info on the MBSR course or Sounds True, here's a link about Sounds True with a video from JKZ.
...Like many paradigm-shifting ideas, mindfulness begins with an amazingly simple seed. As Jon Kabat-Zinn describes it, mindfulness means:
"Paying attention in a particular way—on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally."
When you first hear that definition, it almost seems too easy.
Yet from this seed, we've seen the growth of mindfulness as the most revolutionary development in meditation in the Western world. More and more, we’re seeing mindfulness entering the common understanding as a proven tool in health care, psychology, and personal well-being—as well as being a foundation for spiritual practice.
...
Of all the meditation practices to appear in the previous decades, why is mindfulness having such a huge impact?
One of the most important reasons is that there has been more scientific research on mindfulness than any other form of meditation—and an overwhelming body of evidence confirms the power of this practice to change our lives.
A critical factor in the mainstream acceptance of mindfulness has been the work of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts medical school. Founded in 1979 by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the Center's Stress Reduction Clinic is the origin of the most rigorously tested form of meditation: a purely non-sectarian approach called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR.
We're proud to be able to offer the only official online training from the Center for Mindfulness with The MBSR Online Course. This program has been our most successful online offering to date, which once again demonstrates the growing recognition of mindfulness practice as a positive force in our culture.
How can such a simple idea as paying attention in the present moment make such a difference? Saki Santorelli, one of the instructors for The MBSR Online Course, says:
"When we offer our attention to someone or something, we always get something back. The normal subject-object view that we often hold—the perception that we are separate and isolated from the world around us—begins to fall away. There's an offering and a return response. I feel it as a kind of blessing."
This is a powerful statement. Not only does mindfulness provide us with a practical tool box of techniques for dealing with symptoms like stress, illness, and emotional hardship, it also helps us dissolve one of the great underlying causes of suffering, which is our sense of being cut off from life.
It's no wonder MBSR has proven to be so consistently successful for helping people overcome health challenges and live happier, more fulfilled lives.
....Jon calls mindfulness practice an "adventure" because of the way this seemingly simple practice opens our horizons—reintroducing us to our own lives in a whole new way. As Jon puts it:
"Even after 45 years of meditating, I actually feel that every time I formally practice, it's a radical act of love. It's an act of self-compassion. It's an act of sanity. I really do feel that that is a love affair with life, and with the preciousness of our moments."
Mindfulness is transforming our world and we hope you'll choose to bring the power of mindfulness into your own life.
Yours on the Journey,
Tami Simon
"Paying attention in a particular way—on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally."
When you first hear that definition, it almost seems too easy.
Yet from this seed, we've seen the growth of mindfulness as the most revolutionary development in meditation in the Western world. More and more, we’re seeing mindfulness entering the common understanding as a proven tool in health care, psychology, and personal well-being—as well as being a foundation for spiritual practice.
...
Of all the meditation practices to appear in the previous decades, why is mindfulness having such a huge impact?
One of the most important reasons is that there has been more scientific research on mindfulness than any other form of meditation—and an overwhelming body of evidence confirms the power of this practice to change our lives.
A critical factor in the mainstream acceptance of mindfulness has been the work of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts medical school. Founded in 1979 by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the Center's Stress Reduction Clinic is the origin of the most rigorously tested form of meditation: a purely non-sectarian approach called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR.
We're proud to be able to offer the only official online training from the Center for Mindfulness with The MBSR Online Course. This program has been our most successful online offering to date, which once again demonstrates the growing recognition of mindfulness practice as a positive force in our culture.
How can such a simple idea as paying attention in the present moment make such a difference? Saki Santorelli, one of the instructors for The MBSR Online Course, says:
"When we offer our attention to someone or something, we always get something back. The normal subject-object view that we often hold—the perception that we are separate and isolated from the world around us—begins to fall away. There's an offering and a return response. I feel it as a kind of blessing."
This is a powerful statement. Not only does mindfulness provide us with a practical tool box of techniques for dealing with symptoms like stress, illness, and emotional hardship, it also helps us dissolve one of the great underlying causes of suffering, which is our sense of being cut off from life.
It's no wonder MBSR has proven to be so consistently successful for helping people overcome health challenges and live happier, more fulfilled lives.
....Jon calls mindfulness practice an "adventure" because of the way this seemingly simple practice opens our horizons—reintroducing us to our own lives in a whole new way. As Jon puts it:
"Even after 45 years of meditating, I actually feel that every time I formally practice, it's a radical act of love. It's an act of self-compassion. It's an act of sanity. I really do feel that that is a love affair with life, and with the preciousness of our moments."
Mindfulness is transforming our world and we hope you'll choose to bring the power of mindfulness into your own life.
Yours on the Journey,
Tami Simon