Mindfulness meditation with Jon Kabat-Zinn

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Meditation, as I explained previously, is the way we train our consciousness to be aware of our mindfulness. Mindfulness is a certain quality of awareness that we bring to our consciousness in our moment-to-moment activities. In this video, filmed at Google headquarters, Jon Kabat-Zinn walks Google employees through a mindfulness meditation session.

Kabat-Zinn talks about what mindfulness is and what it isn’t. And, he covers common misconceptions and obstacles to meditating. While giving the lecture, Kabat-Zinn also guides the audience through a meditation which you can try too. If you have yet to understand how meditation works or what mindfulness is, this is a great video to watch.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or MBSR, a popular 8-week training course that started in 1979, was created with the help of Kabat-Zinn. The program uses yoga and mindfulness meditation to reduce stress and is taught worldwide in medical centers, hospitals, and clinics. MBSR is so successful that a variant of the program was spawned to treat depression. This course, called Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), is used to help participants recognize and alter depressive moods that can overwhelm them and bring on lowered mood states.
 

In Oakland, Kaiser Permanente offers a low-priced MBSR course for members and non-members. Visit the links in the "for more info" section to learn more.