Falling Awake with Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.

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“This culture is not only fertile ground for mindfulness, we are actually starving for mindfulness,” says Jon Kabat-Zinn as he gives us a fresh look at the relevance of mindfulness and meditation. A pioneer in bringing Eastern meditative techniques into Western medical therapy, he has decades of experience with the effectiveness of meditative techniques for chronic stress and pain conditions as well as simple daily annoyances. By paying attention in the moment and to the people we are with, he says we can bring a richness and power to our lives that goes beyond healing to give us meaning, wonder and joy in life. “It’s very similar to falling asleep,” he says, “only this is actually falling awake.” (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. is a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher. He is Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he was founding executive director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (1995), and founder (in 1979) and former director of its world-renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Clinic. He’s on the board of advisors of www.mindful.org.

His books include:

• Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition): Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness (Dell, 1990, 2005, 2013)
• Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life (Hyperion, 1994, 2005)
• Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting (co-authored with Myla Kabat-Zinn; Hyperion, 1997, 2014)
• Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness (Hyperion, 2005)
• The Mind's Own Physician: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the Healing Power of Meditation (editor, with Richard Davidson; New Harbinger, 2011)
• Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment--and Your Life (Sounds True, 2012)
• Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on its Meaning, Origins and Applications [Paperback] [2013] J. Mark G. Williams, Jon Kabat-Zinn (editor, with Mark Williams; Routledge, 2013)

To learn more about the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and mindfulness go to www.mindfulnesscds.com.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• A sensitive and effective approach to chronic stress and pain control
• Common misconceptions - and the truth - about meditation
• The importance of attentiveness to other people in everyday situations
• The importance of doctors’ attentiveness to patients
• What Buckminster Fuller learned from contemplating suicide
• Appreciating ourselves as geniuses and as “walking miracles”
• The “cat food lesson” that Kabat-Zinn learned

Host: Michael Toms     Interview Date: 1/20/1994       Program Number: 2436

Music Included

From Album: Polar Shift
Artists: Vangelis, Chris Spheevis, Paul Vondouris & others
1991 Private Music #2083-2-P

From Album: Baraka: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Artist: Michael Stearns and other artists
Milan / BMG #7313835652-2

From Album: Skeleton Woman
Artist: Flesh & Bone
1993 Silver Wave Records #SD708