Customer Reviews

Full Catastrophe Living

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great resource for people who suffer from any type of chronic (long-term) health problems. It is based on the author's experience with thousands of people who have participated in a course called the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program at the Univ. of Massachusetts Medical Center. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness is intended to be that program rolled up into a book.

The book's tool is mindfulness meditation- a form of meditation originally developed in the Buddhist traditions- defined as a moment-to-moment awareness. Through mindful meditation, one can gain new kinds of control and wisdom in their lives. The book is very "hands on", so don't expect to just read it and be done with it. For example, you'll be doing things such breathing exercises or yoga postures (I can also recommend Exercise Beats Depression as another good resource for those struggling with depression).

Since the mind plays a factor in stress-related disorders, and very undertreated in Western medicine, I feel like this book will fill a much needed niche for many people. With over five-hundred pages, there's plenty of wisdom here to suck up.

I have both this book and Kabat-Zinn's other, "Wherever You Go, There You Are." That one is more of a general intro to mindfulness (i.e, concentrating on your breathing as a way to clear your mind and reach a deeper level) meditation. It's written in a more aphoristic style: short and sweet, lots of quotes from Thoreau and various gurus, "try this" exercises at the end of each short chapter. A book you mull over, read in bits, inbetween the recommended practice.

This one is more wordy, a description of what goes on at the Massachusetts General Hospital Pain Reduction Clinic, where Kabat-Zinn uses a combination of (physical) yoga, mindfulness meditation, and something called the "full body scan" (lying down and concentrating on different parts of the body at a time) to help people with serious, stress-related illnesses such as heart disease, back pain, migraines and cancer.

There are instructions on how to do the above; statistical information on how well this program works; descriptions of the types of illnesses they deal with; lots of case studies of typical patients; and some general conclusions that the very insightful Kabat-Zinn has drawn from his work. I hate pop psychology but that's not what's delivered here - these are very real insights, not facile at all, on the damaging stresses of modern life and concrete advice on how to cope with them in such a way as to not get sick.

He says, for instance, that "your pain is not you" - that you can and should separate yourself from the pain, and from the negative feedback voice ("I'm never going to get better," for example) that makes things worse.

They do recommend (as I do, and as I see another reviewer does) that you buy the tapes listed in the back of the book to help you with your program. But you can use the book without them: it just takes more willpower and concentration.

As far as personal testimony is concerned, I haven't had to use this program to help me cope with any serious illnesses, thank goodness. But (like most women in their post-childbearing years) I do have a lot of miscellaneous aches and pains which I do deal with much better using the techniques in this book. I have not yet had time to make the recommended commitment for optimal results (45 minutes per day, 6 days a week) - I just use the techniques (which include, for instance, imagining that you are breathing in and out of the painful part of your body - it's hard to describe, but it works!) when I feel headachy or in pain, and medicine either doesn't help or isn't possible to take because of stomach upset.

What I'm saying is, this book is valuable even if you don't have a serious, chronic illness.

Besides, it really is preferable to use these techniques BEFORE you get sick, rather than after.

And they do give the advantages of regular meditation, too: a sense of deeper understanding of yourself, a sense of wonder, etc. (so hard to describe without sounding silly).

I read this book and did not like it. I found it described a life I did not want to know about so I put the book aside having skipped a number of the chapters. Six months later when my wife was admitted to the ER with severe headaches I remembered the central message in this book.

The message is clear and simple, the "bad" times in life are as valid an experience as the "good" be there, be aware,accept,don't wish for better times, don't run away from catastrophe. I was aware and present for the next three weeks, the most important three weeks of my life. I felt so lucky that I had read this book. It could be a lot shorter and more focused but the central message is invaluable.

A remarkable, accessible, entertaining and enlightening work on mindfulness meditation (Zen). Chapter 2 describing 7 attitudinal factors (non-judging, patience, beginner's mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance and letting go) is key and indispensible to development of mindfulness meditation technique. I frequently recommend it to patients in my neurology and headache clinic. It can open up a whole new outlook on life for anyone

Full Catastrophe Living has been recommended as a timely and well-written guide deserving our highest rating. We only select winning books based on sound and healthy advice. This one not only meets those criteria, it offers readers valuable information and guidance they will find both useful and easy to follow. A Health News Network "best buy."

I've read over a dozen books on anxiety, relaxation, and stress. This book has a totally different approach.Instead of giving specific tips to handle anxiety attacks, it uses a philosophical type of approach which is extremely helpful in combatting stress in the long run. The main activity that is taught is meditation and mindfulness through breathing, sitting, or walking, along with a body scan and yoga exercises. They recommend an 8 week commitment to the exercises. But the last half of the book is even more helpful, with discussions on how to see yourself and your problems differently--to feel in control and a master of the events around you. My anxiety level has gone down tremendously after just reading the book and not beginning the meditation yet. This book is a must for anyone having a hard time facing life's normal circumstances or who sees life pessimistically. And it is even more vital for anyone who is facing health problems and is feeling depressed because of them. This man's approach will be a comfort to me for years to come.

The simple principle of mindfulness can change your life- it did mine. Jon Kabat-Zinn does a wonderful job of explaining mindfulness and teaching you how it can help you deal with stress, pain and illness. Read it, buy it, live it!

I read this book eight years ago and I found it to be so valuable that I read it again two years later. To this day, I continue to reference certain chapters from time to time and eight years after first reading it, I continue to practice the techniques I learned from the book.

Grounded in scientific research, Jon Kabat-Zinn explores the connections between mind and body to the point where there is no longer any obvious division between the two. This book offers the reader access to a new way of living that is rooted in mindfulness. The instructions offered are easy to understand. This book is primarily intended for those facing chronic or terminal illness or emotional pain, but it can really benefit a far more general audience - those who want to live their lives more fully.

The book if filled with thoughtful insight into how to live in peace. Yet, much of this insight is buried in 625 or so pages of distracting verbiage-it's not distilled. A reader with limited time and attention (me and, maybe, you) gets his train of thought derailed in Mr. Kabat-Zinn's personal life and the details of how he founded his stress reduction clinic at U of Mass. This static interferes with effective assimilation of his important points.

My husband and I have been using this book in dealing with the unrelenting stress of having two special needs children. I have also passed this book on to writer and artist friends of mine who suffer the incredible stress of deadlines and artistic "block." It is very helpful with this and with insomnia, stomach aches and other psychosomatic symptoms of stress. Great, great book!