Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Hardcover)

by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Author)
Key Phrases: mountain meditation, formal meditation practice, loving kindness meditation, Walden Pond, Mount Analogue, There You Are (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In his follow-up to Full Catastrophe Living--a book in which he presented basic meditation techniques as a way of reducing stress and healing from illness--here Jon Kabat-Zinn goes much more deeply into the practice of meditation for its own sake. To Kabat-Zinn, meditation is important because it brings about a state of "mindfulness," a condition of "being" rather than "doing" during which you pay attention to the moment rather than the past, the future, or the multitudinous distractions of modern life. In brief, rather poetic chapters, he describes different meditative practices and what they can do for the practitioner. The idea that meditation is "spiritual" is often confusing to people, Kabat-Zinn writes; he prefers to think of it as what you might call a workout for your consciousness. This book makes learning meditation remarkably easy (although practicing it is not). But it also makes it seem infinitely appealing. --Ben Kallen --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Kabat-Zinn ( Full Catastrophe Living ), founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, here urges readers to practice "mindfulness," a more than 2000-year-old Buddhist method of living fully in the present, observing ourselves, our feeling, others and our surroundings without judging them. Free of trendiness, the book presents meditation as a natural activity that can be practiced anytime and anywhere, without props or trappings. Kabat-Zinn explains how to live in the moment by taking up such techniques as "non-doing," trust and concentration. He shows readers meditation postures and ways to meditate, including visualizing mountains and lakes, and concentrating on walking or standing. Amusing anecdotes illustrate applications of mindfulness in everyday life, including "Cleaning the Stove While Listening to Bobby McFerrin," "Cat Food Lessons" and two chapters on parenting as a form of meditation (children as "live-in Zen masters"). This warm, witty and wise guide should bring relaxation to stressed-out people. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; Later Printing edition (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401307787
• ISBN-13: 978-1562827694
• ASIN: 1562827693
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,635 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

239 of 243 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sitting in the crossroads of here and now., April 14, 2001

By	G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Paperback)

I have revisited this meditation guide many times since first reading it nearly five years ago. Kabat-Zinn is not a yogi, sage or Zen master. Rather, he is a meditation teacher and the director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He also teaches Massachusetts prison inmates how to meditate. He approaches meditation in a non-spiritual way. "Meditation can be a profound path for developing oneself, for refining one's perceptions, one's views, one's consciousness," he writes. "But, to my mind, the vocabulary of spirituality creates more practical problems than it solves" (p. 264). In this easy-to-read book, Kabat-Zinn shows us how to cultivate mindfulness in our lives.

The "practice, practice, practice" of meditation enables us to find our "soul path, a path with heart" (p. xvi), and to "chart a course toward greater sanity and wisdom in our lives" (p. xx). Through meditation, Walden Pond can be found in our breath (p. 24). Meditation, Kabat-Zinn tells us, "is a Way of being, a Way of living, a Way of listening, a Way of walking along the path of life and being in harmony with things as they are" (p. 88). "Dwelling inwardly for extended periods, we come to know something of the poverty of always looking outside ourselves for happiness, understanding, and wisdom" (p. 96).

Besides learning how to surf the waves of life through mindfulness training, in this book you will also find words to live by on non-doing, patience, letting go, non-judging, voluntary simplicity, the delusion of positive thinking, ahimsa (non-harming), anger and parenting. Whether you are new to the meditation cushion or a longtime practitioner, if you are looking for a simple, how-to book on meditation, "this is it."

G. Merritt

140 of 141 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than pleasantly surprised, September 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Paperback)

A family member bought this book. I found it sitting on a shelf, glanced at the cover and involuntarily thought to myself "uh oh, granola time," and came within a heartbeat of dismissing the book out of hand. Luckily, I did not. Instead, I read the introduction, and then found myself -- almost in a state of disbelief -- reading on and on. I was amazed to find that the book is not just one more new age book muttering away about a world none of us really lives in. To the contrary, the book is written by someone with a profound understanding of everyday reality, who is astonishingly good at sharing that understanding. This is simply a beautiful little book, beautifully written. I would be curious to know if others are reacting to this book the way I am: I feel compelled to rave about it. I read the book for the first time weeks ago, yet tonight in the grocery store I found myself slowing down, marvelling at the sight of my daughter gaily picking out tomatoes, and consciously basking in the moment. And I'm a middle-aged Republican, not particularly predisposed to spiritual impulses! The author of this book has something timeless and important to impart, and he does so with unusual intelligence and grace. I really like this book -- indeed, I hope I'm forgiven for suspecting that it is a work of genius. I also hope that the author happens to read this review, because he should know how much his work is appreciated!

112 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are interested in meditation, or, if you want to find, June 8, 2001

By	L. Quido "quidrock" (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Paperback)

a way to slow the pace of your busy world, Jon Kabat-Zinn can express the "out of body" concepts of meditation in a way that no one else can.

You get to choose: "Wherever you go...." is a book that can be explored over and over, that can start you on a path to a new habit to find within yourself what you need to survive today's busy world; that can help you find a new habit to renew the life you lead. Or, utilize its message just as a brief "chapter read" to jump start the positive if you are not looking for a lifelong habit.

It is very difficult to express, in words, the inner activities that result in becoming comfortable in your own skin. Kabat-Zinn writes thoughtfully and honestly about how he has accomplished this, and what things might work for you. There are many treasures in this book. For me, his ability to describe the rewards one gets from practiced patience, and to impress upon the reader the simplicity of the "body scan" and how it can lead to the habit of lying down meditation are two examples of things that readers can take away at any given time from his book.

Many self-help readers today are looking for the "quick fix" or some small coping practice they can employ to keep their days positive. In some ways, in addition to helping you understand why meditation works and why it can change your life, Kabat-Zinn writes a poetic and illuminating version of the "one minute help" chapters that the "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" series provided to these readers in the busy working world.

When you couple his vision and ideas with the lovely verse that liberally sprinkles his book (Kabir, Thoreau and Whitman are favorites) you have a quiet and inspirational message that can do more to help you understand and eliminate your stress than can all the meditation, control and organizational techniques advocated in today's America could ever do.

Read "Wherever you go, there you are" and learn how mindfulness can change the course of your daily life for the better. It works.