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Jon Kabat-Zinn

Jon Kabat-Zinn Quotes

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Famous Jon Kabat-Zinn Quotes

“Non-doing has nothing to do with being indolent or passive. Quite the contrary. It takes great courage and energy to cultivate non-doing, both in stillness and in activity. Nor is it easy to make a special time for non-doing and to keep at it in the face of everything in our lives which needs to be done.”

NeedsDoneFacesPurposeEnergyEasyCourageOur LivesMeditationSpecialActivityContraryStillnessPassiveSpecial Times
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“When people say "Let it go," what they really mean is "Get over it," and that's not a helpful thing to say. It's not a matter of letting go - you would if you could. Instead of "Let it go," we should probably say "Let it be"; this recognizes that the mind won't let go and the problem may not go away, and it allows you to form a healthier relationship with what's bothering you.”

PeopleIfsShouldMindMayMeanMatterProblemFormLetting GoBotherHelpfulOver ItGoing AwayGet OverLet It GoReally MeanBothering You
Author:Jon Kabat-Zinn
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“It is remarkable how liberating it feels to be able to see that your thoughts are just thoughts and that they are not 'you' or 'reality.' For instance, if you have the thought that you have to get a certain number of things done today and you don't recognize it as a thought but act as if it's the 'the truth,' then you have created a reality in that moment in which you really believe that those things must all be done today.”

IfsFeelsBelieveDoneMomentsRealityTodayAbleCertainNumbersInstanceLife ChangingRemarkableThat MomentLiberatingThings DoneJust A Thought
Book:Full Catastrophe Living (Revised Edition): Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
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“Mindfulness means moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness. It is cultivated by refining our capacity to pay attention, intentionally, in the present moment, and then sustaining that attention over time as best we can. In the process, we become more in touch with our life as it is unfolding.”

MeanMomentsProcessPayAttentionOur LivesAwarenessMindfulnessCapacityPay AttentionPresent MomentUnfoldingJudgmentalSustainingRefiningNon Judgmental
Book:Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting
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“Perhaps ultimately, spiritual simply means experiencing wholeness and interconnectedness directly, a seeing that individuality and the totality are interwoven, that nothing is separate or extraneous. If you see in this way, then everything becomes spiritual in its deepest sense. Doing science is spiritual. So is washing the dishes.”

IfsWayMeanSpiritualSeeingMindfulnessIndividualityDishesWholenessWashingTotalityInterconnectedness
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life
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“We must be willing to encounter darkness and despair when they come up and face them, over and over again if need be, without running away or numbing ourselves in the thousands of ways we conjure up to avoid the unavoidable.”

IfsWayLifeNeedsRunningFacesDarknessWillingDespairCome UpEncountersRunning AwayNumbing
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“Practice sharing the fullness of your being, your best self, your enthusiasm, your vitality, your spirit, your trust, your openness, above all, your presence. Share it with yourself, with your family, with the world.”

WorldLifeSelfSpiritPracticeShareEnthusiasmOur FamilyOpennessVitalityFullnessBest SelfYour Presence
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“It’s interesting to look at your children as line-in Zen masters who can put their finger on places where you’re resistant, or thinking narrowly, in ways noone else can. You can either lose your mind and your authenticity in the process of reacting to all that stuff, or you can use it as the perfect opportunity to grow and nourish your children by attending to what is deepest and best in them and in yourself.”

ThinkingWayMindLooksChildrenUseOpportunityGrowsStuffProcessLosesLinesPerfectInterestingMastersOur ChildrenFingersAuthenticityYour ChildrenReactingAttendingZen Master
Author:Jon Kabat-Zinn
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“Once you have established yourself as a center of love and kindness radiating throughout your being, which amounts to a cradling of yourself in loving kindness and acceptance, you can dwell here indefinitely, drinking at this fount, bathing it in, renewing yourself, nourishing yourself, enlivening yourself. This can be a profoundly healing practice for body and soul.”

SoulBodyHealingPracticeKindnessAcceptanceAmountDrinkingLove And KindnessLoving KindnessBathing
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“Initiate giving. Don't wait for someone to ask. See what happens - especially to you. You may find that you gain a greater clarity about yourself and about your relationships, as well as more energy rather than less. You may find that, rather than exhausting yourself or your resources, you will replenish them. Such is the power of mindful, selfless generosity. At the deepest level, there is no giver, no gift, and no recipient . . . only the universe rearranging itself.”

GivingWellsMayHappensUniverseAsksEnergyWaitingLevelsGreaterGainsResourcesClarityGenerosityAbout YourselfSelflessOur RelationshipGiverExhaustingInitiatePower Of The MindRearranging
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“Another way to look at meditation is to view thinking itself as a waterfall, a cascading of thought. In cultivating mindfulness, we are going beyond or behind our thinking, much the way you might find a vantage point in a cave or depression in the rock behind a waterfall. We still see and hear the water, but we are out of the torrent.”

ThinkingWayLooksStillsMightWaterViewsBehindsMeditationRocksMindfulnessLook At MeCavesAnother WayCultivatingWaterfallsVantage Point
Author:Jon Kabat-Zinn
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“See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance , or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation - to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.”

IfsGivingMaySelfEnoughFeelingsPurposeUniverseAcceptingPracticeAcceptanceBlessingObligationBeing TrueEach DaySelf AcceptanceDeserving
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“Most of the time, if you're not really paying attention, you're someplace else. So your child might say, "Daddy, I want this," and you might say, "Just a minute, I'm busy." Now that's no big deal-we all get busy, and kids frequently ask for attention. But over your child's entire youth, you may have an enormous number of such moments to be really, fully present, but because you thought you were busy, you didn't see the opportunities these moments presented. . . . People carry around an enormous amount of grief because they missed the little things.”

PeopleIfsWantMayChildrenLittlesMomentsBigsMightKidsAsksOpportunityDealsNumbersGriefAttentionMinutesAwarenessYouthAmountOur ChildrenBusyEnormousPay AttentionYour ChildrenOver YouLittle ThingsDaddyBig Deal
Author:Jon Kabat-Zinn
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