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Jon Kabat-Zinn

Jon Kabat-Zinn Quotes

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Famous Jon Kabat-Zinn Quotes

“When we let go of wanting something else to happen in this moment, we are taking a profound step toward being able to encounter what is here now. If we hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step from where we are standing. If we don't really know where we are standing—a knowing that comes directly from the cultivation of mindfulness—we may only go in circles, for all our efforts and expectations. So, in meditation practice, the best way to get somewhere is to let go of trying to get anywhere at all.”

IfsKnowsWayTryingMayMomentsHappensAbleHopeEffortStepsPracticeKnowingMeditationLetting GoMindfulnessExpectationsStandingProfoundCirclesBest WayEncountersCultivationMeditation Practice
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“Allow your attention to gently alight on your belly, as if you were coming upon a shy animal sunning itself on a tree stump in a clearing in the forest. Feel your belly rise or expand gently on the inbreath, and fall or recede on the outbreath.”

IfsFeelsFallAnimalAttentionTreeForestsShyBellyClearingStumps
Book:Full Catastrophe Living, Revised Edition: How to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation
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“In Asian languages, the word for mind and the word for heart are same. So if you’re not hearing mindfulness in some deep way as heartfulness, you’re not really understanding it. Compassion and kindness towards oneself are intrinsically woven into it. You could think of mindfulness as wise and affectionate attention.”

IfsThinkingWayMindHeartLanguageUnderstandingAttentionCompassionKindnessWiseMindfulnessOneselfHearingAsianWovenAffectionateKindness And Compassion
Author:Jon Kabat-Zinn
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“Acknowledging that sometimes, often at very crucial times, you really have no idea where you are going or even where the path lies. A the same time, you can very well know something about where you are now (even if it is knowing that you are lost, confused, enraged or without hope).”

IfsKnowsWellsIdeasSometimesLyingLostKnowingPathNo IdeaConfusedWhere You AreCrucialWithout HopeWhere You Are Going
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
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“Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. 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.”

IfsGivingWellsMaySelfEnoughFeelingsMightSpiritualPurposeSpiritualityUniverseQualityAcceptingPracticeAcceptanceJudgingExerciseBlessingLetting GoMindfulnessFoundationExperimentsObligationBeing TrueObservationGenerosityEach DaySelf AcceptanceVehicleInquiryDeservingCultivationGood PlaceSolid FoundationSelf Observation
Book:Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life
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“As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than there is wrong, no matter how ill or how hopeless you may feel. But if you hope to mobilize your inner capacities for growth and for healing and to take charge in your life on a new level, a certain kind of effort and energy on your part will be required.... It will take conscious effort on your part to move in a direction of healing and inner peace. This means learning to work with the very stress and pain that is causing you to suffer.”

IfsFeelsKindMayMeanLongMatterPainMovingCertainSufferingEnergyGrowthLevelsEffortHealingMeditationConsciousCapacityStressIllInner PeaceBreathingHopeless
Author:Jon Kabat-Zinn
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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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“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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“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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“In its outward manifestation, meditation appears to involve either stopping, by parking the body in a stillness that suspends activity, or giving oneself over to flowing movement. In either case, it is an embodiment of wise attention, an inward gesture undertaken for the most part in silence, a shift from doing to simply being. It is an act that may at first seem artificial but that we soon discover, if we keep at it, is ultimately one of pure love for the life unfolding within us and around us.”

IfsGivingFirstsMayBodySeemsWalksAttentionSilenceCasesWiseMeditationJourneyMovementWalkingPureActivityOneselfWanderManifestationStillnessArtificialGesturesHikingInwardStoppingUnfoldingTrekkingStrollingParkingEmbodimentSaunteringPure LoveLife Unfolding
Book:Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness
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