Jon Kabat-Zinn's 30 Best Quotes
Jon Kabat Zinn He is known worldwide for his research and his contributions to meditative practice and Mindfulness. In fact, regarding the latter, he is considered the promoter in the West and its greatest exponent.
- If you want to know what Mindfulness is, you can read this article: “What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions”
Jon Kabat-Zinn's Phases to Ponder
In the following lines you can find a list with Jon Kabat-Zinn's best quotes.
1. Mindfulness is a first-order, first-person experience, and not an experience filtered through the mind of another.
Mindfulness makes people connect with themselves and promotes self-knowledge.
2. Consciousness requires only that we pay attention to things and see them as they are. It does not require us to change anything
This practice has the characteristic that it focuses on the acceptance of the experience, since what is important is not the events themselves, but how we relate to them.
3. Much of the education system guides students to become better thinkers, but there is almost no attention paid to our ability to pay attention and cultivate awareness.
The emotional intelligence It is not usually taken into account in educational centers, something that harms not only the emotional health of students, but also their performance.
4. Don't try to push the thoughts out. Give them space, watch them and let them go
Observation and acceptance of the experience are two basic principles of the practice of Mindfulness.
5. In Asian languages, the word for "mind" and the word for "heart" are the same. So if you're not listening to attention in some deep way like heartfulness, you're not really understanding it.
Self-compassion is also one of the basic principles of Mindfulness, because it improves the relationship with ourselves.
6. Compassion and kindness towards oneself are intrinsically intertwined in the practice of Mindfulness. You would think of care so wise and caring care
One must love oneself for the sake of greater mental well-being.
7. Care is about love and love life. When you cultivate love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life and your actions will happen accordingly.
When you love yourself and treat yourself with respect, life has another color, a more positive one.
8. It takes a certain way of digging, a certain kind of internal archaeology, to discover our totality, even if it is very well covered under layers of opinions, likes and dislikes, and the thick fog of unconscious, automatic thoughts and habits, not to mention the pain
automatic thoughts they are intrusive thoughts that we must observe and let go.
9. Everything our body normally does is wonderful and extraordinary, although it rarely occurs to us to think of it in this way.
We tend to be very hard on ourselves, and rarely reward ourselves for the things we do well.
10. Even before smartphones and the Internet, we had many ways to distract ourselves. Now that's compounded by a factor of trillions.
The new technologies they make our mind jump from one place to another in a matter of seconds.
11. My father was a first rate scientist and my mother was a prolific painter. I realized that my parents had completely different ways of knowing and understanding the world, and that they refer to it in different ways.
The author explains what his parents were like, and makes reference to how each person has a different vision of the world.
12. My father approached things through scientific inquiry and exploration, while my mother experienced things through her emotions and senses.
Her mother was more prone to experimenting with emotions, she was emotionally more intelligent.
13. Mindfulness teaches us how to use the wisdom of the body and mind to deal with stress, pain and illness.
Thanks to Mindfulness we can improve the connection between our body and our mind.
14. When you connect with something, this connection immediately gives you a meaning to live.
The experience that Mindfulness provides us improves our way of relating to the world.
15. Mindfulness does not mean stumbling out thoughts or building a wall around ourselves so that they do not disturb our mind.
It is not a question of silencing the mind so as not to listen to anything, but of voluntarily focusing attention and knowing and accepting what we think and feel
16. Ironically, even though we all "have" minds, it seems like we need to "re-mind" ourselves from time to time about who we are.
Although every human being has a mind, the use that each one makes of it is different.
17. Some people show some resistance to the idea of taking time for themselves. The Puritan ethic has left us a legacy of guilt when we do something just for ourselves
It's not often that we live in the here and now.We have not been educated for that.
18. It is impossible to become another. Our only hope is to be more fully ourselves.
The will is an important part of Mindfulness practice. This practice is easy but not simple.
19. Mindfulness improves self-confidence and helps to enjoy the fullness of the experience
The benefits of the practice of Mindfulness for people's health have been demonstrated in a multitude of investigations.
20. When you pay attention to boredom it becomes incredibly interesting.
Instead of letting the mind ruminate, it is much more satisfying pay attention to the experience as a whole.
- Related article: "Rumination: the annoying vicious circle of thought"
21. Patience is simply being totally open to each moment, accepting it in its fullness and knowing that, as in the case of the butterfly, things are discovered when they are touch
The author makes a comparison between Mindfulness and the life of a butterfly.
22. Mindfulness is not simply a method to be happier, it is a philosophy of life
It is much more rewarding to live in Mindfulness mode than to practice it from time to time.
23. We must educate the youngest in the practice of Mindfulness if we want them to grow up happier
As a philosophy, this practice should be taught to children at an early age. One of Jon Kabat-Zinn's phrases about the educational model.
24. Only when the mind is open and receptive can learning, insight and change take place.
The will to change is the principle before the task of delving into this oriental practice.
25. Breathing is central to all aspects of meditation training. It is a wonderful place to focus on training the mind to be calm and focused.
Meditation and Mindfulness are closely related; however, they are not exactly the same.
- You may be interested in: "How to learn to meditate, in 7 easy steps"
26. This habit of categorizing and judging our experience leads to mechanical reactions that we are not even aware of and often have no objective basis whatsoever.
Stopping in the here and now with an observational mindset helps us to be aware of how we think.
27. Sometimes turning off the sound on the TV can allow you to actually see the game and take it in a totally different and more direct way.
Usually, people don't realize that we constantly live on autopilot.
28. If we are to find a more effective way of managing the stress in our lives, the first thing we will need is become aware of these automatic judgments to see through our prejudices and fears and free ourselves from their tyranny
stress can be reduced if we adopt a different mentality from the one we usually use in the western world.
- Related article: "10 essential tips to reduce stress"
29. If Mindfulness is important to you, then any moment is an opportunity to practice it.
When Mindfulness is a passion, the practice is effortless.
30. You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf
It is not good to force yourself to stop thoughts or emotions, it is better to accept them.