Jon Kabat-Zinn is a world-renowned researcher into the field of mind-body medicine. He is the author of popular personal development books and he created a stress reduction program that is used in hospitals and clinics across the world. He is also a professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he helped develop the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine.
Background of Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn was born June 5, 1944. His father was a celebrated biomedical scientist and his mother was a painter.
Kabat-Zinn attended MIT where he earned a Ph.D. in 1971 in the field of molecular biology. He was also a student of Buddhism and studied with Seung Sahn, a Zen master who helped establishthe Cambridge Zen Center.
Jon Kabat-Zinn integrated the teachings of his Buddhist teachers with his understandings of Western medicine and developed a mind-body program that helps people overcome anxiety, illness, pain, and stress.
Career of Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn began teaching his mind-body program which he called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in 1979. He developed an eight week class that utilized yoga and meditation to teach students moment-to-moment awareness in an effort to deal with anxiety and disease. Medical studies were conducted on participants to determine how mindfulness affected their brains and boosted their immune systems.
As a result of the positive benefits observed when using Kabat-Zinn’s personal development ideas, the meditation program grew into a model that is used in over 200 medical facilities around the world today.
Jon Kabat-Zinn was a founder and former director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine as well as the Stress Reduction Clinic. He was a founding fellow of the Fetzer Institute as well as a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Jon Kabat-Zinn also helped establish the Consortium of Academic Health for Integrative Medicine. He has also written some of the most popular personal development books on the subject of mindfulness.
Books by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• “Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness” was published in 1990. This popular work by Jon Kabat-Zinn is available in book form, as an ebook on Kindle, and an audio CD. This book is based on the personal development ideas as taught in the stress reduction program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Readers learn how to cope with stress using medically proven methods that bring about relief to the mind, body, and spirit. This book is ideal for all ages, and for all health conditions that are aggravated by stress such as panic disorders and cardiovascular disease.
• “The Power of Meditation and Prayer” was published in 1997 and is available as a paperback. This is a collaborative work with other New Thought leaders such as Larry Dossey, Marsha Sinetar, Neale Donald Walsch, and Jack Kornfield. This work contains essays on the subject of meditation and prayer.
More and more books are also becoming available as ebooks and audibles.
• “Wherever You Go, There You Are,” is a book, Kindle ebook, and audio book. This work by Jon Kabat-Zinn was published in 2005. “Wherever You Go, There You Are” is a follow-up to “Full Catastrophe Living.” “Full Catastrophe Living” focused primarily on using meditation to heal the physical or mental body and “Wherever You Go, There You Are” explains meditation and its spiritual benefits in greater detail. Jon Kabat-Zinn uses this book to stress the importance of mindfulness and living in the now as a path to happiness and personal growth.
• “Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness” was published in 2006 and is available as a paperback book. Jon Kabat-Zinn used this book to teach readers the importance of treating the earth with respect, and becoming aware of our impact upon the earth and other living creatures.
• “Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness” is a paperback that was published in 2007. This book offers daily readings that guide readers towards a state of mindfulness in order to create healing in themselves and the planet as a whole.
• “Letting Everything Become Your Teacher: 100 Lessons in Mindfulness” was published in 2009 and can be purchased as a paperback book. This work by Jon Kabat-Zinn contains thought provoking lessons on the subject of mindfulness that can be read during daily meditations.
Jon Kabat-Zinn Today
Jon Kabat-Zinn continues to teach others about his personal development ideas and the value of mindfulness as he learned from his Buddhist teachers. Works based on his teachings have helped countless people all across the world.
Jon Kabat-Zinn has taught many classes in person to average people, CEOs of large corporations, and healthcare professionals. He leads retreats in mindfulness meditation and continues to author self improvement books and scientific papers.
He has received much recognition and acclaim for his research into the field of mind-body medicine and is considered a pioneer in this often neglected aspect of human development. Jon Kabat-Zinn has used his understanding of Western science and Eastern spiritual practices as a base for his beliefs and methods. He serves on the board of the Mind and Life Institute which is dedicated to exploring the relationship between Buddhism and science
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