Mindfulness for Beginners Insights

The must-read analysis of the key insights from "Mindfulness for Beginners" by Jon Kabat-Zinn — presented by Athena.

Meditation is scientifically proven to release stress and improve health. And take it from the scientist who brought mindful meditation to the mainstream, starting your practice is easier than you think.

You don’t need to be Buddhist to practice mindfulness — that’s the crux of this easy-to-follow guide by molecular biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn, who began exploring meditation while earning his Ph.D. at MIT. He went on to found the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he developed an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course to help patients cope with stress caused by health problems. MBSR clinics have since opened at hospitals around the world.

Kabat-Zinn’s has extended his teachings beyond the medical community as a professor and author of several books. "Mindfulness for Beginners" grew out of an audio program he created featuring guided meditations. In its pages, he presents those meditations, explains the basic tenets behind mindfulness and describes some of the scientific studies that have been done in the field.

His goal is to help everyone integrate mindfulness into their daily lives, and he invites readers to think of the book as a doorway into the practice.