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Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

Jon Kabat-Zinn · 6 HN comments
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Amazon Summary
When Wherever You Go, There You Are was first published in 1994, no one could have predicted that the book would launch itself onto bestseller lists nationwide and sell over 750,000 copies to date. Ten years later, the book continues to change lives. In honor of the book's 10th anniversary, Hyperion is proud to be releasing the book with a new afterword by the author, and to share this wonderful book with an even larger audience.
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On the same lines of the previous comment, I've found this book to be very useful:

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-Go-There-Are/dp/140130778...

Was recommended on one of HN's threads about meditation.

Entangld, this is a great app. I hope you will find some time for healing.

Stress burns the mind in the same way as physical activity burns the muscle. At some point you need to give your mind a rest. I suggest this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Wisdom-Illness...

or this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-Go-There-Are/dp/140130778...

This should help you keep your strengths intact regardless of your current situations ... who is to say that next endeavor will be better than the previous one.

He does go into other postures, but from what I recollect the first one he mentions is lying on your back. I got from the book that the posture isn't as important as being comfortable, clearing your mind and having something stable to focus your mind on initially. Breathing is three fold because it is always with you, you will never stop breathing* & when people are anxious or in the midst of panic usually their breathing becomes irregular, which is something you can take back and control, empowering the person in that situation to realize they are still breathing and OK.

Much of the book is has him discussing his pain & wellness center, patients & his own life. Which is why I said it's wordy. I have read reviews that suggest his follow-up book has more meat & potatoes on meditation techniques:

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-ROUGH/dp/140130...

*Yes there are exception to this which my logical mind started going down, such as paralysis, death, drowning, choking... etc...

There's lots and lots of research out there that meditation increases insight, memory, improves sleep, reduces stress, reduces the physical perception of pain, improves, well, just about everything.

Useful refs:

http://www.amazon.com/Destructive-Emotions-Scientific-Dialog... (the Audio CD set is even better, imo, with actual dialog)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43006-2005Jan...

My favorite intros to secular meditation (that is, non-religious Buddhism):

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-ROUGH/dp/140130...

http://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/B0...

http://www.amazon.com/Being-Nobody-Going-Nowhere-Meditations...

Doing what I learned in from three, plus the Destructive Emotions audio book, absolutely transformed my life. Like night and day. Now I'm one of the best-adjusted people I know, despite having gone through (and, in a few cases, done) some horrendous things.

What mindfulness meditation teaches you, above all physical side effects, is to accept things as they are. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to change them, if they're truly bad, but most people deny what is reality. As if that helps. (I sure did.) But denying just hurts more, doesn't make it untrue, of course, and denial makes it impossible for you to improve things.

I think most of the troubles in life are caused by denial.

And, bonus, the level of mindfulness makes it easy for me to spot user interface/process (and therefor product) opportunities because I almost never just "tune out" and work on autopilot.

Have you read Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn? http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-ROUGH/dp/140130...

He is my favorite author when it comes to meditation because he focus on mindfulness and not Buddhism or more "spiritual" things as most meditation books do. He also has tapes for guided meditation that are a good way to start meditating everyday.

Jan 29, 2009 · abijlani on Ask YC: Meditation Advice
Meditation is not a quick fix. It is a journey inside oneself where you uncover a lot of things about yourself and especially your mind.

Stress relieving can be done in several ways such as: running, yoga, swimming or even just something simple like doodling or painting.

Few good books if you really want to look into meditation are: http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-Mindfulness/dp/... http://www.amazon.com/Minute-Meditation-Quiet-Mind-Change/dp... http://www.amazon.com/Book-Secrets-Keys-Love-Meditation/dp/0...

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