Kabat-Zinn Meditation Course

This time I am following the 8 week course of Jon Kabat-Zinn from his book I am reading entitled "Full Catastrophe Living" originally written in 1990. I have only recently become aware of this book from my local book dealer although I had read other books of his. It is an excellent guide to meditation for all levels but especially for beginners. In short, the principles are those of mindfulness from the Buddhist traditions that go back several thousand years only without any religious context. These time tested techniques have in more recent times been used effectively with a great many people at Jon Kabat-Zinn's Stress Reduction Clinic in the U.S.

I have made, however, a few of my own customizations to his ideas & program.

1. Law of Attraction - I have been convinced through reading and experience that the law of attraction is a universal one; existing in both what might be called our outer world and our inner one. With this in mind, I do not focus on stress management as this would only seem to attract more stress. What I seek is wellness that, among other aspects of health, allows me to avoid, manage & transform stress.

2. Spiritual Connection - for me meditation requires openness to all things and when this happens my mind naturally becomes aware of a presence beyond myself - call this what you will. Ultimately though, I can not help but see meditation as a means by which to connect to that force or energy which is unseen but we are all aware of. So my experience is that meditation in inherently spiritual in nature.

3. Physical Relaxation - every time I meditate I first do the yoga sun salutations. I believe as others do that stretching and relaxing your body help in having the best meditation experience. So I always prepare to meditate by stretching, although it is arguably not essential to do so.

4. Visualization & Affirmation - I like sometimes like contemplating just before meditation using an affirmation from one of the many card decks that I have. I will list these in another post. Being a visual learner though I find that the meditative state of mind literally allows me to see ideas that I was not aware of. For me meditation has a strong creative element as well.

So for today and the next eight weeks I will follow the Kabat-Zinn program. I remain open to whatever experience this becomes and will share it with these blog postings.