There are many definitions of mindfulness, some are more practical and some are more poetic. In a podcast interview Jon Kabat-Zinn (the creator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course) gave a unique and moving definition that deserved capturing. I went back and transcribed it to share with you…
“Mindfulness is not a good idea or a philosophy. It’s a way of being in relationship to your experience. Through that, what you engage in is a process of learning, inwardly and outwardly, because you are paying attention.
Through the learning you can’t help but grow because that’s what human do, that’s what life is about, growing. And then through the growing you can’t help but have a different relationship with the unwanted, with what’s most stressful or what’s most painful, whether it’s physical or emotional.”
Others from different traditions and historical eras have put different words to mindful awareness. A very kind client of mine shared these additional descriptions with me recently…
- The Poet Rumi: mindfulness is “loving alertness”
- The Zen monk & teacher Suzuki Roshi: mindfulness is “soft readiness”
- Indian guru Nisargadatta Maharaj: mindfulness is “affectionate awareness”
- American Catholic mystic Thomas Merton: mindfulness “rises up in wordless gentleness”