yes, therapy helps!
The 30 best sentences of Jon Kabat-Zinn

The 30 best sentences of Jon Kabat-Zinn

April 3, 2024

Jon Kabat-Zinn He is world-renowned for his research and contributions to meditative practice and Mindfulness. In fact, with regard to the latter, he is considered the driving force in the West and its greatest exponent.

  • If you want to know what Mindfulness is, you can read this article: "What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions "

Phases of Jon Kabat-Zinn to reflect

In the following lines you can find a list with the best sentences of Jon Kabat-Zinn .

1. Mindfulness is a first-rate experience, in the first person, and not an experience filtered by the mind of another

Mindfulness makes people connect with themselves and favors self-knowledge .


2. Consciousness requires only that we pay attention to things and see them as they are. It does not require that we change anything

This practice has the characteristic that focuses on the acceptance of experience, because the important thing is not the events themselves, but how we relate to them.

3. Much of the education system guides students to become better thinkers, but there is almost no attention to our ability to pay attention and cultivate awareness

Emotional Intelligence is not usually taken into account in schools, something that harms not only the emotional health of students, but also their performance.


4. Do not try to expel thoughts. Give them space, observe them and let them go

Observation and acceptance of experience are two basic principles of the practice of Mindfulness.

5. In the Asian languages, the word "mind" and the word "heart" are the same. So if you are not listening to the attention in some deep way like heartfulness, you are not really understanding it

Self-pity is also one of the basic principles of Mindfulness , because it improves the relationship with ourselves.

6. Compassion and kindness towards oneself are intricately intertwined in the practice of Mindfulness. You could think of the attention so wise and affectionate attention

One must love oneself for the sake of greater mental well-being.

7. Attention is about love and love life. When you cultivate love, you give clarity and compassion for life and your actions will happen according to that

When you love yourself and treat yourself with respect, life has another color, a more positive one.


8. You need a certain way of digging, a certain type of internal archeology, to get to discover our totality, although it is very well covered under layers of opinions, of things that we like and dislike and by the dense fog of thoughts and unconscious and automatic habits, not to mention the pain

Automatic thoughts are intrusive thoughts that we must observe and let go.

9. Everything that our body does normally is wonderful and extraordinary, although we rarely think about it in this way

We tend to be very hard on ourselves, and we are rarely rewarded for the things we do well.

10. Even before smartphones and the Internet, we had many ways to distract ourselves. Now that is aggravated by a factor of billions

The new technologies They make our mind jump from one place to another in a matter of seconds.

11. My father was a first-rate scientist and my mother was a prolific painter. I realized that my parents had completely different ways of knowing and understanding the world, and that they refer to it differently

The author explains how his parents were, and makes reference to how each person has a different vision of the world.

12. My father approached things through scientific research and exploration, while my mother experienced things through her emotions and senses

His mother was more prone to experiment with emotions, she was emotionally more intelligent.

13. Mindfulness teaches us how to use the wisdom of the body and mind to cope with stress, pain and illness

Thanks to Mindfulness we can improve the connection between our body and our mind.

14. When you connect with something, this connection immediately gives you a sense to live

The experience that Mindfulness gives us improves our way of relating to the world .

15. Mindfulness does not entail tossing out thoughts or building a wall around us so that they do not disturb our mind

It is not about quieting the mind to listen to nothing, but to focus attention voluntarily and know and accept what we think and feel

16. Ironically, even if we all "have" minds, it gives the impression that we need to "re-think" from time to time about who we are

Although every human being has a mind, each one's use is different.

17. There are people who show some resistance to the idea of ​​reserving time for themselves. The Puritan ethic has left us an inheritance of guilt when we do something just for ourselves

It is not often that we live in the here and now , they have not educated us for that.

18. It is impossible to become another. Our only hope is to be ourselves more fully

Will is an important part of Mindfulness practice. This practice is easy but not simple.

19. Mindfulness improves self-confidence and helps to enjoy the fullness of the experience

The benefits of the practice of Mindfulness for the health of people has been demonstrated in many researches.

20. When you pay attention to boredom it becomes incredibly interesting

Instead of letting the mind ruminate, it's much more satisfying pay attention to the experience in its entirety .

  • Related article: "Rumination: the annoying vicious circle of thought"

21. To have patience consists simply of being totally open at every moment, accepting it in its fullness and knowing that, as in the case of the butterfly, things are discovered when they are touched

The author makes a comparison between Mindfulness and the life of a butterfly.

22. Mindfulness is not simply a method to be happier, it is a philosophy of life

It is much more rewarding to live in Mindfulness mode than to practice it from time to time.

23. We must educate the younger ones in the practice of Mindfulness if we want them to grow happier

As a philosophy, this practice should be taught to children already at an early age . One of the phrases of Jon Kabat-Zinn about the educational model.

24. Only when the mind is open and receptive can learning, vision and change occur.

The will to change is the principle before the task of entering into this oriental practice.

25. Breathing is fundamental to all aspects of meditation training. It is a wonderful place to focus on mind training to be calm and focused

Meditation and Mindfulness are intimately related; however, they are not exactly the same.

  • Maybe you're interested: "How to learn to meditate, in 7 simple steps"

26. This habit of categorizing and judging our experience leads us to mechanical reactions that we do not even realize and that are often totally lacking in an objective basis.

Stopping in the here and now with an observational mindset helps us to be aware of how we think.

27. Sometimes turning off the sound of the television can allow you to really see the game and take it in a totally different and more direct way

Usually, people do not realize that we live constantly with the autopilot on.

28. If we are to find a more effective way to handle the stress of our lives, the first thing we need to do is to become aware of those automatic judgments in order to see through our prejudices and fears and free ourselves from their tyranny.

Stress can be reduced if we adopt a different mentality than we usually use in the Western world.

  • Related article: "10 essential tips to reduce stress"

29. If Mindfulness is important to you, then any time is an opportunity to practice it

When Mindfulness is a passion, practice does not cost effort.

30. You can not stop the waves, but you can learn to surf

It is not good to force oneself to stop thoughts or emotions, it is better to accept them.


Mindfulness Dissolves Thoughts — Attention Is What’s Left Over, with Jon Kabat-Zinn (April 2024).


Similar Articles