Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness Reviews

• 
  Hayley

  This book describes mindfulness - a practice for paying careful attention to the present moment and using meditation to focus that attention - and its potential benefits, from nearly every angle. I'd recommend it highly for those already interested, and at least somewhat versed, in mindfulness. For those with little interest or experience, large sections of the book might come across as lofty, verbose and too conceptual to help ground their mindfulness practice. That might just be my personal experience speaking (well, what else do I have?); I picked up mindfulness practice from another book that put everything into very relatable steps, and I read this book to deepen my understanding.
  
  "Coming to Our Senses" is a very thorough exploration of what mindfulness means - and what human sentience means. At its best, the book presents intriguing evidence of mindfulness benefits, such as scientific research documenting health improvements that seem to stem from practicing mindfulness. The book also describes vividly the unique pleasures of practicing mindfulness, down to things as simple as feeling the air move over one's skin. At its lamest, the book makes vague and sweeping claims about how mindfulness could benefit things like national governance, sometimes presenting little supporting evidence or clarity on what claims it's making.
  
  If I had to say one thing about author Jon Kabat-Zinn, I would call his mind impressively expansive, both in the directions of reductionism and holism. He can relate mindfulness to anything, from personal life and poetry to molecular processes, physics and the origins of the universe. The book has a second level, I think: Beyond what Kabat-Zinn writes, he himself is a great example of how to be mindful: allowing one's awareness to roam and find what it will (with varying degrees of control, and with the open-hearted engagement needed to really follow what it's doing), and allow whatever the mind finds to present itself, judging it as little as possible so even "negative" things can be instructive.
  
  My main criticism is that Kabat-Zinn could distill his lengthy explorations (and run-on sentences) into something a little sharper - the book is over 600 pages and is often repetitive. The author has, however, written short books and more basic ones - so his constructively wandering mind has gone there too.
  
  
• 
  Ruth

  Compared with "Full Catastrophe Living" (by the same author), this one wasn't as seminal for me; however, the very brief, almost stream-of-consciousness chapters in this one allow the author to touch on a lot of topics linked with mindfulness, and helped reinforce the need for us to connect to what we are going through now, moment by moment and breath by breath, rather than fixating on the past or the future all the time or dwelling in a "virtual" reality. Some chapters were particularly great; others just so-so, but all in all it was a great mix of wisdom with occasional poetry thrown in, zen quotes and more. Sometimes it seemed too "granola" to me, but overall a worthwhile book. To really absorb the thoughts here, it takes a long to read the book (hard to skim). I really admire this author though.
• 
  Linda Vituma

  You make problem = you have problem. Tā tas prāts strādā.
  Reizēm gribu sev pajautāt, cik vēl ievadus un instrukcijas par apzinātību un meditāciju es lasīšu? Nu, cik vajadzēs, tik lasīšu; cik nāks, tik lasīšu. Pa pilienam vien saslēdzas - aptveras. Vārdi ar nozīmi piepildās; vārdi ar nozīmi par sajūtām pārvēršas; sajūtas darbībās iemiesojas; darbošanās bez vārdiem un mērķiem par būšanu kļūst.
  Viena * nost, jo audio versija bija saīsināta.
• 
  Sarah

  Abridged audiobook version of 3h 9 min read very well by the author himself. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s words are wise and his voice is soothing. Lay back, close your eyes and enjoy.
• 
  Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance

  Mindfulness leader Jon Kabat-Zinn explores the ways mindfulness helps one's physical and mental health.
• 
  William Berry

  According to my Goodreads page, I began reading this over a year ago. It is the type of book you read a little at a time, and maybe apply some of what your reading. I have the utmost respect for Jon Kabat-Zinn; I’ve referenced him about a million times, he’s pretty much the foremost American authority on Mindfulness. I fell in love with the first book of his I read, “Wherever You Go, There You Are”. That’ll always be one of my top recommended books for mindfulness and meditation.
  
  With this book, I felt like Kabat-Zinn wanted to cover everything needed to change the world. One of my clients, in reading a different book of Kabat-Zinn’s, (Full Catastrophe Living) and felt it was too long. I felt similarly about this book, though I get it; he’s trying to lay down a plan for each individual to change him or herself, and the world. It’s over 600 pages, though most chapters are short. Still, it can be a little overwhelming, and there were times I just wanted to be done with it.
  
  Kabat-Zinn can be a bit verbose, though his writing can be poetic at times. I also enjoyed the quotes from other writers that he builds upon. But at times, I felt, “okay, I get the point”. Yet the analogies kept going.
  
  I don’t wish to be overly harsh, as I said, I have the utmost respect for his expertise. And, to be fair, this volume is full of knowledge, expertise, and suggestions to help one become more mindful. I just wish it had been more to the point.
  
• 
  Michael

  Kabat-Zinn has brought East and West together in his remarkable career. He shares his work from the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre which has established the ability of mindfulness training to reduce pain and improve wellbeing in many different medical conditions. He explains how simple mindfulness exercises can for example speed up the healing of psoriatic plaques. He describes the process by which CBT psychotherapists come to him for direction on incorporating mindfulness into CBT for depression, a process which has recently shown impressive results. Kabat-Zinn's writing is captivating and mesmerizing and this book takes longer to get through because the point, of course, is to try these techniques yourself. I have to say I am intrigued... The book kind of drags on towards the end, but I remain a fan.
• 
  Terry

  How can you not appreciate Jon Kabat-Zinn? He opened the stress-reduction clinic in 1979 based on mindfulness practice. I read Full Catastrophe Living years ago, and this book is a great companion and expansion of what Kabat-Zinn has learned in the interim years. I'd like to require this in a poetry writing class, not just because JKZ knows and quote poetry, but because poetry is about coming to your senses.
  
  Pay attention. To yourself. To the soundscape, the touchscape, the sightscape, tastescape, smellscape, and mindscape.
• 
  Ashley

  So good. So many wonderful messages about our human capability to heal and grow. Jon Kabat-Zinn is long winded. He seems to repeat himself quite a bit but it is always to drive home points and perspectives I don't feel we area hearing often enough. He rights in a way that feels very accessible to me. He makes mindfulness feel totally applicable to everyday life no matter where you are or what is taking place. I felt each page held gifts of healing and comfort. I read this a year after loosing my father unexpectedly and it was soothing balm to my soul.
• 
  Heather

  
  I didn't like the style of writing of this book - almost every paragraph contained sentences that ran on and on and on and on, expressing the same idea over and over and over and over.
  
  I think the idea of this book is good, but I didn't actually make it all the way through the book - it was driving me crazy (not conducive to mindfulness at all!)
• 
  Kevin S.

  In my humble, opinion, many of the chapters are as powerful and thought provoking as any Kabat-Zinn I have read. Many chapters are more theoretical ruminations or metaphors. This is definitely not the book to begin learning the basics of mindfulness. BUT, do go back and mine for the nuggets when you understand more than the basics.
• 
  Maria Hicks

  Not my favorite by one of my favorite authors. So many good messages, but too long to get the messages across to all but the devoted.
• 
  John

  Too many words that get in the way. The path to mindfulness is surely less verbose than this.
• 
  Rafael

  To me this book is like the Tao te Ching but 500 pages longer. What can I tell you? If you're dense like me sometimes you need the longer explanation. Heehee!
• 
  Marcus Backman

  I first stumbled across Jon Kabat-Zinn's work years ago while going through a personal crisis. Opening my mind and heart to an awareness of my own suffering had a profound effect on my outlook and dealings with my life, my relationship to myself and others. Reading 'Wherever You Go, There You Are' began a period of awakening for my inner-self that has continued to this day with a daily meditation practice and a more spiritual awareness of the world around and inside of me.
  
  This book, which is a behemoth 600-page-brick of a tome, is divided into eight parts with topics ranging from an introduction to mindfulness and meditation practice, to the research being done into the benefits of meditation, to more philosophical/spiritual two-page-ditties where Jon expresses his own thoughts re life at an individual/societal/cosmic level.
  
  I read the book as a part of my daily meditation practice and it served this function well. Ten pages at a time, the book can be digested and reflected upon appropriately; this is not a book to power through and finish in a day—like a chocolate cake it is best enjoyed in moderation, as Jon's thoughts often run parallel to one another and occasionally you get the feeling he has repeated what he is saying 100 pages earlier. Perhaps this is my one qualm with this book, and of course with it being 600 pages this was always going to be a problem (for how can you talk about one topic for 600 pages without tripping over your own feet on occasion?). The final 200 pages of the book felt unnecessary at times, and I skimmed over it as a sense of deja vu washed over me constantly.
  
  And yet, I loved my slow journey through 'Coming to Your Senses'. You are either going to dig Jon's style or not. He comes at mindfulness from both a scientific and spiritual perspective, and he never gets too 'woo-woo' or 'airy-fairy', although he occasionally wafts on a little bit (you know a friend who does this; the friend who is passionate about one topic and repeat information about it ad nauseum to you every week and you are too polite to tell them you've heard it before!). Jon's love for the world, and his belief that mindfulness and coming to 'meet ourselves at our own door' (taking from D.Walcott's beautiful poem 'Love After Love') could trigger a world-wide shift in consciousness is infectious. As someone who has seen the benefits of this practice in his own life the past year, I can only agree with Jon here; if everyone were to be a bit more aware and less reactionary, perhaps our future wouldn't feature as much needless suffering as our past.
  
  Conclusionary comment: buy this book if you want a practical/spiritual/poetic/philosophical/thought provoking accompaniment to deepen your mindfulness practice.
  
  Warning: this isn't the ideal book for someone who wants simple and practical meditation guidance. If you do want this, check out Jon's 'Mindfulness for Beginners'.
• 
  Teresa Arauco

  I really appreciated this book: the chapters were short, there was a variety of meditation styles and traditions discussed (but not exhaustive) and the emphasis for the bulk of the book was on the human senses. This approach to meditation really rung true with me. Kabat-Zinn encourages us to use our senses to examine our internal ecosystem PLUS he encourages us to be aware of how we use our senses to experience the world outside.
  
  THIS BRAND of "get to know yourself" made a lot of sense to me:
  
  - nail down which sense communicates what info
  - determine how did that sense draw that conclusion
  - identify how senses affect my specific perceptions
  
  This is a tangible means of introspection.
  
  It was fun hearing Kabat-Zinn reference our own Richard Davidson at UW Madison (
  https://news.wisc.edu/meditation-affe...)
• 
  Michael

  Jon Kabat-Zinn's 2005 book, in its introduction, quotes two questions from a meditation teacher after a ten-day, almost entirely silent retreat. Meditation Teacher: "How is the world treating you?" JK-Z: Ok. Meditation Teacher: "And how are you treating the world?"
  
  These questions were actually different sides of the same coin.
  
  JK-Z ends the book's introduction with "...it is past time for us to pay attention to what we already know or sense, not just in the outer world of our relationships with others and with our surroundings, but in the interior world of our own thoughts and feelings, aspirations and fears, hopes and dreams."
  
  'Coming To Our Senses,' provides a better than good introduction to the practice of mindfulness.
• 
  Martin Denton

  This was one of the two or three books that truly changed by life, by which I mean it made me see the world and my place in it in a new and valuable way. I've read it twice, along with most of the other published works of
  Jon Kabat-Zinn and have striven to incorporate what I've learned from it in my daily living.
  
  The book has three main objectives. The first is to provide readers with an introduction to mindfulness, which is the practice of paying attention, of being present; of always being in the here and now without judgment.
  
  The next big idea in the book is how to apply mindfulness inwardly, to strive toward building a more balanced and healthful self. Kabat-Zinn talks about the notion of dis-ease (contrasted with disease) and how living mindfully can keep you on a course to avoid thoughts and actions that are unproductive, damaging, and self-defeating.
  
  Finally, there's discussion of applying mindfulness outwardly, to seek ways to keep the world healthy. Kabat-Zinn suggests that everyone, in his/her small way, can make changes every day to leave the world better than we found it.
  
  After I read this through the first time, I began a meditation practice (using Kabat-Zinn's accompanying CDs for guidance), and I have made changes in my daily life patterns that I think have given me more balance and equanimity in how I live and how I view the world. It's a process that never ends, and a re-read of this book is probably in order once again to keep me on track.
  
  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
• 
  Jo Jenner

  This book contains 8 parts and can be purchased as 4 books of 2 parts each. I wish I had done that as parts of this book are fascinating and uplifting while other parts are beyond my comprehension.
  For example part 8, which is thankfully short, talks about the physics of the universe and I found myself completely lost.
  However Part 3 which talks about awareness through our senses is fascinating and is almost a meditation as you read.
  A great book and I will read it again but I will be picking and choosing which parts I revisit.
• 
  Johannes Marks

  Enthält neben viel sinnvoller Einleitung, über die andere schon in deutlicheren Worten weniger Papier verbraucht haben, leider auch unfassbar viel Geschwafel. Viel von dem Geschwafel klingt nicht mehr ganz so abstrus, wenn man sich mehr mit der Materie beschäftigt hat. Trotzdem würde ich behaupten, dass jeder kritische Mensch einige Überwindung aufbringen muss, um dieses Buch von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite fertigzulesen.
• 
  Ania Gaska

  The writing made me feel like the introduction was never ending, big topics were brought up but I always felt like I missed the point and checked back to see if I had missed them. But I feel like he's coy with his information. Overall I felt discouraged by his writing, like I would never be good at meditation and I was failing at it right now. I stopped about seven chapters in, a couple of those I skipped ahead
• 
  Patti K

  A 2006 work that describes the steps, practice, and benefits
  of meditation. Kabat-Zinn is a professor emeritus of medicine
  and the creator of the Stress Reduction Center at the University
  of Massachusetts. He has stressed the importance of mindfulness
  in medicine in his career. Studied with Buddhist teachers and
  did yoga, but does not consider himself a Buddhist. A very useful
  portrayal of this body-spirit approach to well-being.