Jon Kabat-Zinn
Encyclopedia
Jon Kabat-Zinn (born June 5, 1944) is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen
Master Seung Sahn
and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center
. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with those of Western science. He teaches mindfulness meditation
as a technique to help people cope with stress
, anxiety
, pain
and illness
.
in 1971 from MIT where he studied under Salvador Luria, Nobel Laureate
in medicine. Kabat-Zinn is the founder and former Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also the founder (1979) and former director of its renowned Stress Reduction Clinic and Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
into the mainstream of medicine
and society
. Kabat-Zinn is the author or co-author of scientific papers on mindfulness and its clinical applications. He has written two bestselling books: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness (Delta, 1991), and Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Hyperion, 1994). He co-authored with Myla Kabat-Zinn Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, (Hyperion, 1997). Other books include Coming to Our Senses (Hyperion, 2005) and his most recent book The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness, co-authored with J. Mark G. Williams
, John D. Teasdale
and Zindel V. Segal
(Guilford, 2007).
Kabat-Zinn has made significant contributions to modern health care
with his research which focused on mind/body interactions for healing, and on various clinical applications of mindfulness meditation training for people with chronic pain
and/or stress-related disorders. Kabat-Zinn began teaching the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
(MBSR) at the Stress Reduction Clinic in 1979. MBSR is an eight week course which combines meditation and Hatha yoga
to help patients cope with stress, pain, and illness by using moment-to-moment awareness. Such mindfulness helps participants use their inner resources to achieve good health and well being. Kabat-Zinn and colleagues have studied the effects of practising moment-to-moment awareness on the brain
, and how it processes emotion
s, particularly under stress, and on the immune system
.
In 1993, Kabat-Zinn’s work in the Stress Reduction Clinic was featured in Bill Moyers
's PBS special Healing and the Mind and in the book by Moyers of the same title. Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues published a research paper demonstrating in a small clinical trial
a fourfold effect of the mind on the rate of skin clearing in patients with psoriasis
undergoing ultraviolet light therapy. A more recent paper shows positive changes in brain activity, emotional processing under stress, and immune function in people taking an MBSR course in a corporate work setting in a randomized clinical trial.
His guided meditation practice cds are useful to people interested in learning how to meditate and for those looking to deepen their practice. He describes many different types of mindfulness: sitting, standing, lying down, walking and as an integral part of daily lives. One central theme is that meditation is the "adventure of a lifetime."
By presenting meditation to the West as an effective way to cope with the stresses of everyday life, these practice cds can provide relief to many struggling to cope with the frantic pace of urban life.
Jon Kabat-Zinn's meditation cds draw from multiple spiritual teachings and practices. His work promotes peace, inner reflection, compassion and tolerance.
He is a board member of the Mind and Life Institute
, a group that organizes dialogues between the Dalai Lama
and Western scientists to promote deeper understanding of different ways of knowing and probing the nature of mind, emotions, and reality.
On May 15, 2009, Zinn participated as a guest speaker at the Greater Good Science Center's Science of a Meaningful Life seminar on "Compassion, Mindfulness, and Well-being," along with University of California, Berkeley
psychologist Dacher Keltner
. In his presentation, he helped participants understand how practices that cultivate mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion can lead to profound and positive changes in health and well-being.
. Their three grown children are Will, Naushon and Serena.
1593851286.
University of Massachusetts Medical School
The University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system and is home to three schools: the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Graduate School of Nursing; a biomedical research enterprise; and a range of...
. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Master Seung Sahn
Seung Sahn
Seung Sahn Haeng Won Dae Soen-sa , born Dok-In Lee, was a Korean Jogye Seon master and founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen—the largest Zen institution present in the Western world. He was the seventy-eighth teacher in his lineage...
and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center
Cambridge Zen Center
Cambridge Zen Center is an urban meditation center in Cambridge, Massachusetts close to Harvard University, part of the Kwan Um School of Zen. Free meditation training and dharma talks are offered to the public and the Zen Center also provides a large residential training program.-See also:*...
. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with those of Western science. He teaches mindfulness meditation
Mindfulness (psychology)
Modern clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on the concept of mindfulness in Buddhist meditation.-Definitions:...
as a technique to help people cope with stress
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
, anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
, pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
and illness
Illness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
.
Biography
Kabat-Zinn was born in 1944, to Elvin Kabat, a biomedical scientist, and Sally Kabat, a painter. Kabat-Zinn received his Ph.D. in molecular biologyMolecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
in 1971 from MIT where he studied under Salvador Luria, Nobel Laureate
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in medicine. Kabat-Zinn is the founder and former Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also the founder (1979) and former director of its renowned Stress Reduction Clinic and Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Work
His life work has been largely dedicated to bringing mindfulnessMindfulness (psychology)
Modern clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on the concept of mindfulness in Buddhist meditation.-Definitions:...
into the mainstream of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
. Kabat-Zinn is the author or co-author of scientific papers on mindfulness and its clinical applications. He has written two bestselling books: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness (Delta, 1991), and Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Hyperion, 1994). He co-authored with Myla Kabat-Zinn Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, (Hyperion, 1997). Other books include Coming to Our Senses (Hyperion, 2005) and his most recent book The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness, co-authored with J. Mark G. Williams
J. Mark G. Williams
Mark Williams, D Phil, is a Professor of Clinical Psychology and Wellcome Principal Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Experimental Psychology...
, John D. Teasdale
John D. Teasdale
John D. Teasdale was a leading researcher at Oxford University, and then in the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. He dedicated his focus to understanding the cognition behind depression. Teasdale was a pioneer in the cognitive therapy advancements in the United Kingdom. He was one of...
and Zindel V. Segal
Zindel V. Segal
Zindel V. Segal is a cognitive psychologist, a specialist on depression and one of the founders of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy . A professor of psychiatry at University of Toronto, Segal combines mindfulness with conventional cognitive behavioral therapy, which teaches patients to observe...
(Guilford, 2007).
Kabat-Zinn has made significant contributions to modern health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
with his research which focused on mind/body interactions for healing, and on various clinical applications of mindfulness meditation training for people with chronic pain
Chronic pain
Chronic pain has several different meanings in medicine. Traditionally, the distinction between acute and chronic pain has relied upon an arbitrary interval of time from onset; the two most commonly used markers being 3 months and 6 months since the initiation of pain, though some theorists and...
and/or stress-related disorders. Kabat-Zinn began teaching the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a structured complementary medicine program that uses mindfulness in an approach that focuses on alleviating pain and on improving physical and emotional well-being for individuals suffering from a variety of diseases and disorders. The program was established...
(MBSR) at the Stress Reduction Clinic in 1979. MBSR is an eight week course which combines meditation and Hatha yoga
Hatha yoga
Hatha yoga , also called hatha vidya , is a system of yoga introduced by Yogi Swatmarama, a Hindu sage of 15th century India, and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika....
to help patients cope with stress, pain, and illness by using moment-to-moment awareness. Such mindfulness helps participants use their inner resources to achieve good health and well being. Kabat-Zinn and colleagues have studied the effects of practising moment-to-moment awareness on the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, and how it processes emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
s, particularly under stress, and on the immune system
Immune system
An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own...
.
In 1993, Kabat-Zinn’s work in the Stress Reduction Clinic was featured in Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...
's PBS special Healing and the Mind and in the book by Moyers of the same title. Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues published a research paper demonstrating in a small clinical trial
Clinical trial
Clinical trials are a set of procedures in medical research and drug development that are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions...
a fourfold effect of the mind on the rate of skin clearing in patients with psoriasis
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. It occurs when the immune system mistakes the skin cells as a pathogen, and sends out faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis is not contagious. However, psoriasis has been linked to an increased risk of...
undergoing ultraviolet light therapy. A more recent paper shows positive changes in brain activity, emotional processing under stress, and immune function in people taking an MBSR course in a corporate work setting in a randomized clinical trial.
Teachings
The core of Jon Kabat-Zinn's teachings can be found in his book, "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life."His guided meditation practice cds are useful to people interested in learning how to meditate and for those looking to deepen their practice. He describes many different types of mindfulness: sitting, standing, lying down, walking and as an integral part of daily lives. One central theme is that meditation is the "adventure of a lifetime."
By presenting meditation to the West as an effective way to cope with the stresses of everyday life, these practice cds can provide relief to many struggling to cope with the frantic pace of urban life.
Jon Kabat-Zinn's meditation cds draw from multiple spiritual teachings and practices. His work promotes peace, inner reflection, compassion and tolerance.
Retreats
He conducts annual mindfulness retreats for business leaders and innovators, and with his colleagues at the Center For Mindfulness, conducts training retreats for health professionals in MBSR. Over 200 medical centers and clinics in the US and elsewhere now use the MBSR model.He is a board member of the Mind and Life Institute
Mind and Life Institute
The Mind and Life Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the relationship of science and Buddhism as methodologies in understanding the nature of reality...
, a group that organizes dialogues between the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
and Western scientists to promote deeper understanding of different ways of knowing and probing the nature of mind, emotions, and reality.
On May 15, 2009, Zinn participated as a guest speaker at the Greater Good Science Center's Science of a Meaningful Life seminar on "Compassion, Mindfulness, and Well-being," along with University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
psychologist Dacher Keltner
Dacher Keltner
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at University of California, Berkeley as well as the Director for Greater Good Science Center, formerly known as the Center for the Development of Peace and Well-Being. Professor Keltner received his B.A. in Theatre Studies from the University of...
. In his presentation, he helped participants understand how practices that cultivate mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion can lead to profound and positive changes in health and well-being.
Personal life
Kabat-Zinn married Myla Zinn, the daughter of Roslyn and Howard ZinnHoward Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
. Their three grown children are Will, Naushon and Serena.
Works
- Full catastrophe living: using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Delta Trade Paperbacks, 1991. ISBN 0385303122.
- Full catastrophe living: how to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation. Piatkus, 1996. ISBN 0749915854.
- The power of meditation and prayer, with Sogyal Rinpoche, Larry Dossey, Michael Toms. Hay House, 1997. ISBN 1561704237.
- Mindfulness Meditation for Everyday Life. Piatkus, 2001. ISBN 074991422X.
- Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. Hyperion Books, 2005. ISBN 1401307787.
- Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness. Hyperion, 2006. ISBN 0786886544.
- The mindful way through depression: freeing yourself from chronic unhappiness, by J. Mark G. Williams, John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal, Jon Kabat-Zinn. Guilford Press, 2007. ISBN
1593851286.
- Arriving at Your Own Door. Piatkus Books, 2008. ISBN 0749928611.
- Letting Everything Become Your Teacher: 100 Lessons in Mindfulness. Dell Publishing Company, 2009. ISBN 038534323X.
Sources
- Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Center for Mindfulness
- Jon Kabat-Zinn at University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolThe University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system and is home to three schools: the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Graduate School of Nursing; a biomedical research enterprise; and a range of...
- Talks by Jon Kabat-Zinn