Wherever You Go, There You Are

January 3, 1994
Kabat-Zinn ( Full Catastrophe Living ), founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, here urges readers to practice ``mindfulness,'' a more than 2000-year-old Buddhist method of living fully in the present, observing ourselves, our feeling, others and our surroundings without judging them. Free of trendiness, the book presents meditation as a natural activity that can be practiced anytime and anywhere, without props or trappings. Kabat-Zinn explains how to live in the moment by taking up such techniques as ``non-doing,'' trust and concentration. He shows readers meditation postures and ways to meditate, including visualizing mountains and lakes, and concentrating on walking or standing. Amusing anecdotes illustrate applications of mindfulness in everyday life, including ``Cleaning the Stove While Listening to Bobby McFerrin,'' ``Cat Food Lessons'' and two chapters on parenting as a form of meditation (children as ``live-in Zen masters''). This warm, witty and wise guide should bring relaxation to stressed-out people. Author tour.

January 1, 1994
Kabat-Zinn, the founder and director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, provides an excellent handbook on living fully in the present moment through mindfulness meditation. This meditative technique, widely used in Buddhist practice, is presented in nonsectarian form with sufficient instructions for the beginner (who may also order the cassette tapes to facilitate disciplined practice). Kabat-Zinn's previous Full Catastrophe Living (Delacorte, 1990) was directed to those in crisis; this book, which is for everyone, includes reflections on the beauty of the present and meditation's emotional and spiritual applications. An important book for public and seminary libraries, and for health and New Age collections.

January 1, 1994
Presented, like a 12-step daily reader, in little chapterbursts, this is a guide to pure meditation. That is, meditation not "in order to relax, to experience a special state, to become a better person, to reduce some stress or pain, to break out of old habits and patterns, to become free or enlightened"--although those are "all valid reasons to take up meditation"--but for what Kabat-Zinn calls "mindfulness"--a waking from the dream of knowing what our lives are about and where we're headed to the realization that each of us is always in just one place and moment. Beyond that realization, we may achieve wisdom--at least so thought the Buddha and other sages Kabat-Zinn cites. In his book's three parts, Kabat-Zinn presents, first, the rationale for taking up "a personal practice of mindfulness," then some matters of meditational form (e.g., "Dignity," "Posture," "How Long to Practice?"), and last, applications and perspectives on mindfulness. Throughout his jargon-free, directly written text, Kabat-Zinn sprinkles suggestions for practice, and he appends a list of helpful tapes. ((Reviewed Jan. 1, 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)

September 4, 1995
Kabat-Zinn's book outlines the Buddhist technique of ``mindfulness'': a method of living fully in the moment without judgment.