Pain may be unavoidable at times, but sufferingin other words, how we relate to the painis optional.
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We know that practicing mindfulness can help reduce stress and cultivate deep, embodied well-beingbut what about its value in dealing with physical pain and the suffering that ensues when it seems overwhelming or unrelenting?
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Jon Kabat-Zinn developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to help medical patients with ongoing chronic pain conditions who were not responding to conventional treatments, including drugs or surgery, to use mindfulness as a formal meditation practice and as a way of being in relationship to experience throughout the day to regulate and attenuate the experience of suffering. Since then, the practices of MBSR have become world-renowned for their effectiveness in helping people learn to live and live well with ongoing health challenges, including chronic pain conditions.
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WithMindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief, Jon guides us through the fundamentals, a series of evidence-based practices that anyone can apply gently and effectively to address even intense forms of pain and suffering, as a complement to whatever medical treatments one might be receiving. Includes audio guidance for all key practices, accessible online and led by the author.
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This supportive guide, graced with soothing images and large color-type key elements, includes instruction in mindful breathing, working with intense sensations, befriending thoughts and emotions, taking refuge in awareness, and bringing mindfulness into everyday life as a new way of being.
Pain may be unavoidable at times, but sufferingin other words, how we relate to the painis optional.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD,is professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the founder and director of its renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic. His clinic was featured in 1993 inló