Take time to breathe. Practice mindfulness.

Not surprisingly, NPR has (re-)discovered Jon Kabat-Zinn. Some nice info here, next to the audio link, about mindfulness practice and pain management.

But you don't need to be in pain to benefit from this kind of practice. It's just that some people don't discover or practice mindfulness till the really nasty stuff hits their bodyminds. (Not a misspelling. Some folks use this hybrid word, including someone I know, a yoga teacher who once worked with Kabat-Zinn.)

I've read Kabat-Zinn for years, and had some students read Wherever You Go, There You Are this winter. They loved it and tried some of the mindfulness practices, diligently. Have I been as diligent as they?

I'm going outdoors to listen to the birds.

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More links:

Center for Mindfulness in Health Care, Medicine, and Society at U. Mass. Medical School

Interview with Kabat-Zinn on the website of the Kwan Um School of Zen, the branch of Zen where he got his start in mindfulness practice -- yes, mindfulness is a Buddhist thing, though Kabat-Zinn has taken the practice and adapted it "without the Buddhism," as the NPR piece says. Some of you may have programs based on the U. Mass. one at your HMOs.

Short review of Wherever You Go, There You Are

You can order tapes and CDs via Kabat-Zinn's website.