In this video Ewa Jacobsson interviews Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the creator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. In his interview he delivers a message on his thoughts on Mindfulness. Kabat-Zinn states that research shows that through mindfulness we can actually physically change our brain. He says that “the brain is an organ that changes in relationship to experience.” He goes through why mindfulness is beneficial and states that there is no right way to introduce mindfulness into our lives but that once we have found what fits for us we should continue to practice it to see its benefits.
A memorable statement made by Kabat-Zinn that was very relevant to me was that “in this moment this is my life and it’s not waiting for the weekend to have my life or waiting when I finish some big project but every moment is my life then even in very stressful situations you can move into the actuality of the situation and find ways to move with it and regulate your own reactivity to it” Hearing this made me realize that, in doing this very project, I was thinking in this way. In my own thoughts I was saying, “just one more week with this content research collection and I’m free!” Instead I should be totally focused on what is in front of me rather than clouding my thoughts with the future. I am less productive when thinking of what will be and will attain that moment faster if I am present in what I am doing. One last thing that I learned from Dr. Kabat-Zinn is that “we call our species Homo sapiens sapiens in Latin, but the species that knows and knows that it knows or the species that is aware and is aware that it is aware.” He contradicts this by saying that he is not convinced that we as species are fully aware due to all of the ecological and human crises we have created. In watching this video I have added to my list of benefits that mindfulness can bring to a person.
Jacobsson, E. (2010, May 04). Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU7vKitN4Ro
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