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Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness [Paperback]

Jon Kabat-Zinn (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Release date: May 1, 1990
Stress. It is everywhere around us. Even worse, it gets inside us: sapping our energy, undermining our health, and making us more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and disease. Now, based on Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s renowned mindfulness-based stress reduction program, this groundbreaking book shows you how to use natural, medically proven methods to soothe and heal your body, mind, and spirit.

By using the practices described within, you can learn to manage chronic pain resulting from illness and/or stress related disorders…discover the roles that anger and tension play in heart disease… reduce anxiety and feelings of panic…improve overall quality of life and relationships through mindfulness meditation and mindful yoga. More timely than ever before, Full Catastrophe Living is a book for the young and the old, the well, the ill, and anyone trying to live a healthier and saner life in today’s world.

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Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness + Guided Mindfulness Meditation Series 1 + Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment--and Your Life
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, is perhaps the best-known proponent of using meditation to help patients deal with illness. (The somewhat confusing title is from a line in Zorba the Greek in which the title character refers to the ups and downs of family life as "the full catastrophe.") But this book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign. Kabat-Zinn focuses on "mindfulness," a concept that involves living in the moment, paying attention, and simply "being" rather than "doing." While you can practice anything "mindfully," from taking a walk to cleaning your house, Kabat-Zinn presents several meditation techniques that focus the attention most clearly, whether it's on a simple phrase, your breathing, or various parts of your body. The book goes into detail about how hospital patients have either improved their health or simply come to feel better despite their illness by using these techniques, but these meditations can help anyone deal with stress and gain a calmer outlook on life. "When we use the word healing to describe the experiences of people in the stress clinic, what we mean above all is that they are undergoing a profound transformation of view," Kabat-Zinn writes. "Out of this shift in perspective comes an ability to act with greater balance and inner security in the world." --Ben Kallen

From Publishers Weekly

Kabat-Zinn is founder and director of the stress reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and the "full catastrophe" of which he writes is the spectrum of stress in life. His program, in a word, is meditation, rescued from the mire of mysticism that made it trendy in the 1960s. The author focuses on the advantages of employing "practiced mindfulness" to control and calm our responses without blunting our feelings--and a more convincing introduction to the many modes and uses of meditation could hardly be imagined. In personable, enlightening prose, Kabat-Zinn first explains how to develop a meditation schedule, and in later chapters pragmatically applies his plan to the main sources of stress. An impressive middle section clearly marshals scientific and anecdotal evidence relating state of mind to state of health. And while emphasizing meditation's healing potential, Kabat-Zinn makes no sweeping claims, suggesting that the discipline serve not as means but end. Illustrations not seen by PW. BOMC and QPB selection.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Delta; Reprint edition (May 1, 1990)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385303122
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385303125
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Jon Kabat-Zinn Page
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., is the 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, as well as professor of medicine emeritus. He lives in the Boston area. Hor Tuck Loon has been guiding meditation for the past twenty years, drawing parallels from many ancient wisdom teachings and also from his years of experience in the journey of mindfulness. He lives in Malaysia.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#21 in Books > Self-Help
#34 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting
#63 in Kindle eBooks > Advice & How-to
#75 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting
#82 in Books > Religion & Spirituality
#21 in Books > Self-Help
#34 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting
#63 in Kindle eBooks > Advice & How-to
#75 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting
#82 in Books > Religion & Spirituality

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
(140)
4.7 out of 5 stars
See all 140 customer reviews
“ A book you mull over, read in bits, inbetween the recommended practice. ” C. Sahu  |  50 reviewers made a similar statement
“ It really makes you think and re-think about life. ” dnMN  |  19 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
516 of 545 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful for Short Illnesses, Too July 18, 2000
By C. Sahu
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have both this book and Kabat-Zinn's other, "Wherever You Go, There You Are." That one is more of a general intro to mindfulness (i.e, concentrating on your breathing as a way to clear your mind and reach a deeper level) meditation. It's written in a more aphoristic style: short and sweet, lots of quotes from Thoreau and various gurus, "try this" exercises at the end of each short chapter. A book you mull over, read in bits, inbetween the recommended practice.

This one is more wordy, a description of what goes on at the Massachusetts General Hospital Pain Reduction Clinic, where Kabat-Zinn uses a combination of (physical) yoga, mindfulness meditation, and something called the "full body scan" (lying down and concentrating on different parts of the body at a time) to help people with serious, stress-related illnesses such as heart disease, back pain, migraines and cancer.

There are instructions on how to do the above; statistical information on how well this program works; descriptions of the types of illnesses they deal with; lots of case studies of typical patients; and some general conclusions that the very insightful Kabat-Zinn has drawn from his work. I hate pop psychology but that's not what's delivered here - these are very real insights, not facile at all, on the damaging stresses of modern life and concrete advice on how to cope with them in such a way as to not get sick.

He says, for instance, that "your pain is not you" - that you can and should separate yourself from the pain, and from the negative feedback voice ("I'm never going to get better," for example) that makes things worse.

They do recommend (as I do, and as I see another reviewer does) that you buy the tapes listed in the back of the book to help you with your program. But you can use the book without them: it just takes more willpower and concentration.

As far as personal testimony is concerned, I haven't had to use this program to help me cope with any serious illnesses, thank goodness. But (like most women in their post-childbearing years) I do have a lot of miscellaneous aches and pains which I do deal with much better using the techniques in this book. I have not yet had time to make the recommended commitment for optimal results (45 minutes per day, 6 days a week) - I just use the techniques (which include, for instance, imagining that you are breathing in and out of the painful part of your body - it's hard to describe, but it works!) when I feel headachy or in pain, and medicine either doesn't help or isn't possible to take because of stomach upset.

What I'm saying is, this book is valuable even if you don't have a serious, chronic illness.

Besides, it really is preferable to use these techniques BEFORE you get sick, rather than after.

And they do give the advantages of regular meditation, too: a sense of deeper understanding of yourself, a sense of wonder, etc. (so hard to describe without sounding silly).

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231 of 242 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars This book made a difference. March 19, 2002
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I read this book and did not like it. I found it described a life I did not want to know about so I put the book aside having skipped a number of the chapters. Six months later when my wife was admitted to the ER with severe headaches I remembered the central message in this book.

The message is clear and simple, the "bad" times in life are as valid an experience as the "good" be there, be aware,accept,don't wish for better times, don't run away from catastrophe. I was aware and present for the next three weeks, the most important three weeks of my life. I felt so lucky that I had read this book. It could be a lot shorter and more focused but the central message is invaluable.

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132 of 140 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The most important book I have ever read! July 7, 1998
By Andrew Gorman
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this book eight years ago and I found it to be so valuable that I read it again two years later. To this day, I continue to reference certain chapters from time to time and eight years after first reading it, I continue to practice the techniques I learned from the book.

Grounded in scientific research, Jon Kabat-Zinn explores the connections between mind and body to the point where there is no longer any obvious division between the two. This book offers the reader access to a new way of living that is rooted in mindfulness. The instructions offered are easy to understand. This book is primarily intended for those facing chronic or terminal illness or emotional pain, but it can really benefit a far more general audience - those who want to live their lives more fully.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on meditation
I haven't finished reading it yet but it is a good book. It keeps my attention and reads well. I just need to find the time to commit to the 45 minutes a day.
Published 6 days ago by J. C. Leonard
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting - I Recommend this Book
Reading it in conjunction with a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Workshop and it provides additional information to increase the value of the workshop.
Published 7 days ago by Bobby Mac
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Message
I've read many books on meditation and mindfulness, but this is by far the best book I've ever encountered on the subject. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Emily Postal
5.0 out of 5 stars many thank's
I recommend it - I liked it veru much, its really amazing !

its going to help me, I am sure !
Published 21 days ago by Nabil Seggaï
4.0 out of 5 stars The Full Catastrophe Living book was recommended to me by my doctor
I have not had the opportunity to fully read the book yet, just flipped through the pages, and am pleased with what little I have read. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Carmen Bray
4.0 out of 5 stars Still studying
This book was recommended by a professional.
It's not a breeze-through, done!
I'll be reading it for years to come.
Published 25 days ago by ANON
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books of all time: Simple, Applicable, Necessary
This book was the first book I read on the subject of mindfulness. It was the first book I found at the start of my own spiritual path. Read more
Published 26 days ago by Elizabeth Scala
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
Jon Kabat-Zinn is a fine teacher of body mind wisdom. This book is full of important information and practices for living this life in a complicated world, and creates the... Read more
Published 28 days ago by lilyrose
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Intro to Meditation
Easy to follow. Excellent introduction to stress reduction meditation. I am taking a class which is based on Jon Kabat-Zinn's work and the book makes it more meaningful.
Published 1 month ago by Chiara M Bambara
5.0 out of 5 stars great voice and instructor!
I have a much better personal vision as to how I want to integrate with the world I'm in touch with. Read more
Published 1 month ago by K. Pearson
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      Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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