Video: The Mindfulness Movement in America With Jon Kabat-Zinn

This conversation between Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the eight-week mindfulness-based stressed-reduction program, and Soren Gordhamer, founder of the Wisdom 2.0 conference, was one of my favorite sessions from Wisdom 2.0 this year. It’s full of humor, inspiring quotes, research, and interesting perspectives on why mindfulness is gaining interest in America.

It opens with a meditation, which Jon Kabat-Zinn led so easily and beautifully, but the really interesting part starts around the 9:30 mark, where Soren asks Jon what he thinks are the opportunities and challenges as the topic of mindfulness has risen in the media and sparked mainstream interest. In response, Jon shares the evolution of scientific research that led to the upswing of attention, and his perspective on what mindfulness means in today’s society.

Some of my favorite quotes from Jon Kabat-Zinn in this session:

• Someone once asked me what I thought about life after death, and I said that I didn’t really think that much about life after death—what I was most interested in, was life before death.”

• “It’s not about fixing what’s broken, it’s discovering that nothing is broken.”

• “What could be more fun than being alive right now?”

• “Life would seem longer and richer if you were present for more moments of your life.”

• “I don’t know myself, but I know something about this not knowing.”
• “If you want to live a longer life, try being present for more of your moments. There are a lot of moments that are going by the boards…if you just inhabited all of those, life would seem a whole lot, not only longer, but richer.” 

Now … watch for yourself. It will be 43 minutes well spent.