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

The author discourages the reader from having a superficial approach to meditation which focuses on certain products or physical poses. He claims that effective meditation requires heightened awareness and an understanding that the practitioner cannot force anything to happen. Like falling asleep, it requires people to relax rather than force the process. Kabat-Zinn warns the reader that extremely cynical or hopeful people are often disappointed by meditative practices, and he claims that open-minded people who put in regular effort often enjoy the best results. Kabat-Zinn explores the seven attitudes that he says are foundational for a successful meditation practice: Non-Judging, Patience, Beginner’s Mind, Trust, Non-Striving, Acceptance, and Letting Go. He also emphasizes the importance of positive and caring emotions, such as joy, generosity, and compassion, which he claims meditation fosters.

The author instructs the reader to train regularly, much like an athlete would, to become competent at meditation, which he feels requires self-discipline and perseverance. He encourages the reader to intentionally set aside time and make a physical space dedicated for this practice. One common obstacle people confront is the belief that taking time for oneself is selfish and indulgent. The author suggests that this belief originates from the “Puritan ethic” upon which the United States was founded, which values discipline and hard work for the sake of salvation over spending time on self-care. Kabat-Zinn believes an over-emphasis on work to the point of self-deprivation is unhealthy and that restoring one’s own energy is a wise way to spend time. Ideally people should meditate at a time when they feel most awake, since meditation is about increasing awareness rather than relaxing to the point of sleep. In addition to regular practice, Kabat-Zinn writes that a “personal vision,” or a sense of the values most important to us, is necessary to make meditation a transformative experience (38).

The author emphasizes the importance of the natural rhythms of the heart and lungs, which allow people to breathe. Breathing patterns can vary widely depending on people’s physical and emotional states, yet it is easy to overlook this rhythm’s crucial role in people’s health. Kabat-Zinn posits that breathing is an “ally” and “teacher” in mental and physical healing because it is a vital part of being alive and something that people can always access and focus on (41). People suffering from anxiety may experience hyperventilation and panic attacks, and they can benefit from learning to observe their breathing without trying to control it. The author relays an anecdote about a firefighter who suffered frequent panic attacks and hyperventilation before going into burning buildings. While learning to observe his breath was difficult for him, he overcame his unease and practiced this skill along with the Full Body Scan. After a few weeks he was able to do his job without hyperventilating.

The author clarifies that meditation is not about thinking about the breath, but rather about focusing one’s attention on feeling it. He claims that people can change their inner emotions and experience by adapting their breathing. While meditating, it is best to keep one’s eyes closed or gently focused on one thing, and to breathe naturally. Some meditators practice diaphragmatic breathing in which they relax their stomachs and try to deepen their breath into their belly. Kabat-Zinn argues that by focusing on something as simple and ubiquitous as breathing, people can help relieve their minds from chronic stress and become more aware of their mental and bodily experiences. Additionally, he feels that meditation helps improve people’s concentration, since it requires a maintained awareness.

The author guides the reader through two basic meditative exercises. In the first, the meditator must sit or lay down and focus their attention on their breathing and physical sensations for 15 minutes. The second exercise instructs the meditator to briefly tune into their breathing a few times per day and reflect on how this practice changes their thoughts or feelings.

The author borrows a patient’s analogy in which the human mind is a truck which, through its constant worrying, thinking, and planning, pushes the thinker to stress and action instead of inner peace. Meditation is a form of “non-doing” since it focuses on feeling the present rather than arriving at a particular destination; the author argues that this undoing helps meditators become better acquainted with the workings of their own minds and thereby helps them avoid becoming “frenetic robots” (56).

Kabat-Zinn recommends that beginner meditators start with “sitting meditation” by sitting upright in a relaxed position in a chair or on the floor. The author claims that most people, regardless of how much they meditate, find their minds and bodies become restless after just a few minutes of focused breathing. He encourages the reader to become observant and curious about this restlessness and observe and accept each time their thoughts wander from their breath. Rather than changing one’s posture to become more comfortable, Kabat-Zinn recommends observing physical discomfort and even welcoming it, rather than resisting or avoiding it. He claims that this approach helps meditators develop a new perspective on painful experiences and may also minimize the discomfort itself. The author emphasizes that meditators should not try to suppress their thoughts, but rather observe them and gently redirect their minds back to their breathing.

The author claims that meditation helps practitioners free themselves from the impression that their thoughts are their identity, or reflective of reality, and realize how their own thoughts may be contributing to their stress. Once a new meditator becomes accustomed to observing their own breathing, they may decide to expand their focus to other stimuli, such as physical sensations, burgeoning thoughts or feelings, and sounds.

To conclude his chapter, the author recommends that the reader try such a practice for 10 minutes each day and try to extend their meditation over time. He suggests that the reader expand their awareness of their breath to include their whole body. Additionally, they may pay attention to sounds, silence, or music as a part of their awareness. Kabat-Zinn suggests that the reader pay close attention to the kind of thoughts that involuntarily arise during this practice and consider the tone and intention behind these thoughts.

The author reflects on how many people are more preoccupied with the way their body looks than the way it feels and functions. He encourages the reader to consider how many functions the body does automatically, and not take its efforts for granted. Meditation helps people become more aware of their bodies by requiring them to “tune in” to their bodily sensations. Kabat-Zinn offers an exercise called “The Body Scan” for this purpose. The practitioner must concentrate their attention on different parts of their bodies, starting with their toes and working their way up to their heads. The author recommends that people imagine breathing into each area of the body and relaxing any muscular tension they feel there. He also suggests doing the practice without dwelling on memories of past body scans, since each day the body will feel different. He posits that creating this “non-judgmental awareness” can help people create a more positive relationship with their bodies. The author relays the story of Mary, a patient at the Stress Reduction Clinic who found that meditation improved her sleep, eased her chronic pain, and even helped her work through traumatic childhood memories which she had long repressed.

Some people may need to persevere through feelings of sleepiness or painful distractions while learning how to do a body scan. One strategy is to allow the painful areas of the body to pull focus from the body scan, and to try to breathe into the pain. Kabat-Zinn reminds the reader to practice this meditation with a mindset of “non-striving” and not judging one’s own body or mindset, and that there is no such thing as “failure” in meditation.

The author guides the reader through the body scan step-by-step, instructing the reader to lay comfortably on the floor. After paying attention to breath and considering their whole body, the reader should breathe into their toes and feel any sensations in this part of their body. The reader can then move on to the feet, then the ankles, and work their way up their left leg and then right leg, and so on. Kabat-Zinn instructs the reader to try to practice the Body Scan for 45 minutes per day, six days a week.

The author notes that any form of mindfulness helps people shed compulsive thinking and resist their “automatic pilot mode” (2349). He believes that meditation restores a state of mind and body that helps the practitioner feel more at home. He praises meditation for its ability to “rebody” people by enhancing their awareness of their own bodies, thereby helping them avoid illness or injury. Hatha yoga, in which poses are performed in a gentle and slow manner, is another valuable form of mindfulness. The author notes that yoga is also excellent for building muscular strength and improving balance, and it holds the most benefits when taught with mindfulness and breathing exercises.

Kabat-Zinn laments that people coping with injuries can become avoidant about using certain parts of their bodies, or become sedentary, which leads to further health issues and a limited self-image. He warns that as people neglect their bodies their physical health can only decline, as their muscles atrophy and that other body parts like nerves and joints can also degenerate due to neglect. Fortunately, it is possible to retrain the body over time through regular exercise and enjoy much better health.

Kabat-Zinn argues that yoga is an excellent way to do this, as it involves the whole body and emphasizes the union of body and mind; by changing their physical perspective yoga can change their inner perspective too. Yoga also tends to help people feel refreshed and energized. For these reasons, the author feels that yoga is a beneficial “lifetime practice” that people should try to include in their everyday lives long-term. He concludes his chapter by suggesting that the reader follow the instructions on his yoga MBSR CD, while not becoming competitive or judgmental with themselves.

Another exercise Kabat-Zinn uses with his patients is the “Walking Meditation.” In this exercise, patients begin by standing and considering the sensations in their bodies, including the impulse to begin walking. They then begin walking very slowly to pay close attention to each part of their movements. While walking, meditators focus their gaze just ahead of them, not on their feet or their surroundings. The author claims that this exercise tends to make people feel more grateful for their ability to walk, which is a complex skill that took many months to learn in early childhood.

In walking meditation there is no destination; meditators may even walk in circles, or back and forth, to avoid anticipating a certain end to their walk. Kabat-Zinn encourages the reader to focus on bodily sensations such as feelings in their feet and legs, or air against their skin, as they walk. Walking meditation can be done at any pace, but most practitioners walk quite slowly. The author recalls one patient who was too anxious and fidgety to engage in any form of meditation aside from the Walking Meditation. Fortunately, this simple exercise had many benefits for her and over time helped her to calm her mind and body enough to sit still. He also relays a personal memory about how Walking Meditation helped him cope with caring for his young children when they would wake up at night. The author reveals that by engaging in the Walking Meditation many practitioners can cope with anxiety without relying on prescription drugs and often come to love walking and embrace it as regular exercise. He relays the true story of a patient named John who suffered from idiopathic cardiomyopathy and successfully used meditation to improve his heart health, decrease his anxiety, and manage his mood swings.

Kabat-Zinn describes the “Day of Mindfulness” which he helps to organize for patients, staff, and friends of the Stress Reduction Clinic. This event caters to over 100 participants of all ages, abilities, and experience with meditation. The day consists of six hours of mindfulness exercises, during which time people are not allowed to talk to one another. They begin with a silent meditation practice. The author argues that the meditators benefit from not being able to discuss their feelings, good or bad, with others, and instead must simply observe their thoughts and accept them. Kabat-Zinn believes that this helps people to practice being calm even when they are uncomfortable. The group then practices yoga, and breaks for lunch, which they eat in silence together, a kindness and forgiveness meditation, and a walking meditation. The group then sits for a “Mountain Meditation” in which they visualize themselves as strong mountains which are unaffected by the changing conditions around them. Finally, the group is allowed to speak and share their experiences of meditation, which often vary widely as people share their personal struggles and realizations.

Kabat-Zinn relays one woman’s experience of applying the lessons she learned from her “Day of Mindfulness” to her everyday life. When she returned home to find her husband gone, Jackie, who is typically very afraid of being alone, dreaded spending the night by herself. However, she resisted the urge to call a friend and instead accepted her alone time as it was and tried to enjoy each moment by herself. She found that she felt much more peaceful than she had ever felt by herself before, simply by staying in the “being mode” and approaching each moment mindfully, rather than allowing her worried thoughts to take over (149).

The author reminds the reader that any daily task can be done mindfully, and that being aware of one’s thoughts can be a tool for self-reflection. For instance, feelings of annoyance or resentment that arise while doing a chore may help people reflect on their relationships with their homes, possessions, or families. He relays the story of one patient, George, who suffers from a severe lung disease that requires him to always move with an oxygen tank. Yet by moving slowly and with awareness, George is still able to walk and even shop for groceries. The author challenges the reader to consider how their lives may be enhanced if they pay more attention to their actions.

In this chapter, the author addresses the reader directly and makes suggestions about how they might begin to incorporate meditation into their own lives. He recommends beginning with a three-minute meditation that focuses on breathing, and then incorporating the other exercises he has described so far. He emphasizes that daily practice is essential, and that everyone must intentionally make time for their meditation.

Kabat-Zinn suggests that for the first two weeks of their meditation “curriculum” people practice the “Body Scan” every day and try to do some tasks mindfully, such as eating or getting dressed. In the following week, he asks people to feel aware of enjoyable experiences and try to journal about them as they are happening. The next week, he asks the reader to write about unpleasant experiences while they are happening. By week five and six, the author instructs the reader to replace the “Body Scan” with sitting meditation one day, and yoga the next day, and to continue alternating these practices. By week seven, meditators should continue practicing for 45 minutes per day with whatever combination of sitting, body scan, or yoga they prefer, without any guidance from Kabat-Zinn’s CD. The following week meditators should return to the CD if they wish and continue to make their own decisions about how to include meditation in their daily lives.