Wherever You Go, There You Are

Of the many books that I’ve read on meditation, this is the one I most frequently recommend to my patients. I love its clear, concise, simple approach to meditation and mindfulness.

I love how it is arranged so that I can read just a few or several paragraphs at a time and get so much from them. For me, mindfulness is an essential skill in developing a healthy connection with oneself and others, a topic close to my heart. Sometimes, I will flip through the book for brief reminders of how to reconnect with me and with compassion. 

Jon Kabat-Zinn is one of the founding teachers of mindfulness practice in the United States. Wherever You Go There You Are, another simple yet profound gem, sets forth the benefits and techniques for living in the moment. I really enjoy how he talks about the many ways to meditate. There is no one posture, no one practice, it is all about what you do with your awareness. As the subtitle says, the book explains how to take mindfulness meditation off the cushion and into everyday life.

A stress reduction expert with a PhD in molecular biology, Kabat-Zinn shows us the science behind meditation and mindfulness by examining how the human brain reacts to stress and how breathing can alter unconscious patterns and involuntary reactions. Kabat-Zinn’s work has transformed the teaching of mindfulness not just in medicine and psychology, but in prisons, professional sports, the corporate world, and in schools. If you want to know how it all works and why, this is the book for you.