This book truly speaks to the mind, body and soul. It is the FULL TILT BOOGIE! Am on the mend thanks to this wonderful book of wisdom. It was recommended to me by a dear friend who always has one handy to share with onother suffering human being. I plan to do the same. The breathing lessons have been so valuable and restoring...I can continue to live my life with mindful presence, making each day better than the one before. Thank you Jon Kabat Zinn for sharing your wisdom and essence of life.

this book is a classic. it is a readable, deep, and broad presentation of information that is relevant to anyone trying to live mindfully during these frenetic times.

The book is very detailed regarding how one stress clinic helps their clients. The author has some very good points, but is long winded.

I am about half way through this book - it was a little bit of a culture shock to get into this way of thinking and acting, but I am enjoying the challenge and think that it has already got me thinking about how I deal with stress and everday events - I have been dealing with some serious medical issues, and need to reduce my stress - I believe this will help - the psychologist who recommended it to me thought very highly of it and was convinced I would benefit from it - I think I will....

I bought this book in the middle of a year-long battle with insomnia--not the typical life-changing trauma that brings many others to this book, but insomnia destroyed me both physically and emotionally. My doctor suggested anti-depressants, and a friend suggested Full Catastrophe Living.

I never touched the anti-depressants.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is the voice of calm all throughout this book, never imposing his method on you but simply making suggestions that he's seen work in his practice, both personal and professional. The first section offers mindfulness activities that you can immediately put to practice: meditation to help separate your self from your thoughts; a body scan to simultaneously connect you to and release you from every section of your body; and yoga to strengthen your muscles and flexibility, both physical and mental.

The second section shows how those methods have been proven to work, through both scientific research and anecdotal evidence. It is a section for those still reluctant to give themselves over to what they may perceive to be the "new age" or "weird" practices in the first section. If you've been practicing as suggested in the first section, the second section will verify to your head what you feel moving in your heart and body.

The third section offers a variety of lifestyle and anecdotal advice for specific ailments and disease, from insomnia to headaches to cancer. Through all this, Kabat-Zinn is at once compassionate and scientific, speaking to and reassuring all shades of his audience.

Together, these sections taught me to listen to and have faith in myself. The book showed me that mindfulness is not some new-fangled craziness but a path to peace and self-knowledge. Eventually, my sleeplessness went away, but that was more a side-effect of the practice, a natural reaction to the peace I learned from myself through this book.