Three Meditation Insights From Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn

Last updated: 26th June 2025

Last month, we hosted a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation between two leading voices in the field of mindfulness: Breathworks Founder Vidyamala Burch OBE and Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, whose work has been instrumental in bringing mindfulness to mainstream western medicine and paving a better quality of life for those suffering with chronic pain, illness and stress. Together, they explored how mindfulness can help us navigate pain, difficulty, and the everyday ups and downs of life with greater awareness and compassion.

If you missed it, here are three key themes from their discussion.

Every moment is meditation

One of the central ideas explored was that mindfulness doesn’t have to look a certain way. Both speakers reflected on the idea that life itself can be the practice – not just something that happens on a cushion or during a formal session.

Jon shared his view that there’s no clear boundary to meditation – that any moment of awareness, even while doing everyday tasks, can be an entry point. This resonates strongly with how Breathworks teaches mindfulness: it is something we are all capable of, and a practice that can be woven into the fabric of daily life. As Breathworks Trainer, Karen Hall, once said: "If you have a body and senses, you have the perfect start-up kit for meditation." 

Here's what Jon Kabat-Zinn had to say on this topic: 

Thoughts and pain are not the enemy

For many living with chronic pain or overwhelming thoughts, it’s natural to want to resist these experiences – or to turn to meditation as a way of escaping them. But as Vidyamala shared, a significant shift happened in her own journey when she stopped using meditation to get away from pain, and instead began to gently invite it into her awareness.

This idea can feel counterintuitive – even impossible – when the discomfort is intense. Anticipating that, Jon offered a reassuring suggestion for when turning towards pain feels too much:

“So it's not that easy when your body is killing you to actually put the welcome mat out for those sensations. But you could take a quick peek! …Half an in-breath even, quarter of an in -breath. How is it in the place where the pain is most intense?”

Impermanence: The only moment that matters is this one

A recurring theme throughout the conversation was the law of impermanence – the understanding that everything is constantly in flux. 

This perspective is incredibly relevant when dealing with challenging physical or mental states. The intense feeling you're experiencing right now, the specific sensation in your body or the anxious thought - these too are always changing.

Even with chronic symptoms, when we pay close attention to the sensations, we often notice subtle changes in their intensity and nature. Vidyamala invited us to see “pain to be a river rather than a rock.” By recognising that change is the only constant, we can access renewed patience and a gentler relationship with difficulty, knowing that nothing is fixed.

As Jon put so simply: "this moment... is the only moment we will ever have” which feels to me like a meaningful invitation to fully inhabit the present moment.

These three insights from Vidyamala and Jon Kabat-Zinn offer a powerful reminder: mindfulness isn't just a formal practice, but a way of being with all of life. This conversation prompts us to invite mindfulness into every corner of our lives, and a reminder to approach each moment joyfully - knowing that it’s the only one we’ll ever have!

If you missed this conversation, the recording will be available to purchase from our shop soon.

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Don’t miss the next live talk in our series: join Vidyamala Burch in conversation with Professor Mark Williams on Saturday 4th October.

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Do any of these insights resonate with you? Do you agree? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!