From prose into practice

The mindfulness meditation workshop with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn is scheduled to run for three hours. The afternoon begins with a 20-minute guided meditation, followed by a question-and-comment session with the workshop's 250 participants. One hour into the afternoon's activities I realize there's very little new here. I'm almost ready to cut it short and begin my two-hour drive home.

We are mostly patients and former patients of the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary. Women in the audience outnumber men about eight to one. One middle-aged woman gratefully testifies to the power of meditation in helping her confront her breast cancer. A man asks Jon if he ever falls asleep while meditating.

Our speaker admits that he does get sleepy from time to time while sitting in meditation. He reminds us that, contrary to popular misconception, mindfulness meditation is not about achieving bliss or states of extraordinary calm or enlightenment. It's more about the simple, mundane struggle to remain awake in the present moment. Simple does not imply easy. Jon acknowledges real difficulties in being continually mindful. A woman in her fifties admits that she finds less time for meditation now that the crisis of cancer in her life has receded.

Be alive in the present moment. That exhortation is a recurring theme in Jon's writing. Was I expecting something more from the man himself? Surely this task by itself is sufficient for one workshop, if not for one lifetime. I make a mental note of my impatience and set it gently aside. As Jon says, the workshop is today's meditation. He then leads us in some quiet yoga stretching, followed by another short period of silent meditation. The final 30 minutes is devoted to more “conversation” between Jon and the participants.

Jon indicates he'll stay to answer any additional queries and also sign copies of his books. As I gather up my things and anticipate the late afternoon traffic, the title of his second book comes to mind: Wherever You Go, There You Are.