Meditation for Optimum Health

by Andrew Weil, Jon Kabat-Zinn

An easy-to-learn meditation guide for achieving optimum mind/body health.

The same ability that helps ordinary people achieve extraordinary success is also the secret to optimizing your lifespan, letting go of stress, and even enhancing your body's self-healing powers. In Meditation for Optimum Health: How to Use Mindfulness and Breathing to Heal Your Body and Refresh Your Mind, you will join best-selling authors Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn for a practical introduction that makes it simple to enjoy the life-changing benefits of meditation - even if you've never tried it before.

How does meditation work? Can anybody do it? What do I need to get started? Is it religious? Does it have the power to heal? In alternating sessions, Dr. Weil and Dr Kabat-Zinn give you straight answers to the most common questions about meditation, and dispel the myths and misconceptions surrounding this time-honored practice. By learning to cultivate the power of your attention through daily practice, you can harness the full potential of your mind, and use it to enrich every dimension of your life. You will learn how meditation can actually unify your mind and body's many related functions - and help you start enjoying the best health of your life. Complete with real-life examples, and a proven program of step-by-step meditations to get you started, here is the perfect introduction to the oldest and most effective system for feeling better, naturally.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help, Meditation, Audiobook, Spirituality, Psychology

2 pages, Audio CD

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Andrew Weil, M.D., is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, a healing oriented approach to health care that encompasses body, mind, and spirit. He is the author of many scientific and popular articles and of 14 books: The Natural Mind, The Marriage of the Sun and Moon From Chocolate to Morphine (with Winifred Rosen) Health and Healing, Natural Health, Natural Medicine; and the international bestsellers, Spontaneous Healing and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Eating Well for Optimum Health: The Essential Guide to Food, Diet, and Nutrition The Healthy Kitchen: Recipes for a Better Body, Life, and Spirit (with Rosie Daley) Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being; and Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future (issued in paperback with new content as You Can’t Afford to Get Sick).

Combining a Harvard education and a lifetime of practicing natural and preventive medicine, Dr. Weil is Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, where he also holds the Lovell-Jones Endowed Chair in Integrative Rheumatology and is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health. The Center is the leading effort in the world to develop a comprehensive curriculum in integrative medicine. Graduates serve as directors of integrative medicine programs throughout the United States, and through its Fellowship, the Center is now training doctors and nurse practitioners around the world.

Learn More:
Facebook.com/DrWeil
YouTube.com/DrWeil
Instagram.com/DrWeil
Flickr.com/DrWeil
Pinterest/DrWeil

Reviews

[Loricious · Rating 5 out of 5]

The other book that helped transform my life.

Sometimes, even if you are happy with your life, a different POV really helps solidify and validate your own methods.

If your life is a roller coast, this smoothes the ride. V. enjoyable.

[R.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short program with some helpful advice about the nature of meditation, its benefits, and some guided meditations. I found the guided meditations particularly useful.

[Gemma Golley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read! I learned a lot from this in terms of the scientific benefits behind meditation, and for that I found this book to be eye-opening. This book is definitely for beginners as the majority of the second half is several guided meditations, which I didn't need as I already am familiar with the practice of meditation. That being said, this was still educational and added more details to my understanding.

[Magen - Inquiring Professional Dog Trainer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shortly into this audiobook, I realized that it was more intended for beginner meditators than people who wanted to better understand the connection between meditation and optimum health. I thought, I might like this, but I probably won't love it and I will probably have tried all the meditations already. I was wrong and I'm glad I listened to the very end.

In the first part of this audiobook, each Jon Kabat Zinn and Andrew Weil discuss different topics individually in different sections. They provide a solid overview of what meditation is and why it's important. For those of you who have read or listened to such talks before, there is likely nothing new here. It is well presented, in a clear fashion, and makes an effective case for starting a meditation process.

Part two of the book is the best part of the book. It starts with a meditation, which Jon Kabat Zinn leads, which uses the breath as a point of awareness, but then moves out from there until it becomes full choice-less awareness meditation. It is uncommon for choice-less awareness meditation to be given in a beginner's meditation CD, making this audiobook worth the listen and possible investment in order to experience said meditation. Next is a loving-kindness meditation, a type of meditation I typically do not enjoy, but found Zinn's version to be excellent. It's short and lacks the repetition of the longer loving-kindness meditations. It also gets at loving-kindness in a different way. It is my favorite loving-kindness meditation so far. Next is Weil discussing how to incorporate meditation and mindfulness into the everyday. This pushed the book from 3 stars to 4 stars, no question. Most beginner meditation books seem to gloss over the idea that meditation is merely practice of a skill to be used in everyday life. Just like a musician wouldn't only practice scales, a meditator does not only practice meditation. Instead, one incorporates the formal meditation practice into informal mindfulness moments. Weil does an effective job of describing what that looks like so that anyone can begin to bring in informal practices from day one. It was an effective reminder for a somewhat experienced meditator like myself. Lastly, the audiobook closes with a lying down meditation, designed to be done at night, which I automatically assumed meant it was a body scan, but it was instead a lake meditation, something I had not experienced previously. I very much enjoyed it and recommend all meditators try Zinn's lake meditation at some point.

If you are looking for an in-depth discussion on how meditation creates optimum health or for many formal practices, this audiobook is not for you. If, however, you are looking for a beginner meditation guide or a refresher with some new meditations, than this audiobook is an excellent choice. Happy meditating!

[Erin Lawwill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meditation for Optimum Health is a book that really talks about the benefits of meditation. It does explain things in "Weil" fashion, and is a great book to read if you are wondering "if" you should meditate, but the examples are very short and all blend into each other. There is really only one "guided practice" at the end "The Lake Meditation."

I personally was hoping for a few more examples of a guided meditation, not just a two-minute idea of what it is and moving to the next type of meditation.

However, the information is good, and I support the practice, so depending on "why" you are reaching for the book, it could be very beneficial.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave me some new ideas of when I could meditate. Not just when doing a dedicated meditation session but also when washing the dishes, walking to a fro, driving and a couple of other times. Though to be fair the wording was mindfulness and not meditation. It also helped me understand some of the benefits to meditation to treat chronic illness and pain. As a side note I came to realize that my church actually has a 20-30 minute time frame for meditation during the sacrament/communion. Though it's tough to take advantage of with either your kids or the other kids all making noise.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Drop in, below the breath, below conscious thought.” 🧘”mindfulness: paying attention on purpose, in the present, non judge-mentally.” |||
You are whole, you don’t have to go anywhere or fix anything. ||| Another wonderful book that helped me recenter and build my practice. Short, powerful and includes guided meditation! The psoriasis study also stands out as a reminder of the impact on the mind-body relationship on health.

[Abe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short book on meditation. I find most books in that genre follow the same formula. The large percentage of the book is dedicated to why meditation is good for you, followed by about less than 5 minutes worth of material on the mechanics of meditation, followed by an ending that reiterates why meditation is good for you. Despite such a predictable formula, the book was a pleasure to consume.

[M Aghazarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think what was most helpful about this book is how they talked about dealing with struggles to meditation, whether physical pain or distraction or fear that you're not doing it "right". I also liked when they talked about considering the transition when you're done meditating -- what can you do at this point in time to ease yourself back into your tasks for the day?

[Jairus Sacaguing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short 2 hour audiobook for anyone who wants to incorporated meditation in their lives. Information on the benefits of meditation and the purpose which is aimed to focus on the present moment. A majority of guided meditations towards the end.

[Patty W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this.

[Susan Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the information shared & how powerful taking time to meditate can be healing & restorative to ones health. The meditations shared were powerful & relaxing.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio - I’ve always like Dr Weil but this was a very informative reminder for me to get back to meditation. I’m new to Jon Kabat-Zinn. His sections were very good too.

[Kaitlyn Whitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5🌟

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lp

[John Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

nothing newbor ground breaking in mediation

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot. I was wary, given that the authors look a little hippy-dippy. That's not something I mind generally, but in my reading/listening I prefer the touchy-feely/spiritual stuff to be accompanied by a good bit of science.

The best thing about this is that there isn't an actual book so they're not just reading their text. It's more like a podcast in that it has a relaxed and conversation tone, to great success I think. The authors alternate chapters which is really pleasant. Altogether a good experience.

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to meditation. Two of the experts in the field explain what meditation is, what it can do for you, and how they have applied it in labs for verifiable and repeatable results. They also give you guided meditations to begin your own practice and real life situations in which your meditative practice can be beneficial to you.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief yet effective introduction to meditation -- both why it's beneficial and how to begin a meditation practice. If I'd paid a lot of money for the audiobook I might have been disappointed that it only had about 2 hours of material, but I checked it out from the library for free and was glad I did.)

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting combination of alternative practices for meditation and the medical/science support that comes from the practice of meditation. Half of this book is actually a series of meditation practices. Very easy to listen to, I enjoyed the perspective of both professionals and appreciate their backgrounds and what they bring to the conversation of optimal health.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what market they were going for with this production - The voice seemed directed at practicing doctors, but the content was devoid of much novel information. That said, I'd still be interested to practice the meditation techniques.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audio was my introduction to meditative practice and I still consider it one of the clearest and least intimidating explanations of non-religious meditation. The short coached meditation sessions in the later half are excellent. This is what I'd recommend to any curious beginner.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good intro to mediation, breathe control, and it's benefits. Audio CD provides guided meditaion.

[Shells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super short but great info. I liked hearing both perspectives.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for beginners to meditation. I listened to the audiobook.

[Don Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short book, but a clear and concise read.

[Joann Dunnavant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always appreciate Dr. Weil's approach to health.