To be mindful is to befriend the present moment as it is, to discover the beauty of your life while it’s still yours to live, and, most of all, to wake up.
In today’s fast-paced world, the practice of mindfulness and meditation has become increasingly important for maintaining mental well-being and finding inner peace. Like many, I’m constantly seeking inner peace and clarity amidst life’s chaos, which is why I wanted to explore Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MasterClass. (If you’re interested in similar topics, I’d recommend enrolling in Michael Pollan’s Intentional Eating Masterclass as well)
Despite my limited knowledge of Jon Kabat-Zinn, this class caught my attention due to its impressive curriculum and the intriguing opportunity to learn more about mindfulness through guided meditations and practical exercises. But does Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MasterClass give you the tools to reduce stress and live a more fulfilling life? Is it truly worth the investment, especially if you’re seeking to reconnect with yourself and improve your well-being through mindfulness and meditation?
In this review, we aim to give you the answer by exploring the class content and examining its strengths. Think this Masterclass could be the right fit for you?
Let’s take a deeper look!
Table of Contents
What is "Mindfulness and Meditation"?
“Mindfulness and Meditation” is an online class hosted on the Masterclass platform, led by mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn. This MasterClass teaches you the principles and practices of mindfulness and meditation through a holistic approach to mental well-being and self-discovery. With 20 engaging lessons clocking in at about 6 hours and 30 minutes, this class includes guided meditations and practical exercises aimed at helping you incorporate the practice of mindfulness into your daily life.
Who is Jon Kabat-Zinn?
Jon Kabat-Zinn is a pioneer in the field of mindfulness and meditation, renowned for his groundbreaking work in integrating mindfulness practices into mainstream medicine and psychology. As the founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Kabat-Zinn has played a pivotal role in bringing mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) to millions worldwide. With over four decades of experience, Kabat-Zinn is a highly respected authority in the field, known for his efforts to dispel the common misconceptions about mindfulness and spread his knowledge to help others.
Who is this course's target audience?
This course is ideal for anyone seeking to enhance their mental well-being and embark on a journey of self-discovery. Whether you’re a beginner looking to explore mindfulness and meditation for the first time, an experienced practitioner looking to deepen your knowledge, or simply curious about the topic—this MasterClass is designed to fit all sizes. No prior experience is required, making it accessible to anyone interested in taking the class. However, know that you must approach the lessons with an open mind and be willing to engage with the practices taught to fully benefit from Jon’s guidance.
What topics does "Mindfulness and Meditation " cover?
Jon Kabat-Zinn’s comprehensive masterclass is a combination of engaging lectures, guided meditations, and practical exercises. Here is a quick overview of what to expect from this MasterClass:
- Meet Your Instructor
Meet Jon Kabat-Zinn, a pioneer of the Western mindfulness movement who has dedicated his life to sharing the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. - A Guide to Mindfulness
Discover what mindfulness is all about and the tremendous impact it can have in your life. - Attitudinal Foundations of Mindfulness
Learn the key foundations of living life mindfully. - A Guide to Meditation
Jon refutes common misconceptions about meditation and teaches you how to be awake in every moment. - Guided Meditation: Dropping In
Jon leads you through the first guided meditation of his class and explains what it means to “drop in” to awareness. - Working With Thoughts While Meditating
Learn tips and tricks for managing thoughts while meditating. - Meditation Postures
Jon provides insight and advice on some of the different forms of meditation. - Guided Meditation: Falling Awake
Discover how lying-down meditations can help you “fall awake.” - Guided Meditation: Putting Out the Welcome Mat
Learn how bringing mindfulness into your life can help you face the challenges and triumphs of your life. - Guided Meditation: Choiceless Awareness
In this guided meditation, Jon teaches you how to expand your field of awareness. - Mindfulness and Stress
Jon shows you how to minimize the stress in your life by responding rather than reacting. - Guided Meditation: The Mountain
Discover how to face stress with the strength of a mountain. - Mindfulness, Pain, and Suffering
Jon explains how mindfulness can change your relationship with pain and dramatically reduce your suffering. - Guided Meditation: The Body Scan
Jon leads you through a key meditation in his therapeutic mindfulness program. - The Science of Mindfulness
Jon discusses the scientific studies that show how practicing mindfulness can modify your biology. - Mindful Hatha Yoga
Discover how to bring mindfulness to yoga and exercise as part of a well-rounded practice. - Reclaiming Our Wholeness
Jon reveals why accepting your wholeness is invaluable and shares art pieces that have had the biggest impact on his life. - Guided Meditation: Loving-Kindness
Harness the tremendous power of compassion in this guided meditation. - Healing the World
The world needs mindfulness now more than ever. Discover how to apply your mindfulness practice to many issues facing us today. - Maintaining a Mindfulness Practice
Starting a mindfulness practice is only the beginning. Jon shares guidance on how to continue the journey.
My Favorite Parts of "Mindfulness and Meditation"
1. Falling Awake
“Falling awake” is much harder than it sounds. How many of us have had that experience of getting up from bed in the morning and start doing our activities without truly waking up? Driving on auto-pilot, mechanized, mindless actions.
In such moments, we are neither fully present nor focused on what’s going on around us; we are not truly living our lives. Yet, simply taking just 10 minutes each morning to stop and breathe can have a profound impact on how your day unfolds. I’ve only been practicing this for a while, but I’m amazed by how something so simple can shape your whole day.
Taking the time to “fall awake” instead of sleepwalking through life is essential. We can invite ourselves to release any kind of tension that we may have by following Jon’s guided meditation and getting down on the floor in what’s called the corpse pose.
According to Jon, of all the 84,000 mainstream yoga poses, it is said that the corpse pose is by far the most difficult because it involves the symbolic act of dying. In this pose, you symbolically let go of the past and future, awakening to the present moment – the only moment we ever have.
2. Remember to Stop and Drop
I’m an obsessive overthinker. My mind often races with thoughts, connections, and worries, so taking a moment to stop and drop into myself has seriously been a game-changer. It doesn’t mean I no longer overthink or that stress and anxiety have disappeared from my life. But it means that I now have the tools to be aware of my choices in reacting to these thoughts instead of allowing them to take over.
In a way, I feel that I am no longer controlled by my thoughts, emotions, or sensations but rather in control of how I respond to them. So when my mind becomes a whirlwind of thoughts, I simply follow John’s advice— stop and drop.
Jon’s concept of dropping in is about grounding yourself in the present moment, realizing that amidst the chaos of the mind, you can inhabit your body. He uses a ball as a visual aid to illustrate this concept. He holds it high in the air and lets it fall, encouraging you to let your thoughts become the ball and drop into your body.
It simply is an invitation to wake up, to be present, and not to be so caught up in everything that’s going on that you forget you exist within a field of possibilities, where you could be in a wise relationship with whatever arises.
You have a choice: you can stop and drop.
As Jon says, it is not easy. It’s simple— but it’s not easy.
3. The Mountain
For me, this is one of the most beautiful lessons of this masterclass. John invites you to become a mountain, to think like a mountain, in a way that allows you to recognize that you are not your thoughts, emotions, or external circumstances. It’s a perfect reminder to not get too caught up in the narrative that you’re defined by these external factors, but rather that your essential self remains unchanged, regardless of your outward circumstances.
If you struggle to recognize and connect with your true self, this meditation can help you remember who you are.
To achieve this, Jon asks you to visualize a mountain in your mind’s eye, merging this image with the sensations of your body sitting until you “become” the mountain itself. The mountain sits through all the seasons of the year, unaffected by external conditions.
Sometimes the mountain may be enshrouded with fog or mist. Tourists may come and be disappointed because they can’t see the mountain at all, or it doesn’t look the way it does in the postcards. The mountain could not care less.
Whatever the weather patterns, the mountain just sits, being its essential self, and so can we. Just as the mountain remains being itself amidst changing weather patterns, you too can learn to sit with the fluctuations of your mind and body.
Through it all, you can sit, being yourself.
4. Mindful Hatha Yoga
I found this lesson particularly impactful, and I’ve incorporated many aspects of Jon’s routine into my own. To be honest, I had never given yoga a fair chance before. I always dismissed it as too slow and found myself too impatient for it. Instead, I turned towards high-intensity workouts, believing that pushing my heart rate higher was the best way to take care of my body. However, I realized I was doing these activities mindlessly, merely checking them off my daily to-do list without truly paying attention to them. However, by taking the time to put Joh’s teachings into practice and allowing myself to be fully present while exercising differently, I made several discoveries.
Firstly, yoga is far more challenging than it appears. It builds strength and flexibility, and I often found myself more fatigued after a yoga session than I did after a run, engaging muscles I had never engaged during other types of workouts before. Yoga is all about cultivating strength, balance, and flexibility, both physically and mentally, and by being mindful of my body’s movements and the sensations of my breath, I developed a deeper connection with my body.
Lastly, the practice of mindful yoga doesn’t stop at the yoga mat. While I still do high-intensity workouts, I now strive to remain present and connected to my body, breathing deeply and feeling each sensation. I’ve grown to understand and fully appreciate the mind-body connection and how mindfulness can help me take care of my body and soul.
Jon’s routine has evolved over the years, but the important aspect is starting the morning in a way that cares for the body and mind, setting the tone for the day ahead. He shares some of his practices not as mandates but as invitations for you to find what works best for you and incorporate them into your life. The important thing is to nurture the body, be awake, and appreciate how precious it is.
It’s the first foundation of mindfulness in classical traditions—mindfulness of the body. By listening deeply to your body, you can develop a healthy, lifelong relationship with it.
5. There’s No End to the Meditation Practice
I found this perspective incredibly encouraging for sustaining a meditation practice. Yes, this MasterClass is a thorough guide to meditation, but it’s just the beginning, and you shouldn’t limit yourself there. Before, I believed that meditation was merely sitting and attempting to empty your mind for an hour or so. However, Jon’s teachings opened my mind and shifted my perspective, allowing me to see that there is no separation between meditation and daily life.
And not only is that a radical active sanity, but it’s also a radical act of love.
Ultimately, there’s no separation between Jon’s guided meditations and everyday activities like preparing dinner, going to work, or simply having a cup of coffee. It’s all life unfolding, and we can bring awareness into each moment. Just as you don’t stop breathing when a meditation session ends, Jon invites you to remember that there’s no end to the meditation practice. It’s life itself, and every moment is a perfect opportunity to be fully present.
The present moment is all we truly have. Therefore, the true practice isn’t about sitting like a statue. The real practice is your life.
How much does the MasterClass cost?
MasterClass is a subscription-based learning platform, so it’s not possible to purchase courses individually. If you want to take this MasterClass, you have to become a subscriber.
The standard annual plan has been renamed "Plus" and is available at $120 a year (which makes it $10 per month, billed annually), and now provides access to all MasterClass courses on two devices instead of one. The Premium plan, providing access for up to six devices costs $240 per year.
A MasterClass subscription gives you unlimited access to a catalog of 200+ classes, so if you want to take multiple classes throughout the year, the subscription is definitely worth it, and there are pleny of interesting courses on related topics to explore.
Also, the platform offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, so if you’re not happy with your learning experience, you can request a full refund.
Note that the "Standard" membership, priced at $72 per year, only gives you access to their short-form learning content – none of their full MasterClasses are included.
What I Liked about "Mindfulness and Meditation"
- Amazing visuals and relaxing music. Kudos to the team managing the sound and visual design departments of the Masterclass platform— you’re doing a terrific job. The relaxing music and ambiance truly complement the subject matter, allowing you to focus on the teachings and creating an enjoyable, immersive experience.
- Expert guidance from a professional in the field. Jon is highly versed in many interesting topics related to meditation and makes complex topics accessible even to total beginners. His passion is contagious, leaving you eager to dive deeper into the practices of mindfulness and meditation and incorporating them into your life.
- Calm teaching approach. Just by watching Jon talk and sharing the meditation lessons, you can feel that he fully embodies his teachings and beliefs. He makes you feel at ease and reminds you to take a breath, relax, and engage fully with each lesson.
- Motivation to continue your journey. I appreciated Jon’s encouragement to continue the mindfulness practice, it motivates you to apply all that you learned and make a positive impact both on your life and in the world.
- Jon’s positive attitude and childlike energy. I just loved Jon’s energy in every lesson – very spontaneous and always with a genuine smile to offer. There’s a part where he just goes straight to a camera like it is some kind of curious animal, and that was a really interesting thing to watch.
- Guided meditation sessions and practical exercises. This is one of the aspects of the course I enjoyed the most because these resources help you turn the theory into practice under Jon’s guidance. These exercises and sessions eliminate the confusion often associated with starting a meditation practice because you don’t have to do anything other than just follow along.
Drawbacks of "Mindfulness and Meditation"
- The yoga session is too short. The Mindful Hatha Yoga session is too short and feels more like a series of tips to follow to start Hatha Yoga, rather than a detailed session to follow along. A longer, structured routine would be preferable for incorporating it into your daily routine.
- Lack of materials needed list. It would be helpful if materials needed for certain exercises were explained beforehand or included in the course guide. For instance, in one part, Jon uses an exercise ball without providing an alternative exercise for those who may not own one.
- Lengthy duration. I won’t lie; this is one of the lengthiest courses available on the Masterclass platform. To deeply understand the lessons and apply them to your life, you have to be fully dedicated to them, both body and soul. This can be very, very challenging for those with busy lifestyles or demanding professions. However, even completing just one class per day could greatly benefit you.
Conclusion – Is "Mindfulness and Meditation" Worth It?
This may sound way too cliche, but this class has changed my life for the better. It’s such a fast-paced world, and I often find myself caught up in the whirlwind of daily life, barely noticing the moments passing by. Even as I write this, I’m struggling to quiet my mind and find space to breathe, to be fully present, moment by moment.
Because ultimately, all we have is now, right? Yet, to put this understanding into practice is not an easy task, and I am immensely grateful to have started this journey guided by such an exceptional instructor as Jon Kabat-Zinn. Without his guidance, I would have been irremediably lost, perhaps never even daring to begin.
I highly recommend this course to everyone, but especially to those dealing with a lot of pain or turmoil, be it internal or physical, those who are going through a rough time in their life, or those who deal with a lot of stress daily. While mindfulness is not a magical cure to solve all of your troubles, it can make a significant difference in your life by helping you better understand what is happening around you and giving you the tools to confront the things beyond your control.
In conclusion, if you’re prepared to start a journey of self-discovery and inner peace, I wholeheartedly recommend enrolling in Jon Kabbat-Zinn’s Masterclass. I extend to you Jon’s invitation to change your life and share your love, joy, and knowledge with others.
I genuinely believe that by engaging in mindfulness practice, you can shift your perspective on the world and find peace within yourself in the only moment we truly have—now.
You’ve got nothing but time. The whole question is, how are you going to use the time that you have?
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