Healing and Warm with a Beautiful Voice

I live with chronic HeadPain known as
Occipital neuralgia… This is not a headache, this is pain that lives on the left side of my head and feels like a raw boil living under the scalp...
I have lived with this condition since 2012, and I've had surgery that was intended to help, and it did but at avery low percentage of improvement, which I am very grateful for.
Jon-Kabat-Zinn calms me with his voice,
which gave me the assurance that I could go ahead and try to listen to him through the pain… I will listen to him over and over again because I trust what he says and I felt better and I felt his sincerity. He doesn't demand anything from you, he just leads me gently, and again, his voice is so soothing and authentic & calming and I am blessed to have found him and his book on Audible… It was not recommended I just found it because I needed it. I hope you find it as soothing and as tender and healing as I have experienced with Jon's Meditation for Pain Relief.. Thank you for your time.

9 people found this helpful

Like a friend talking to you

One important thing about this audiobook, is that the author, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, is the narrator. Narrator is not quite the word actually. He doesn't narrate. He comforts and gently, ever so gently guides the listener to a better place. Where- or whatever that is. JKZ leaves that to you to choose. It is not new-agy, touchy-freely mambo-jumbo. Although he clearly offers techniques used in Yoga, that is not Yoga. Nor is it "spiritual" (although he has a very interesting take on the meaning of that word in another book that I also rated 5 stars: Wherever You Go, There You Are). He is not preaching Buddhism (again, he explains his references to Buddhism in Wherever You Go...). His meditation techniques are down to earth. Precisely. Literally, mentally, physically down to earth.
Even for one who doesn't experience the kind of acute, debilitating chronic pain he mentions in the book, this is a very comforting read. The sound of his voice, the rhythm and tone in his speech pattern make you feel safe. It made me feel I was in a presence of friend who knew me, understood me, and knew what to say to sooth whatever hales me.
It is the kind of book that should be covered by health insurance.

37 people found this helpful

Help For Chronic Pain

This speech/talk provides instruction, theory, and background information on the concepts of mindfulness meditation for pain management. Kabat-Zinn offers guided imagery/meditation exercises and step by step encouragement with this program. Excellent for people suffering with chronic pain. A gentle positive approach by a true expert in the field of mind-body medicine. Easy to use and extremely helpful. Highly recommended.

45 people found this helpful

best book ever

I have listened to this book over and again for years. it's amazing! still!

14 people found this helpful

Poorly edited cash-grab by Audible

I like JK-Z and have owned all of his books and several sudiobooks by the man. so it pains me to say that, through probably no fault of his own, I do not recommend this release and that it deserves 2 stars.

JK-Z"s performance is fine if you appreciate his style and somewhat soporiphic voice, which I do for the theme of mindfulness. However, when reading a book, the reader makes mistakes and the editor splices together the best-read parts of the recording to make it flow as if the reader read flawlessly. It is a stop and go process, takes a long time for the editor, much moreso than than the reader and requires nearly as much precision as editing a film for smoothness, clarity, continuity and linearity. This book needed s real editor and not a newb or someone in a hurry to just release the book.

First, the book appears in the app as only two chapters, Chspter 1 is the Audible blurb, Chapter 2 is the rest of the book. There's no way short of memorizing the time of the particular exercise you want to listen to and dragging the replay to that spot, and since dragging is not pin point, having to wait while the dialogue eventually gets where you want it.

Second, there are frequent spots where JK-Z clearly wasn't satisfied with his reading, stopped, and repeated the same words again with better clarity/inflection. This is normal, the editor listens for marks made at those spots during reading and discards the poorly read bits such that the reading appears contiguous and smooth. Well, the editor missed several, even "many" of these mis-readings such that you get JK-Z reading, stopping, re-readibg the same bit with different feeling or word emphasis and it makes him sound like a man reading aloud while looking at his cell phone.

Add to this the fact that everything in this book is in JK-Z's other books and this little one hour+ booklet sounds like an unedited concatenation of outtakes from "Wherever You Go,There You Are" or "Fill Catastrophy Living", which is what I think it might be.

In short, I'm a big fan of Jon Kabat-Zinn, but this audiobook is terrible and does not do his work justice.

6 people found this helpful

This actually helped

I'm in pain all the time. There's little to be done about it. This practice has given me a tool to deal with it. You don't realize all the stresses you associate w pain until something like this helps you sort it out.

15 people found this helpful

Format limits its usefulness

This is an excellent book, but it's limited through the functionality available with audible's player. If you could easily move to the start of the meditation pieces or lecture piece it would be more useful. If audible upgrades its player this will be a better option.

42 people found this helpful

Anyone Living With Chronic Pain

Would you listen to Meditation for Pain Relief again? Why?

Yes, I listen to this often. I would reccomend this meditation to anyone with chronic pain due to arthritis, back injuries, surgeries or any pain issues. Why? Because it helps me.

What other book might you compare Meditation for Pain Relief to and why?

Almost any other meditation or relaxation books are good. You may find them to be somewhat pricy for the length of the book but when you factor in the benefits they are very much worth the money. If this isn't in your budget there are plenty of free sources out there if you look but this is convenient.

Which scene was your favorite?

There isn't really a scene with meditation but the meditation is very relaxing and does actually alleviate pain.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Meditation for Pain Relief?

The insight that I appy to this book is that there are multiple relaxation methods out there and it allows me to focus on my pain so that I can take my focus off my pain. It is very interesting how this meditation works.

Any additional comments?

I wish that audible had an automatic repeat option button on the manager because I listen to this when I lay down at night and I sometimes wake up after the meditation and have to get up from a pain free relaxed position and replay or play another meditation or book. Also, it would be great if there were a longer book such as a compilation of meditations lasting overall around 6,7, or 8 hours. This would be more convenient and more affordable.

15 people found this helpful

Soothing voice and simple, effective suggestions.

What made the experience of listening to Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief the most enjoyable?

Incrementally longer silences.

What did you like best about this story?

n/a

Which character – as performed by Jon Kabat-Zinn – was your favorite?

n/a

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

everything.

Any additional comments?

Perfect for walking, travelling, or anywhere you need a touch of kindness.

2 people found this helpful

Interesting and helpful

Would you listen to Meditation for Pain Relief again? Why?

Yes - I listen to it several times a week.

What did you like best about this story?

It's not a story

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Nothing to suggest

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not applicable

Any additional comments?

I am finding this meditation audio very helpful in dealing with chronic pain. I was skeptical, and it has not made the pain go completely away, but changing my attitude toward the pain and taking the time to meditate on it several times each week has helped a lot. I don't get depressed and anxious about the pain anymore and it does seem to be less than before.

10 people found this helpful