10 Quotes for Understanding Mindfulness

Mindfulness is becoming more and more popular. If you've heard the term floating about and haven't yet discovered what it means, these quotes from expert practitioners of mindfulness may help!

1. “Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.”
― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

2. "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Other translations say "Cease striving," "Be in awe," or "Let go"---all of these are descriptions of what it means to be mindful).
― Psalm 46:10, The New King James Bible

3. “If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...”
― Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living

4. “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” ― Carl Jung

5. “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

6 “Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

7. “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.”
― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

8. "...Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer." ―Luke 5:16, The New Living Translation

9. “We must be willing to encounter darkness and despair when they come up and face them, over and over again if need be, without running away or numbing ourselves in the thousands of ways we conjure up to avoid the unavoidable.”
― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

10. “To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.” ―William Blake