Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn, whose work has sparked a revolution in the way meditation practices are regarded in the mainstream of medicine and healthcare, will tour South Africa for the first time in May this year.

Having received global acclaim over the past 30 years for his breakthrough clinical and neurobiological research and having authored several best-sellers and appeared on leading programmes like the Oprah show, Dr Kabat-Zinn will share his expertise with the South African scientific and healthcare community as well as the broader public through lectures, talks and retreats.

He is being hosted by the Institute for Mindfulness South Africa and the UCT Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) in association with Penguin Books.

The tour to South Africa includes: A Three-day Retreat for Health Professionals, Coaches and Educators from 1 May–4 May; Public Lectures and Book Signings (Cape Town on 8 May and Joburg on 13 May); a Full Day Public Seminar (Cape Town on 9 May and Joburg on 14 May); and a two-day UCT GSB Retreat for Business and Thought Leaders from 10 May–11 May.

Greater insight and clarity

Dr Kabat-Zinn is best known for his work developing and teaching mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) — mindfulness meditation is about present moment awareness of one's thoughts and actions.

"Mindfulness is a certain way of paying attention that is healing, that is restorative, that is reminding you of who you actually are so that you don't wind up getting entrained into being a human doing rather than a human being," said Kabat-Zinn.

"The practice of mindfulness meditation can be profoundly transformative and healing and make it easier for one to experience the web of interconnectedness in which we live and work. It can give rise to greater insight and clarity, as well as greater empathy for oneself and others."

A Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, his clinical and neurobiological research has led to more effective treatment programmes for a wide range of conditions and disorders, from stress and chronic pain to psoriasis.

He was founding executive director of the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, and founder of its world-renowned Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts. The clinic has to date assisted over 17 000 medical patients and MBSR is now offered at some two hundred medical facilities worldwide.

Healing through meditation

The most recent study using the pioneering work of Dr Kabat-Zinn comes out of the US this January, where researchers associated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre showed chronic lower back pain can be eased by meditation.

"At the conclusion of the eight-week programme, those with chronic lower back pain noted a decreased amount of pain and a slight improvement in physical function," the researchers said in an article in the current issue of the journal 'Pain'.

Dr Kabat-Zinn now leads workshops on stress reduction and mindfulness for health professionals and lay audiences worldwide and has trained groups of judges, business and thought leaders, lawyers, clergy and Olympic athletes.

Penguin Books will make available copies of Dr Kabat-Zinn's best-sellers at the venues and at leading bookstores.

For information on Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn's tour, go to www.mindfulness.org.za or contact Karin on +27 76 101 1727. For details on the UCT GSB leadership retreat, contact +27 21 406 1323.