Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness

In his work Jon Kabat-Zinn persuades the reader that, because of its myriad benefits, meditation can function as a kind of medicine. Meditation may be embraced as preventative medicine for healthy people, or as part of a broader treatment plan for those who are ill or suffer from chronic pain. Kabat-Zinn uses numerous scientific studies to convince the reader of meditation’s potential health benefits. For instance, the author cites a study which compared two groups of people with chronic pain; the first group meditated at his clinic while the other received pain treatment and drugs at another facility. Kabat-Zinn reports that the people who meditated for eight weeks at his clinic improved their body image by thirty seven percent, while the other group showed only a two percent improvement in body image (372). Furthermore, the same study demonstrated that meditation was even more effective at easing chronic pain than more conventional treatment plans which included pain medication (372). The author also includes ample evidence which demonstrates meditation’s role in physical recovery as well. For example, in a study on patients with heart disease, those who participated in a lifestyle change which included meditation enjoyed a decrease in blood pressure, while non meditators did not.