In Part 1, the author details techniques for helping people live intentionally - the way of mindfulness - requiring only an attitude of skeptical openness. Meditation is simply about paying attention, about "now" rather than "past or future," he adds.
Part 2 introduces the paradigm based on an interconnectedness of mind and body, the foundation of behavioral nedicine and the new field of psychoneuroimmunology. Kabat-Zinn believes that people need to be active participants in their own health care and insists " the dignity of the patient needs to be honored and preserved throughout the entire sequence of medical encounters." Research is indicating that attitudes of optimism, high self efficacy, a sense of coherence and manageability, confidence in one's ability to make changes and basic trust all contribute to mainting health.
The author concludes with several chapters addressing different types of stress, the primary source of disregulation of the body. Since disregulation leads to disorder and disease, he emphasizes the importance of finding the way out, which is awareness. He reminds the reader that they are not their disorders; a symptom is a process, something we experience. He suggests that those experiencing anxiety problems need to learn to trust the stable, reliable inner core and to remember that they are not their thoughts and feelings.
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