DL Ep. 27: Jon Kabat-Zinn

DL Ep. 27: Jon Kabat-Zinn

From Dharma Lab by Dharma Lab

March 6, 2026 · 50 min

About this episode

Jon Kabat-Zinn discusses the evolution of mindfulness and its impact on stress and healing.

Jon Kabat-Zinn joins Richie and Cort for a wide-ranging conversation on mindfulness, science, and what it means to fully inhabit your life. From the launch of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in a hospital basement in 1979 to more than 1,000 scientific papers a year on mindfulness today, this episode traces how a simple practice entered mainstream medicine and reshaped the way we understand stress, healing, and human potential. Along the way, the conversation moves from chronic pain and anxiety to awareness as a trainable capacity, the role of community, and why paying attention may be one of the most important skills of our time. As Jon reflects, if you are missing this moment, what makes you think you will not miss the next? This episode explores how mindfulness can extend beyond stress reduction toward living more deliberately, with clarity, compassion, and connection. Podcast Chapter List: 00:00 – The Gateway: Stress, Burnout & Why We Come to Practice01:08 – Introducing Jon Kabat-Zinn & the Origins of MBSR05:12 – What Is Mindfulness? Dharma, Awareness & Human Potential09:07 – Why MBSR Started in a Hospital Basement18:39 – “They Gave You the Patients No One Could…

People in this episode

Hosts: Richie, Cort

Guest: Jon Kabat-Zinn

Topics covered

  • mindfulness
  • stress reduction
  • human potential
  • chronic pain
  • anxiety
  • awareness
  • community

Keywords

  • mindfulness
  • MBSR
  • stress reduction
  • chronic pain
  • anxiety
  • awareness
  • human potential

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, MBSR

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