Mindfulness for the masses
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2019
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1979 scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn opened the Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, pioneering a meditative approach to treat pain and depression. In a few decades mindfulness has gone from being a specialist element of Buddhist teaching to a billion dollar industry. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Dr Kabat-Zinn about the popularising of mindfulness to tackle the stresses of modern life.
(Photo Jon Kabat-Zinn teaching MBSR at the University of Massachusetts Medical School 1992, Credit Jon Kabat-Zinn)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC |
| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:36.4 | Hello and thank you for downloading this edition of the Witness History |
| 0:45.8 | podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Frahana Hither and today I'm bringing |
| 0:51.9 | you a program from our archives. |
| 0:56.0 | Let me take you away from the stresses of your life. |
| 1:00.0 | And journey back to 1979 when John Cabot Zin opened the mindfulness-based stress reduction clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, |
| 1:13.0 | and so became one of the first scientists |
| 1:16.0 | to popularize the use of traditional meditation techniques |
| 1:19.0 | to tackle the stresses of modern life. |
| 1:24.0 | Mindfulness really is, is an ancient form of meditation practice |
| 1:28.0 | that's often spoken of as the heart of Buddhist meditation. |
| 1:32.0 | It's the awareness that arises from paying |
| 1:35.4 | attention on purpose in the present moment and non-judgmentally. Because it's |
| 1:41.0 | about paying attention and the awareness that arises |
| 1:43.6 | amid it's universal. |
| 1:44.8 | Mindfulness has now become so mainstream it's prescribed in hospitals |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.