University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics :: Mindfulness-Based Programs :: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

About Mindfulness:

“We are not meditating to make anything go away. Whether we are basically healthy or have a terminal illness, none of us knows how long we have to live. Life unfolds in moments. The healing power of mindfulness lies in living each one as fully as we can.”—Jon Kabat-Zinn
“To practice meditation is to return to life in the present moment.”—Thich Nhat Hanh
“I have no doubt whatever that most people live, whether physically, intellectually, or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger…We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream.”—William James, philosopher and psychologist
“Mindfulness is the ground for concentration, concentration allows us to look deeply, and insight is the fruit of looking deeply.”—Thich Nhat Hanh
“It may be when we no
longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.”—Wendell Berry
“The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all beings.”—Buddha
“The song I have come to sing
remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my life
stringing and unstringing
my instrument.”—Tagore
“When we find ourselves in a mess, we don't have to feel guilty about it. Instead, we could reflect on the fact that how we relate to this mess will be sowing the seeds of how we relate to whatever happens next. We can make ourselves miserable, or we can make ourselves strong. The amount of effort is the same. Right now, we are creating our state of mind for tomorrow, not to mention this afternoon, next week, next year, and all the years of our lives.”—Pema Chodron
“It’s a great liberation to know that you don’t need to be pleased in order to be happy.”—Sylvia Boorstein
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”—Victor Frankl

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

Mindfulness for UI Medical/PA Students