Jewish Mindfulness

By Jane Sloven

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally…in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness is not a new concept for Judaism; it’s just a modern description of age-old meditative and awareness practices embedded in our tradition. We have morning prayers and evening prayers, and prayers to say during the day. Blessings are part of our tradition too. Saying blessings is a form of mindfulness, a way of bringing our awareness to the present moment and expressing gratitude.

Meditation and mindfulness are intertwined. Meditation is focused awareness, and that, too, is part of our tradition. Rabbis often meditated for an hour before prayer.

Meditation can take many forms:

sitting in silence
focusing on a word or a phrase
following one’s breath as it moves in and out of the body
walking in silence while taking in the beauty of nature
singing or chanting prayers

When we meditate, our minds wander; that’s what minds do. In meditation, when we notice that we’ve wandered, we compassionately bring our minds back to our intended focus.

Rabbi Jill Bergson Zimmerman of Hineini/Path with a Heart leads a community focused on Jewish Mindfulness. She has compiled several contemplative playlists on Sound Cloud (a free app) including one playlist of morning blessings.

I’ve created my own playlist of morning blessings which incorporates some of Rabbi Zimmerman’s recommendations as well as some prayer melodies I love. I hope you find these as inspiring and joyful as I do.

1. Ariel Root Wolpe: Waking Up Niggun

https://soundcloud.com/rising-song-institute/waking-up-nigun-ariel-root-wolpe

https://open.spotify.com/track/0nhYMPdOFLkrYrenbmdVQI

https://music.apple.com/us/song/waking-up-nigun/1582935941