--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In its outward manifestation, meditation…" description: "\"In its outward manifestation, meditation appears to involve either stopping, by parking the body in a stillness that suspends activity, or giving onese..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e20/jon-kabat-zinn-1327_activity_in-its-outward-manifestation-meditation_2426497.jpg" --- # In its outward manifestation, meditation appears to… ![“In its outward manifestation, meditation appears to involve either stopping, by parking the body in a stillness that suspends activity, or giving oneself over to flowing movement. In either case, it is an embodiment of wise attention, an inward gesture undertaken for the most part in silence, a…” quote by Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e20/jon-kabat-zinn-1327_activity_in-its-outward-manifestation-meditation_2426497.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e20/jon-kabat-zinn-1327_activity_in-its-outward-manifestation-meditation_2426497.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e20/jon-kabat-zinn-1327_activity_in-its-outward-manifestation-meditation_2426497.jpg) > “In its outward manifestation, meditation appears to involve either stopping, by parking the body in a stillness that suspends activity, or giving oneself over to flowing movement. In either case, it is an embodiment of wise attention, an inward gesture undertaken for the most part in silence, a shift from doing to simply being. It is an act that may at first seem artificial but that we soon discover, if we keep at it, is ultimately one of pure love for the life unfolding within us and around us.” [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Meditation shifts focus from doing to simply being, fostering wise attention and love for life. **In simple terms:** Meditation is about being, not doing. Key Takeaway Practice mindful presence daily. Themes mindfulness inner peace attention Mood calm inspired Type spiritual practical When to use this quote - stress reduction - creative work - spiritual practice - healthcare Key Concepts consciousness non‑attachment Questions to Reflect On - How does stillness change your perception? - What daily habit can you start to cultivate presence? A Different Perspective Quieting the mind can be challenging for restless individuals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Artificial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artificial/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Body Stillness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body-stillness-2795137/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Embodiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embodiment/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Gestures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestures/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Hiking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiking/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inward/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Life unfolding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-unfolding/) [Manifestation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifestation/) [Manifestation Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifestation-meditation-6155641/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Meditation Appears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation-appears-6155639/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) [Parking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parking/) [Pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure/) [Pure love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure-love/) [Sauntering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sauntering/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Serenity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serenity/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Stillness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stillness/) [Stillness Suspends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stillness-suspends-6155640/) [Stopping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stopping/) [Strolling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strolling/) [Trekking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trekking/) [Unfolding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfolding/) [Walking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) [Wander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wander/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [Movement is good for the body. Stillness is good for the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyong-mipham/movement-is-good-for-the-body-stillness-is-good-for-the-mind/) [Sakyong Mipham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyong-mipham/) > [“not get caught in their habitual patterning, to see thoughts for what they are, impersonal events, and instead be the knowing that awareness already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/not-get-caught-in-their-habitual-patterning-to-see-thoughts-for-what/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [“God is at work in my life and everything is unfolding as it should.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-davies/god-is-at-work-in-my-life-and-everything-is-unfolding-as-it-should/) [Helen Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-davies/) > [So trust the process of your life unfolding, and know with certainty, through the peaks and valleys of your journey, that your soul rests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-millman/so-trust-the-process-of-your-life-unfolding-and-know-with-certainty/) [Dan Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-millman/) > [We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-are-now-faced-with-the-fact-my-friends-that-tomorrow-is-today-we-2/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I foresaw my life unfolding as an interminable stretch of nothingness and so I spent my years on Tinos floundering, feeling like a stand-in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-foresaw-my-life-unfolding-as-an-interminable-stretch-of-nothingness/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I see my life as an unfolding set of opportunities to awaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/i-see-my-life-as-an-unfolding-set-of-opportunities-to-awaken/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [“The supreme artist lives as closely as possible to replicating the perfect dream, with life unfolding in a manner that a person could never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/the-supreme-artist-lives-as-closely-as-possible-to-replicating-the/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [Whether of not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-ehrmann/whether-of-not-it-is-clear-to-you-no-doubt-the-universe-is-unfolding/) [Max Ehrmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-ehrmann/) > [“What gets in the way of your life unfolding the way you want it to? When we drill down to uncover the answer, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaria-baldwin/what-gets-in-the-way-of-your-life-unfolding-the-way-you-want-it-to/) [Hilaria Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaria-baldwin/) > [“. I guess she couldn’t think of anything to say. But the truth was, I was doing OK at that point. Life was unfolding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-child/i-guess-she-couldn-t-think-of-anything-to-say-but-the-truth-was-i-was/) [Lee Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-child/) > [There's no negatives. You just have to trust that what's happening in your life is unfolding in exactly the right way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-swank/there-s-no-negatives-you-just-have-to-trust-that-what-s-happening-in/) [Hilary Swank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-swank/) > [If we stop for a moment, it is possible to perceive a pattern in our lives; the motivators that have influenced us become more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reshad-feild/if-we-stop-for-a-moment-it-is-possible-to-perceive-a-pattern-in-our/) [Reshad Feild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reshad-feild/) > [“There will always be reservations, things one must leave out, events one can’t explain without handing over a full map of one’s life, unfolding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-toibin/there-will-always-be-reservations-things-one-must-leave-out-events/) [Colm Tóibín](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-toibin/) > [“Life is still an unfolding,the farther we travel the more truth we can comprehend, and to understand the things that are at our door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ki-longfellow/life-is-still-an-unfolding-the-farther-we-travel-the-more-truth-we/) [Ki Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ki-longfellow/) ## More by Jon Kabat-Zinn > [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Living in a chronic state of unawareness can cause us to miss much of what is most beautiful and meaningful in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/living-in-a-chronic-state-of-unawareness-can-cause-us-to-miss-much-of/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Mindfulness means moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness. It is cultivated by refining our capacity to pay attention, intentionally, in the present moment, and then sustaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/mindfulness-means-moment-to-moment-non-judgmental-awareness-it-is/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Paying attention and awareness are universal capacities of human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/paying-attention-and-awareness-are-universal-capacities-of-human/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [“One practical way to do this is to look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/one-practical-way-to-do-this-is-to-look-at-other-people-and-ask/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [I thought it was a stroke of genius that Hans Selye used the word stress, because it's true that if you don't know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/i-thought-it-was-a-stroke-of-genius-that-hans-selye-used-the-word/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [“dwell in stillness and to observe without reacting and without judging.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/dwell-in-stillness-and-to-observe-without-reacting-and-without-judging/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/generosity-is-another-quality-which-like-patience-letting-go-non/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/the-little-things-the-little-moments-they-aren-t-little/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Arriving someplace more desirable at some future time is an illusion. This is it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/arriving-someplace-more-desirable-at-some-future-time-is-an-illusion/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [“Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is, and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/give-yourself-permission-to-allow-this-moment-to-be-exactly-as-it-is/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/generosity-is-another-quality-which-like-patience-letting-go-non-2/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Science gave me a cosmic religious feeling, and I would get the same feeling when I was dragged to the Met and the Museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/science-gave-me-a-cosmic-religious-feeling-and-i-would-get-the-same/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them… Without knowing it, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/look-at-other-people-and-ask-yourself-if-you-are-really-seeing-them/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [“In fact, even if distraction does alleviate your pain or help to cope with it some of the time, bringing mindfulness to it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/in-fact-even-if-distraction-does-alleviate-your-pain-or-help-to-cope/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) [Explore all 252 Jon Kabat-Zinn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In its outward manifestation, meditation appears to involve either stopping, by parking the body in a stillness that suspends activity, or giving oneself over to flowing movement. 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