Jon Kabat Zinn MasterClass Review – Best Course For Meditation

Meditation helps people cope with stress, gives peace and calmness, and keeps inner balance amidst all the noise and chaos from the outside. Most people resort to meditation to benefit their emotional health, which also manifests in their overall well-being. 

You’re probably on this page to check if the mindfulness and meditation masterclass by Jon Kabat Zinn is worth investing in when the truth is tons of videos on YouTube and meditation apps have popped up nowadays to serve the same purpose. 

So, what makes this Jon Kabat Zinn Masterclass review better than the others? 

We will present an overview of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Masterclass, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of taking his class and share feedback from people who’ve already taken the course. We hope that by the end of our review, you’ll know if this is the right course. Let’s begin.

Who is Jon Kabat-Zinn

Jon Kabat Zinn is the godfather of modern mindfulness. He is also an internationally-recognized teacher and author. 

Jon was first introduced to meditation by a Zen Missionary whom he met in his school years. In time, he was fully convinced that meditation and mindfulness could be beneficial to people and immersed himself further into those concepts.

In 1979, he founded a stress reduction clinic located at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, later named the Mindful-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). From then on, he dedicated his life to the pursuit of spreading mindfulness and meditation awareness on a global spectrum. 

He’s also a renowned author and has released 14 books about mindfulness, the most popular being Full Catastrophe Living: Using The Wisdom Of Your Body And Mind To Face Stress, Pain, And Illness.

Aside from being a professor emeritus of medicine, he also spreads awareness of mindfulness and meditation in diverse contexts, like schools, hospitals, and prisons.  

Overview of the Class

Now that you know Jon Kabat Zinn, what topics and learning could you expect from this course?

Jon Kabat-Zinn Masterclass includes 20 video lessons with a total run time of 6 hours and 30 minutes. Each video ranges from 20-30 minutes long, which is, by far, one of the most prolonged courses offered on the website. Topics to be discussed are:

1. Meet Your Instructor
2. A Guide to Mindfulness
3. Attitudinal Foundations of Mindfulness
4. A Guide to Meditation
5. Guided Meditation: Dropping In
6. Working With Thoughts While Meditating
7. Meditation Postures
8. Guided Meditation: Falling Awake
9. Guided Meditation: Putting Out the Welcome Mat
10. Guided Meditation: Choiceless Awareness
11. Mindfulness and Stress
12. Guided Meditation: The Mountain
13. Mindfulness, Pain, and Suffering
14. Guided Meditation: The Body Scan
15. The Science of Mindfulness
16. Mindful Hatha Yoga
17. Reclaiming Our Wholeness
18. Guided Meditation: Loving-Kindness
19. Healing the World
20. Maintaining a Mindfulness Practice

On top of the video lessons, you will also get a 26-page workbook, which is a supplemental resource containing the summary of the lessons discussed. 

There’s also the Community Hub, where you can discuss some ideas regarding the class, ask questions, and even share your thoughts with others who took the same course.

Pros and cons

Pros

Some users attested that the Jon Kabat Zinn Masterclass is one of the best courses offered on MasterClass. Here are some of the advantages of taking it:

• Clearly discussed topics accompanied by a scientific explanation

If you’re one of those people who wants to understand the reason behind the things you’re doing, you will surely appreciate Jon’s teaching techniques. 

Jon’s teaching is clear, precise, yet simple, accompanied by a scientific explanation to help students understand every topic discussed. 

• The lesson flow is easy to follow

As mentioned earlier, this is a well-developed course. The topics are discussed in chronological order to emphasize clarity. Jon intricately explains each topic and intertwines it with the next lesson, allowing learners to understand how they are linked to the main ideas of mindfulness and meditation. 

•  Theory and demonstration are well-balanced

One of the most remarkable reasons this Masterclass is practical to most users is the well-balanced learning. Yes, learning theories is essential, but what makes learning effective is when you can do it yourself. In this course, there are approximately two hours of guided meditation, which enables you to put the lessons learned into practice. 

Cons

Some disadvantages of signing up for Jon’s course include:

• Requires focus and commitment

As mentioned above, the Jon Kabat Zinn Masterclass is by far one of the longest courses on the website. Each video lesson is about 25 minutes long, on average. 

Unlike other courses where you can listen while cooking, such as the Gordon Ramsay course, this course requires your utmost attention and focus (see also ‘Are Masterclass Cooking Courses Worth It?‘) (see also ‘Are Masterclass Cooking Courses Worth It?‘). Therefore, you should watch every lesson at a time you allocated explicitly for it. 

• Talk and Practice-Heavy Class

In contrast with the other course patterns, this Masterclass course focuses more on Jon speaking, followed by a practice meditation afterward. If this is not the type of teaching you prefer, you might find this course challenging to follow. 

Who is This Class for

In a world where everyone is experiencing hardships, and the outside noise often affects one’s peace of mind, it’s safe to say that this course can be taken by anyone.

You are open to taking the class without basic knowledge of meditation. As long as you have the desire to expand your horizon and learn about meditation and mindfulness, this course is just right for you.

On the other hand, if you are skeptical and the concept of meditation and mindfulness is not your cup of tea, this is not a suitable course for you. Still, we highly recommend keeping an open mind, just like with everyone else in the world.

How Much Does the Class Cost

MasterClass is an online platform dedicated to education and learning advancement with the help of the high caliber instructors. This factor defines the quality and efficiency of learning with the platform. 

So, how much does it cost?

Subscribing to MasterClass enables you to access all the courses on the website. Currently, there are around 150 courses available, taught by A-listers in various industries.

MasterClass offers three subscription plans.

1. The Individual Plan

• $15 per month, billed annually
• Allows one device to access the website
• You can’t download the video lessons for offline viewing or the supplementary PDF workbooks

2. The Duo Plan

• $20 per month, billed annually
• Allows two devices to access the website simultaneously
• Allows you to download the videos and PDF workbooks

3. The Family Plan

• $23 per month, billed annually
• Allows six devices to access the website under one profile only
• You can download videos and PDF  workbooks 

Users’ Experience 

Here’s what people who have taken the course say about the Jon Kabat-Zinn’s class:

“3 great stress-reduction tips I learned from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness and meditation MasterClass It is true that the manifestation of stress in the body may be relieved through a regular mindfulness practice. Jon Kabat-Zinn shows how.”

-Comment from Twitter

 “Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MasterClass might be the best mindfulness introduction yet: March Mindfulness is a Mashable series that explores the intersection of meditation practice…”

-Comment from Twitter

“I’ve been watching Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness and Meditation MasterClass and it’s such a great experience, he’s a legend! This class is helping me go deeper in my mindfulness practice as I learn how to be a working parent.”

-Rebekah Moran 

Conclusion

Millions of people throughout the world practice meditation and mindfulness. If you’re intrigued by those concepts and want to try and see if they might help you deal with stress, Jon Kabat-Zinn can certainly guide you on your new journey. 

His interactive teachings are offered on the popular learning platform MasterClass, where you can also access various other classes taught by famous and successful people. We hope that this quick overview of Jon’s course helped you better understand whether the concepts of meditation and mindfulness are something you might pursue yourself. Happy learning!