Mindful Poetry
An online search for Mindful Poetry will result in a large number of poetry websites, and also a large number of Mindful poetry on websites. Here are some of the places I go to for poems to read at the end of online meditation sessions. Some of the poems you'll find here are also appropriate to read while teaching an MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) class.
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Poetry Chaikhana: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (This is my "go to" website for wonderful poetry to use with a meditation session. You'll find a wide variety of world poets, many of whom are unfamiliar to most Americans. I refer to this website again and again...)
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Mary Oliver (1935 - 2019) is probably one of the most widely-read poets in Mindful meditation circles. You'll find one of her most beautiful poems, "Wild Geese", along with about 20 more at her page on the Poetry Chaikhana website here. I recommend her book Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver (2017), which is a collection of some of her best poetry, selected by the poet herself.
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The Poetry Foundation's website is a great resource for discovering poems by great authors. They sometimes don't have the poem I'm looking for, but I usually discover ones I'm glad to know. Their website is here: Poetry Foundation
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All Poetry, the World's Largest Poetry Site
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On Being with Krista Tippett was a radio show that provided wonderful poems over the years. Here is their poetry archive, by chronological date: On Being Poetry Archive
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The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness (where I received my training) offers a list of interesting mindful poems, "Kindness" by Naomi Shihab Nye is a good choice to use when leading Class 7 of the MBSR class, when we practice Lovingkindness Meditation. The UCSD list is here: Mindful Poetry
Another good source for interesting poems is the website of the Academy of American Poets: poets.org
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The website for Spirituality & Practice has a section devoted to sacred poetry that offers interesting poems. Find their poetry page here.
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For more Mindful Poems, click below.
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