top of page

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.

​

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...)

​

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. 

​

​

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

​

All Poetry, the World's Largest Poetry Site

​

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

​

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

​

The website for Spirituality & Practice has a section devoted to sacred poetry that offers interesting poems.  Find their poetry page here.

​

For more Mindful Poems, click below.

​

bottom of page