Dr. Arnie Kozak is an author, psychotherapist and a teacher of Buddhism. He’s written a number of books about mindfulness, and has recently penned a new book called Buddhism 101: [From Karma to the Four Noble Truths, Your Guide To Understanding The Principles of Buddhism.]  Back in the 1980’s, before mindfulness was as popular as today, Dr. Kozak traveled to India and became immersed in Buddhism and mindfulness. He took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. Now he shares his insights with the world, through his extensive writing and training.

Contact Info

• Website: www.arniekozak.com
• Website: www.exquisitemind.com

Most Influential Person

• Larry Rosenberg (founder and teacher at Cambridge Insight Meditation Center)

Effect on Emotions

• Well, it certainly has made me more aware of them over the years.
• People tend to regard me as being mellow even when I don't necessarily feel that way, but it has had a mellowing affect on me. Not to say it has expunged all of my negative emotions like anger.
• I certainly write about these things in my books, my mindfulness lapses. But on the whole, it's helped me to be more at peace, more what we call equanimity, just be more accepting of things, to be more engaged with things.

Thoughts on Breathing

• You know, we really don't need to think about breathing, it's a very elemental process.
• Although there are ways of breathing that are going to be helpful and beneficial, so if we get very tight and are not letting a lot of air into our lungs then that's going to tend to make us more tense and anxious and feel stressed.
• Over time, and I've been doing this over 30 years now, I do what you call diaphragmatic breathing, so my natural breaths, my regular  breath is a very deep breath and it tends to slow and when I practice, when I do the meditation practice, sometimes my breath becomes almost imperceptible, just very, very subtle.
• Usually I know when I'm breathing and everything is slowing and can come back to that. The more you practice the more readily you can come back to that when you're off the mark.

Suggested Resources

• Book: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• Book: Buddhism 101: From Karma to the Four Noble Truths, Your Guide to Understanding the Principles of Buddhism by Arnie Kozak
• App: Timer App