Dear Community,
This Sunday, Jane is looking forward to exploring together how our mindfulness practice and our experience of awe are interrelated and influenced by one another. Registration and Zoom information available here.
Often times, as we are mindful, and we pay attention to something, we start to experience the extraordinary, in what at first seemed ordinary. We learn that by opening to our awareness, and becoming more mindful of our surroundings, we create more access to awe. The more we nurture our mindfulness practice, the more we create the conditions in which awe naturally arises.
In addition, the research on awe indicates that awe inspiring experiences contribute to enhanced traits that are related to mindfulness practice, such as enhanced generosity, greater compassion, a stronger sense of well being, and a reduction in our individualistic sense of self and negative rumination.
Dasher Keltner, of The Greater Good Science Center, who is a researcher of awe says: “I have found that when you really think of the concept of mindfulness, of compassion, of awareness, and of awe — suddenly your daily life feels richer…….people (can create) actionable ways to promote feelings of awe in their daily lives. You don’t have to approach this as some kind of mystic who has to pull yourself off our world to get to this state; it should be a part of the recipe of life.”
We look forward to practicing together on Sunday and sharing our curiosity about, and experiences with, how mindfulness and awe are intertwined in our lives.
With Metta,
Minneapolis Insight