The Benefits of Awe

by Jen Perry, MS.Ed. MA, LPC

Awe has long been lauded by philosophers and spiritual teachers for its self-transcendent qualities that can reduce negative thinking and self-occupation.  Research on awe by psychologists has been increasing exponentially over the last 20 years.  A study at Berkeley found the benefits similar to healthy changes in diet and exercise, including a lowered risk of Type 2 Diabetes, clinical depression, heart disease, and arthritis. Research published in the journal Psychological Science found that awe leads to feelings of more available time, reduces impatience, and increases pro-social behaviors and life satisfaction. Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania interviewed astronauts after viewing Earth from space, and they  report "an expanded sense of perspective on their lives, an increased sense of connection to others, and a renewed sense of purpose." For those of us not venturing into space, research suggests that similar effects can be evoked by watching awesome videos. 

I hope that I have inspired you to try cultivating awe as a process and practice to help you live life to its most awesome-filled fullest. 

Jen Perry, MSEd, MA, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Mindfulness Teacher and Peaceful Parenting Coach. Her passion is helping Highly Sensitive People thrive in life, love, and parenting. She has been in the field for twenty years and is devoted to studying the human psyche or soul and is often in awe in her studies of human compassion, strength, resilience, and consciousness. In addition to seeing clients individually, she offers mindfulness classes and self-compassion groups via video. Learn more about Jen and her practice at www.HeartfulnessConsulting.com [insert link to: https://heartfulnessconsulting.com] 

Engaging Awe as a Transformational Process

by Jen Perry, MA, MSEd, LPC

I wrote this article in February 2020, weeks before COVID-19 would turn our worlds upside down. As I reread it now as it is about to be sent out I wonder what utility awe may have as a transformational practice during these unprecedented and scary times for so many of us. Awe and wonder are beautiful states of awareness that are born out of not-knowingness. I have found, over and over, that a willingness to let go of what we think we know and allow ourselves to not know is a tremendously healthy psychological stance towards life if we can make friends with fear and uncertainty. I invite you to consider the ways in which allowing a not-knowing with regard to these uncertain times can help steady us and allow us to be present, creative, and resilient.  

One example that comes to mind is the not knowing when things will open up again. I know that for me, surrendering to not knowing, surrendering to let’s-wait-and-see-how-this-goes has been much better for my overall well-being than expecting and hanging any certainty on any date such as April 12 and then having that date come and go. The date itself is meaningless devoid of the important factors that go into such a decision as when to reopen. I know that all of us at The Resiliency Center cannot wait to reopen our doors. We are also balancing that desire with safety. The truth is that no one knows and each day more information is revealed. As Rilke says, if we can just learn to love the questions we will live our way into the answers. 

When was the last time you felt awe? The exquisite rush of expansive delight or reverence tinged slightly with fear. Awe can be found in nature ~ witnessing a breathtaking vista, or a night sky full of stars, or encountering a wild animal. Awe can be human-made ~ seeing a famous painting or hearing live music. Awe can also be found in particular moments in life ~ holding a newborn baby, or meeting your hero. But what we could invoke awe more frequently and on purpose, is this even possible?

Awe signals us to stretch ourselves out in wonder. It beckons us to be curious. It brings us to the brink of our understanding and stands before us as an appeal to become intimate with mystery.  Awe is not only a thrilling experience in and of itself, but it also stays with us, transforms us, demands of us that we grow inside to accommodate a new perspective, and to find a home for more questions, deeper wonderings. In this way, engaging awe is as much a process as it is an event. As a process, it makes us aware of the boundaries of our hearts and minds. It asks us to be mindful that there is always MORE just outside of our awareness. It invites us to stay open to the possibilities of shifting our paradigms, opening deeper into our experiences, and understanding more. As a practice and process, awe goes beyond momentary feelings and experiences and can be transformational. If you want to experience strong growth in your life, it makes sense to learn to cultivate awe.

A Generosity of Spirit

by Dean Solon

Gentleness with self opens to and reveals a wonderful “secret” teaching: you are perfectly all right as you are

You are perfectly all right as you are.

This gentleness and generosity with yourself unfolds to a feeling and to a sharing of light and warmth, of compassion and lovingkindness, with other living beings.

And so your perception of life and of the world begins to change and to expand…and so the world changes, too.

Sitting…in this moment…in this present and precious moment.

The concoction and connection is already residing inside you.

The concoction and connection is already and always breathing, already and always living, inside you…

waiting to be released,

waiting to be revealed,

waiting to be shared freely.

Dean Solon leads meditation groups on Monday mornings and Thursday evenings at the Resiliency Center.  He has been practicing for over 45 years and facilitating meditation groups since 2003.  He encourages a personal, gentle, non-rigid approach to mindfulness-and- heartfulness meditation.

What We Sat With This Past Week In The Meditation Classes

by Dean Solon

Pema Chodron:  "Meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have, the domestic situation that we have, the job that we have, and the people who are in our lives.  It's about seeing how we react to all these things.  It's seeing our emotions and thoughts just as they are right now, in this very moment, in this very room, on this very seat.  It's about not trying to make them go away, not trying to become better than we are, but just seeing clearly with precision and gentleness."

in this life you have been given this body,
in this life you have been given this mind,
in this life you have been given this heart,
in this life you have been given this experience,
in this life you have been given this path and this possibility,
in this life you have been given this mystery and this surprise.

(with this being easter week, let us add these words):
in this life you have been given this grace,
in this life you have been given this great good fortune.

since you are alive, here is what to do,
                                         here is who to be:
be awake.

since we are alive,
let us be awake.




   

Mindfulness---Heartfulness

by Dean Solon

Ram Dass:  "We are all just walking each other home."

In my lifetime, mindfulness---in its multitude of forms---has become one of the most popular indoor sports in the United States.
It is a sport, it is a practice, that comes with many instructions.
Yet there are no rules...other than this, perhaps:  A heart of the practice is being kind and gentle with yourself.

Meditation is a personal journey, is a path of discovery.
Each of us is born into this life,
without a visible road map,
and told to explore.
Exploring, it can be easy to forget you are are exploring.
Experimenting, it it can be easy to forget you are experimenting.
Exploring and experimenting, it may be easy to forget---in this world with a nearly infinite possibility of activities, of experiences, of dramas and distractions---that within each of is is a nearly infinite ocean of possibility.
Within you is a world of mystery and surprise, is a world of awe and splendor.
Within you is a possibility of experiencing connection.  Within you is who you were as you came into this life, and who you are now:  A being of light and warmth.  A being who is, in your heart of hearts, loving and kind, compassionate and merciful, peaceful and joyful.  A being who is mindful and heartful.
Each of us an explorer.
Each of us an experiment.

During an interview published in early 2015, Jon Kabat-Zinn (the originator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program more than 35 years ago) said:  "In Asian languages, the word for 'mind' and the word for 'heart' tend to be the same word.  So if you're not hearing the word 'heartfulness' when you're hearing the word 'mindfulness', you're really not understanding what it's all about.  You're going into thought, and you're going into your concept of mindfulness, but mindfulness is pointing at something beyond words, underneath words, underneath thinking."

So, be sitting with this.
Be sitting with this...
with this body, with this mind, with this heart,
with this life, with this breath.
Simply, taking in this moment...
Simply, breathing in this moment...
Simply, being in this moment...

Eyes closed, heart beating,
breath rising and falling, doing nothing.

It is lovely this may be all that is required:
A place to sit, a place to be quiet,
a place to be alive and alert and awake.

So, be sitting with this, mindfully, heartfully...

His Holiness the Dalai Lama:  "The initiative must come from the individual.  In a change from the warrior-like society to a peaceful one at the world-wide level, the more peaceful world starts with the individual.  Why?  It wakes an emotional change:  Compassion."

Sitting, lightly and gently aware of the breath, moving in and through and out of the body.
Allowing an easing of the body, an easing of the spirit.  Allowing a feeling of being comfortable, as you are sitting, here, now, in the space we call a planet, we call the earth.
Allowing a feeling of being gentle and kind with yourself, a core of this practice and of this life.
Allowing feelings of gentleness and kindness for living beings, who are near and dear to you in this life.
Allowing feelings of gentleness and kindness for living beings, numbered in the many billions, who are not yet near and dear to you in this life.

Simply, taking in this moment...
Simply, breathing in this moment...
Simply, being in this moment...