Yoga of Awe - Part II
Hello my friends!
“Awe is more than being amazed, and it is more than a feeling of inspiration or astonishment…awe involves a profound shift in cognition, a rewriting (or perhaps rewiring) of one’s cognitive framework, that occurs in the presence of something powerful and vast, something that illuminates the smallness of oneself.” (Ochadleus, 2023)*
We started our conversation about awe last week and there's still so much more to discuss!
Awe is a complex and important emotion. It is often described as a feeling of wonder and amazement at something that seems larger than life. And because that's the feeling that it evokes, awe has the ability to help us shift our focus from the self to others. We learn that we are a small part of something so much greater.
How can we continue this practice of awe, not only during our yoga practice, but throughout our week?
Here are a few ideas:
Take an awe walk. Take a walk with the intention of being curious and open to astonishment. Try a new route or notice new things as you walk on your everyday path.
Tune into the arts. Music and the arts can have an instant and profound effect on your psyche and your physiology. Find music and art that move you. Return to it when needed.
Spend time in nature. There is so much wonder in nature. Just like the arts, nature can have that same instant and profound effect on us. We don't have to go to the Grand Canyon or the South Pole to be awed, we can get the same effect looking at photos or videos.
Change your perspective. Look at things a new way – literally! Put your legs up over your head (on a chair or a wall) and notice the view.
Remain open to being awed. Opportunities for awe surround us. We distract ourselves with busyness and trivial matters. Put down the phone, drop everything, connect to the infinite.
In addition to our yoga, let's try some of these activities this week. Notice how it makes you feel. Revel in the awe.
Awe demands our presence.
Love & Awe,
Nina G
*Ochadleus, Cassidy et al. “It's awe-fully unfamiliar: The effect of familiarity on awe within a virtual reality setting.” Frontiers in psychology vol. 14 1096283. 22 Feb. 2023, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1096283