Approaching Life With Awe And Wonder

As we approach life with curiosity and really take in each moment, we can lower stress levels, boost emotional well-being, and just smile and laugh more. In this meditation, we'll touch on meeting life with awe and wonder and practicing these qualities in our daily lives.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

Thanks for choosing to join me today to do a guided meditation where we'll be exploring life with a curious mind,

Where we approach it with more awe and wonder.

So let's get started.

If you haven't already done so,

Settle into a comfortable position,

Ideally seated upright so that you remain alert,

But that your body is also relaxed.

And we'll start off by doing a little mini body scan,

Beginning at the crown of your head,

Check in with the top of your head and then slowly move down to your face.

Check in with your eyes and then your jaw and then your neck and your shoulders.

If it feels good,

You can lift your shoulders up towards your ears and then drop them back down so that you relax a little bit more into this moment.

And then we'll move to our chest and belly where we can feel the breath coming in and out with each inhale and exhale.

And then check in with your arms and slowly move down to your hands.

They may be resting in your lap or by your sides and check in with each finger,

Starting with the thumb and moving towards the pinky.

And then we'll move down to our seat,

Which is supported by the chair or the mat.

Wherever you find yourself sitting,

Feel how it does support your body.

And then down through your legs where you're end at your feet.

They may be planted on the ground supported by the earth or you may be sitting cross legged on a mat.

And now let's take a couple conscious breaths.

Take a big deep inhale in and exhale slowly.

One more big deep inhale in and exhale,

Letting everything go.

I want to begin this meditation today with a little tale I read recently.

And it talks about why we meditate and what happens when we approach life with more awe and wonder.

So the story goes,

There is a student and he approaches his Buddhist teacher deep in thought and solemnly asks him,

Teacher,

Why do you meditate?

The teacher looks directly at his student and responds,

I meditate so that I can notice the tiny purple flowers lining the road on my walk to the village each day.

For me,

This simple idea embodies what can happen when we slow down and appreciate the little things in life.

Little tiny purple flowers that might bring a momentary smile to our face.

These are the moments we're usually too busy or distracted to notice.

And this story can remind us to practice awe,

Wonder,

Curiosity,

Or delight in any given moment.

And when we do this,

We can feel a slight sense of happiness or joy,

Even if it is just for the briefest of moments.

When was the last time you woke up early,

The sun was just beginning to rise.

Maybe you were in your kitchen,

Looking out your window with a coffee or tea in hand and watch the morning sky begin to blush with pink and orange before charging into your day.

Or maybe you were on a daily walk and you paused to lift your head up and gaze at the layers of green painted into a tree's canopy or stopped to watch a child move through life with endless curiosity,

Picking up this,

Throwing that,

Really just diving headfirst in the into life.

Children take the time to practice on curiosity,

But as adults,

Oftentimes we're just too busy.

But when we meet each experience from a place of awe and wonder,

Just as a child does,

We can experience more of those little joyful moments.

Momentary joy is even possible when we're feeling down or frustrated or anxious,

When we're struggling to make it through the day.

We're still able to notice something beautiful or funny or just downright odd,

And it might snap us out of that frustration or anger for a moment.

And when we look at it with a curious and wondering mind,

It can bring momentary joy.

And the more we do this,

The more we can begin to weave these special moments together into the fabric of our awareness.

And those good feeling moments are slowly cemented into our being.

We can also get curious when we meditate just as we are right now.

We can dive deeper into how a sensation feels in the body,

Like our hands resting in our lap,

Or the place where your seat meets the chair,

Cushion,

Or couch you're sitting on.

Right now,

Take a moment and pick a place in your body and really begin to investigate how it feels.

Maybe your hands resting on your legs,

Or your feet firmly planted on the ground,

Or your belly or chest moving in and out with your breath.

Do you notice how that part of your body can come alive when you focus more of your attention on it?

You may feel a tingling or a vibration,

Or it may radiate heat or coolness.

And as you really connect with that part of your body,

You can begin to untangle from your thoughts and internal chatter and settle in a little bit deeper into this moment.

We can also get curious about a thought pattern,

Feeling,

Or emotion that keeps coming up,

That keeps tapping us on our shoulder trying to get our attention.

And instead of trying to immediately push that feeling away,

Maybe you can sit with it and allow it to share a message with you.

Perhaps you're not ready to fully uncover the message or teaching,

But just by giving the thought or feeling space,

It has the chance to help you understand your underlying patterns or ways of responding or reacting.

Painful thoughts,

Feelings,

And memories can be tough to sit with,

But pain and discomfort can also translate into personal discovery and growth.

Next time you're faced with a troubling thought that just won't go away,

Maybe you can invite it to stay around a while until it teaches you what you need to know.

Pema Chaudron explains this so perfectly when she said,

Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.

Our thoughts and feelings may nag at us and be persistent,

But that's because they are trying to tell us that we still have work to do.

When we put in the work and sit as we are now and really try to understand these messages from our soul,

We can have more of those aha moments,

Those many breakthroughs where we find some insight into our inner world.

We can also take what we learn in meditation and carry it into our daily lives.

Can you remember the last time you paused,

Stopped what you were doing to really take in something that pulled at your attention?

Lately I've been really trying to approach every experience or person I encounter with a beginner's mind,

One that's curious and open and to put judgment and self-doubt basically in a time out.

They have their place in my life,

But they don't need to always be in control.

And as I approach things with fresh and clouded eyes,

I do find more acceptance within myself and enjoyment throughout my day.

Recently I was taking a familiar hike and it begins on a flat dirt road surrounded by pastures and grazing cows.

The cows pretty much ignore me.

They might look up,

But they definitely aren't interested in getting close to me.

But on this day I passed a couple with their daughter who was probably around two years old at the fence line,

And there was this juvenile cow just a few feet away from them,

Intently looking at the little girl as she quietly spoke to him.

I couldn't hear what she was saying,

But the cow and the girl were clearly enamored with each other.

Most times these days I'll walk by people with my head down,

Moving as far away as possible to give them space and me space.

But on this day I looked up,

Slowed down,

And was able to fully witness this special moment between a little girl and a cow in deep conversation,

Speaking the language of the soul.

And I smiled,

A genuine feel-good smile.

I find myself smiling more,

Laughing more,

As I really take in more of these moments,

These little magic moments.

And these are the threads that I choose to weave into my life now.

I think the more we're able to approach our days,

Experiences,

Moments with curiosity,

The more we can find ourselves smiling,

Laughing,

And really enjoying life.

Having I guess you'd call it more of a lightness,

Less seriousness,

More amusement,

And it really can make a difference.

We can break free from the past and the worries of some unknown future and find moments of joy all around us.

I love the words of Thich Nhat Hanh where he says,

Happiness is available,

Please help yourself.

It's kind of a silly saying,

But so true.

It's like there's this buffet of joy and happiness that's there for us.

It's available to us at any time.

We just need to keep making the choice to see it.

I hope that you are able to approach your days with a little more awe and wonder and curiosity and to find some delight and amusement in little moments throughout your day.

Thanks so much for joining me.

I hope to sit with you again soon.

Take care.