Full Course Description

Aware: The Science & Practice of Presence

We’ll dive deeply into the nature of presence, and how learning the Wheel of Awareness practice can build skills of focused attention, open awareness, and kind intention that research suggests are the three pillars of mind training that have been empirically shown to cultivate these important aspects of flourishing.

Health and healing each derive from the notion of a whole, the core of spiritual growth, the heart of scientific inquiry, and the setting for our exploration of what it means to awaken the mind, to be present, to be aware.

Program Information

Outline

Segment 1 - Reducing Stress and Cultivating a Healthy Mind

Cultivate a healthier mind and healthier world as we learn to reduce stress, build stronger focus, and feel more energized daily
Learn about the 4 Facets of Mind and how focusing attention can actually change the structure of the brain
Experience the transformational power of the Wheel of Awareness, a practice Dr. Siegel created for integrating consciousness
Explore the three foundational pillars of mind training: focusing attention, opening awareness, and cultivating kind intention

Segment 2 - The 3 Pillars of Mind Training —Focused Attention, Open Awareness and Kind Intention

Learn how integration (linking differentiated aspects of a system) serves as a practical bridge between the science of well-being and feeling fulfilled in life
Understand the connections and differences between empathy and compassion and the key roles they play in perspective-taking and what we can do to reduce suffering
Discover how the Three Pillars of Mind Training integrates the structure and function of the brain, supporting us in feeling more connected to self and others

Segment 3 - The Many Everyday Benefits of the Wheel of Awareness Practice

Experience and explore the Wheel of Awareness to invite these benefits into your life:
enhanced well-being in relationships with others and yourself
less chaos and rigidity in everyday life
the emergence of harmony, clarity and peace, inside and out

Segment 4 - How Experiences Affect the Brain’s Growth

Experience how awareness offers a space between impulse and action that supports the choice, change, and growth
Immerse yourself in interconnectedness through direct experience and by listening to the spontaneous, first-person accounts of participants with the Wheel of Awareness practice
Gain a deep understanding into how experiences in life affect the brain’s growth
Evaluate impairment of integration in memory processes in everyday life and in traumatic experiences
Explain the role of implicit and explicit memory in trauma resolution and health

Segment 5 - The Plane of Possibility, at the Heart of Well-being and Resilience

Enhance your life by increasing your options and accessing your creativity
Weave your Wheel of Awareness Practice with the 3-P Perspective
Experience the plane of possibility, which is at the heart of well-being and resilience

Enhance your life by increasing your options and accessing your creativity
Weave your Wheel of Awareness Practice with the 3-P Perspective
Experience the plane of possibility, which is at the heart of well-being and resilience

Segment 6 - Transforming and Growing from Trauma

Discover the benefits of Three Pillar Mind Training, including reduction of the stress hormone, cortisol, enhancement of immune function, and epigenetic regulation to decrease inflammation
Understand how childhood trauma impairs the circuits of integration in the brain that are the neural foundations of well-being and optimal regulation
Learn how to Live, Love, and Lead from the Plane of Possibility through practical exercises