Mindfulness, MWe, and Our Interconnected Reality

These scientific observations have emerged with a practice in which the knowing of consciousness is differentiated and then linked with the knowns, utilizing the visual metaphor of a “wheel of awareness” in which the hub is the experience of being aware, the rim that which we can be aware of.  With both biological and physics perspectives suggesting that the human perspective of a “separate self”, reinforced with the messages of modern culture, may be only one part of a much larger view of the deeply interconnected nature of reality and the reality of nature, we can propose that part of the journey forward for humanity on this precious planet is to expand our consciousness and integrate our identity—with practices like mindfulness— to embrace a wider view of who we truly are.  In many ways, we are more like interconnected verb-like events rather than only noun-like separate entities.  The symbolic term MWe integrates the inner aspect of a “me” with the interconnected facet of our lives as a “we.”  With this more integrated sense of our identity, MWe can move forward to cultivate personal, interpersonal, and even planetary health and flourishing.

Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute which focuses on the development of mindsight, which teaches insight, empathy, and integration in individuals, families and communities.

Dr. Siegel has published extensively for both the professional and lay audiences. His five New York Timesbestsellers are: Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence, Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human, Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain, and two books with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D: The Whole-Brain Child,and No-Drama Discipline. His other books include: The Developing Mind, The Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology, Mindsight,The Mindful Brain, The Mindful Therapist, and also with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D. – The Yes Brain andThe Power of Showing Up (released January 2020).Dr. Siegel also serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology which contains over seventy textbooks.