Physician Health and Well-Being: Awe
By John A. Patterson MD, MSPH, FAAFP, ABIHM
Founding co-chair LMS Physician Wellness Program (2016)
There are many definitions of awe. Perhaps my favorite is ‘a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.’ God seems to be a fine example.
Growing up in the Methodist Church in Middle Tennessee, I was quite familiar with the notion of a transcendent God. A God outside of me – above, distinct from creation, a God to whom we pray and kneel and sing and make offerings – and petition for interventions in this worldly realm. I often say the main thing I learned in four years at Vanderbilt was the intellectual notion of an immanent God – a God inside of me – within – and inside everyone else and everything.
When my 14-year-old brother drowned during my freshman year of college, I left the church. I found no solace there. I didn’t cross the threshold of a church until Easter morning of my senior year – at the same time I was taking the medicine boards and law boards and applying to Vanderbilt law school and Tennessee medical school. I wanted to be one or the other – or both. After being accepted to both, I knew I should go to med school while I had the chance.
Although I had no way to know it at the time, the papers that I wrote and books I read during those four years at Vandy were affecting my view of myself, my place in the world, my mission, global threats to human dignity and environmental health – and what I wanted to do about them. My choice of family practice as a career exemplified my interest in being broadly schooled and available to be of service to the greatest number. Shortly after medical school, I began a regular committed meditation program – which I have continued for 50 years. Given the fact that my lab partner in medical school committed suicide shortly after we graduated, my meditation practice may have saved my life. There have been countless moments of awe in this practice – most of which feel too special to share.
Over the last many years, I have been increasingly sensitive to God as both transcendent and imminent. The intellectual training and study of medicine, correctly described as objective and scientific, over the years has gradually incorporated more of the psychology I studied in college and the ecology I have championed for decades. Yet I certainly know I have been affected by the dark side of medical training – as one physician put it – entering first year as Mr. Empathy but quickly becoming Doctor Jerk. I cannot say that I was moved by awe during medical school as we dissected and memorized and regurgitated information. Holding newborns was the med school peak of awe for me. And holding my mother’s hand as she died must surely be the sweetest and sadness.
Awe for me Is evoked watching the sunset and wondering how long our species can survive – grieving for the extinction of species, and ending hatred and cruelty, which has moved many to devote their lives to the relief of suffering at great risk to their personal safety. I experience moments of awe passing a preschool playground, smiling from ear to ear because I hear those sounds of joy from the innocents. Awe continues to be inspired in me as I visit and participate in communities stressing interfaith understanding, ceremony and support for the most needy.
It is gratifying to be a guide to those who sit in the circle every week sharing mindfulness practices together. It inspires awe in me and gladdens my heart having those in their 80s sitting next to parents and their young children because ‘the children want to come.’
We’re fortunate to live in a time when there is actually an emerging science of awe that reinforces the union of the scientific and the mystical as relevant areas of study and practice – even by the most seasoned clinician/scientists.
On a deeply personal note, I learned during the prolonged COVID shutdown how essential kind and loving touch and hugs are for my mind-body-emotional health – something I already knew intellectually but experienced at a deeper level.
Albert Einstein describes a profound awe and wonder at the universe’s rational order, driving scientific inquiry and transcending religious dogma. He said “I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research,” seeing the universe’s unity as the ultimate spiritual experience, different from traditional religion.
Resources
The science of awe
Thompson J (2022) Awe Narratives: A Mindfulness Practice to Enhance
Resilience and Wellbeing.
Front. Psychol. 13:840944.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.840944/full
Compassion, gratitude and awe: The role of pro-social emotions in training physicians for relational competence
International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, (Sept 2020) v 55:issue 5
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0091217420952223
Four practices for inspiring awe
Mindful.org March 9, 2016
Research-based practices for cultivating awe from
the GGSC website Greater Good in Action
https://www.mindful.org/four-practices-for-inspiring-awe/
The Immanent Divine: God, Creation, and the Human Predicament (An East-West Conversation)
Rev, Dr. John J. Thatamanil, MDiv, PhD, theologian, Union Theological Seminary
About the Author–
Dr Patterson spent 30 years in solo family medicine in Estill County/Irvine, Kentucky, where his staff included a mental health counselor and dietitian. He majored in psychology at Vanderbilt and has viewed his entire medical career through that mind body lens, including residencies in family medicine and preventive medicine and a master’s degree in public health. He is certified in family medicine, integrative holistic medicine, mind body medicine, mindfulness-based stress reduction and yoga therapy. He is past president of the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians and is on the faculty of U of Rochester Mindful Practice in Medicine and the Center for Mind Body Medicine (Washington, DC). He operates the Mind Body Studio on Southland Drive in Lexington, where he offers individual consultations and group classes for persons with stress-related chronic conditions and burnout prevention for health professionals, teachers, businesses, faith communities and non-profits, emphasizing a mindfulness-based approach to promoting resilience, managing stress, preventing burnout and cultivating compassion. Those with financial hardship simply pay as they are able.
He can be reached through his website at www.mindbodystudio.org
