ALP: The Admissions Leadership Podcast

Coming Back to Ourselves: Microdosing Awe with Joy Jordan

Ken Anselment Season 12 Episode 1

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0:00 | 37:52

Springtime in admissionsland has a way of pulling us out of ourselves and making us more human doings than human beings. 

In this opening episode of a special ALP miniseries—Coming Back to Ourselves—Ken is joined by mindfulness teacher (and former Lawrence statistics professor) Joy Jordan to explore a different way of moving through this season.

Together, they talk about:

  •  the idea of “microdosing awe” 
  •  why mindfulness doesn’t require more time—just more noticing 
  •  how small pauses can restore perspective, agency, and clarity 
  •  and what it really means to “come home” to yourself 

Highly recommend checking out Joy's website: bornjoy.com and signing up for her free Pocket Pause

00:00 – Opening + framing the series

02:00 – The phrase that launched this miniseries: “microdosing awe”

03:15 – Joy’s path: statistics → mindfulness

06:10 – The moment of truth

08:45 – What she actually teaches (and always has)

09:30 – What mindfulness really is

11:00 – The power of three breaths

12:00 – Practical micro-practices

15:00 – The hardest place to practice: with other people

16:30 – The deeper truth

18:45 – Practice outside the moment

20:30 – The trap: hustling your own well-being

25:00 – How Ken's panic moment can model vulnerability

27:00 – Reframing nerves as excitement

28:15 – For the skeptics: the science is clear

29:30 – Awe as a practice

31:00 – Ways to microdose awe

33:25 – Dacher Keltner's work Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life

34:30 – You are enough 

The ALP is supported by Human Capital Education. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment