A Qi Gong & Mindfulness Experience with Dr. Michael Amster

Join local physician, awe-expert, and author Dr. Michael Amster for a unique 75-minute guided experience blending gentle Qi Gong, mindfulness, walking meditation, and the science of awe in the peaceful setting of Santa Cruz Memorial/Evergreen Cemetery.

Together, we’ll slow down and explore how awe can arise through stillness, nature, history, memory, and reflection on the cycles of life. Through mindful movement, sensory awareness, and contemplative pauses throughout the cemetery grounds, participants will be invited into a deeper sense of presence, connection, and appreciation for the beauty and fragility of life.

This experience is gentle, accessible to all levels, and designed to foster calm, perspective, wonder, and renewal.

Michael Amster, MD, is a local pain management specialist, researcher at the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center, co-author of The Power of Awe (Hachette 2023), and a Qi Gong/mindfulness teacher. A practitioner of meditation for over thirty years, he is also a meditation teacher trained at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and studied medical Qi Gong in China. He splits his time between clinical work, research on awe, teaching Qi Gong and mindfulness, and leading awe-inspiring retreats around the world.