Worldview Explorations Travel Opportunities

Please check back soon for information about upcoming Worldview Explorations Travel Opportunities.

These special trips use the ideas and approaches of the IONS Worldview Explorations program as a way of framing our exploration of the culture of that country.

Our Worldview Explorations related goals for these journeys include:

1. To enable participants to better understand their own worldviews, where those worldviews came from, and to consciously choose among the worldviews they have that are in alignment with their personal values.

2. To provide tools that will help people on the trip better understand and appreciate the worldviews of the people of India.

3. To facilitate opportunities to contemplate the emotions, inner-knowing and perceptions travelers experience when they encounter the contradictions and mysteries of another culture.

Practices we use include:

1. Examining and reflecting on the assumptions and hidden beliefs the travelers hold about the country they are visiting in terms of their values, family orientation, religion, culture, work ethics, the arts, and more.

Through dialogue and discussion, participants will share these cultural worldviews with others on the trip, exploring their experiences through inquiry questions such as: What surprised us? What engaged us? What inspired us? What challenged us?

2. At the conclusion of the trip, participants will evaluate whether or not the assumptions and beliefs they held mirrored those of the people they met on the trip.

3. A body practice and reflection question will be used to create a space for deep listening and being fully present to others encountered during the trip. 

4. Mindfulness exercises will help us become more aware of how our own judgments and expectations can act as a barrier to learning and discovery of a new culture.

5. Deep breathing and body awareness exercises will help us increase our inner listening and inner knowing and to get in touch with competing ideas. These exercises increase participants' ability to hold competing and sometimes conflicting worldviews, and we'll explore ways participants can more effectively navigate through a different culture and hold multiple perspectives.

6. Keeping a journal of reflections and responses to cultural differences and worldview perspectives.