Daron

Daron Larson is a mindfulness coach and the writer behind Phenomenal Awareness, a publication whose tagline is "Come back to your senses. More often than never." He describes himself as a Midwestern grandfather who is married, and he says plainly that he is not a guru, monk, Buddhist or vegetarian.

He has practiced mindfulness daily since October 2002 and has attended dozens of silent meditation retreats, mostly a little over a week long. He calls them more like boot camp than escape, because the point is to return to daily life with better skills for relating to it. He says he practices to inhabit his life more fully, to escalate its inevitable discomforts less, and to keep an appreciation of our shared humanity alive.

Phenomenal Awareness is his non-dogmatic approach to mindfulness. It emphasizes developing sensory awareness of ordinary phenomena rather than seeking calm on demand or profound epiphanies. On Insight Timer he is described as teaching an Attentional Fitness philosophy. He treats attention like physical fitness: a skill built through consistent, sometimes uncomfortable practice, not a commodity. His multisensory attention exercises aim to help people savor pleasant moments more fully and lessen the grip of unpleasant ones.

He works with individuals, small groups and organizations, offering personalized guidance and exercises. He also writes essays and records guided audio attention exercises, drawing on everyday experience, films and his own retreat experiences.