🤩 Use Awe to Refresh Your Wellbeing
Research shows "wow" feelings should be your next vitamin supplement
When looking at mountains, canyons, or other grand landscapes, people often report a sense of intense awe and admiration. They get this curious feeling of connecting with something bigger than themselves.
But where does this experience come from? Why would simply looking at a landscape inspire a feeling of “wow” in the brain?
A recent scientific research review explains why awe has such a powerful impact on our psychology, and how that impact translates into real benefits for our physical and mental health.
So if you’re wondering what your next vitamin supplement should be, here’s the case for making it a regular dose of awe.
🩺 Understanding how awe impacts health
Scientists commonly talk about six basic human emotions: sadness, fear, anger, happiness, surprise, and disgust. A research review paper published in 2023 makes the case for viewing awe as a distinct and important emotion in its own right.
The review paper defines awe as a feeling that “arises in encounters with stimuli that are vast, or beyond one’s current perceptual frame of reference”. Bring to mind the last time you felt awe and you’ll probably recall a sense of vastness accompanying it. Whether you’re looking up at a skyscraper in Manhattan, down the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, or out at a sparkling blue Atlantic ocean, the sheer scale of the visual input to your brain is likely to be creating the feeling we call “awe”.
Feeling connected to something meaningful or impressive beyond ourselves is a pleasant sensation, and we know that positive emotions are generally linked to a healthier life. But how does awe specifically boost our physical and mental health?
The scientific review highlights 5 key pathways through which awe boosts wellbeing:
Healthier neurophysiology: During an awe experience, a sense of emotional relief comes from a more relaxed physiological profile, heightened oxytocin, and reduced inflammation.
Less self-focused: With feelings of awe, people become less fixated on themselves—they perceive themselves as physically smaller and feel less trapped in their personal worries or narrow senses of perspective.
More benevolent: Awe makes people feel more generous and cooperative. They’re more likely to act altruistically in experimental tests and social interactions.
More social: Awe helps people feel like they share a sense of humanity with others, and they experience a deeper connection with the world around them.
Elevated meaning: People feel a greater sense of purpose and meaning in their life, and they’re able to find stronger links between the events in their lives, their personal values, and their social relationships.
Awe can express itself in many different forms and places: in our interactions with nature, during experiences described as spiritual or religious, and even in our collective connections with music.
Regardless of how we choose to experience it in our own lives, there are good reasons to believe that awe is more than just a superficial “wow”. It creates positive effects in our bodies, minds, and behaviors that support a happier and healthier disposition.
⭐️ Takeaway tips
Find your next dose of awe: Awe is often thought of as an unexpected or surprising feeling, but it doesn’t have to be. Plan for where you’ll find your next “wow” experience. It could be in your upcoming travel itinerary or even your next walking route to town (e.g. walk the longer but leafier park route instead of the faster route along the main road). You can even experience awe when reading a good novel or watching an inspiring movie. You never know exactly when you’ll feel it, but you can maximize how many opportunities you create for it in your life.
Pay attention to how “wow” feels: Looking back at the 5 pathways to health that awe can stimulate, you might find that some are less obvious than others. For example, while I could immediately relate to the idea that awe makes you less self-focused, I found some of the neurophysiological and social benefits more surprising. Next time you experience awe, be conscious of the effect it’s having on your body and behavior, and see how many of the 5 pathways you can identify.
Support a friend’s awe journey: Awe is one of those feelings that’s easy to grasp, practical to experience, and possible to plan for (see my first tip). Telling someone to “find a way to be happy” feels like empty advice that’s difficult to execute, but telling someone to “find a way to feel awe” feels more manageable. Next time a friend is feeling upset or uninspired, consider whether you can help them find their next moment of awe in the world.
“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”
~ Albert Einstein
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👋 Until next time,
Erman Misirlisoy, PhD
I love this! I certainly notice how many times I might react with a 'wow' to something though to be fair sometimes that CAN be to a negative situation (eg recent mindless rioting in the UK). But generally speaking, taking time to appreciate what is around us and being mindful (yes, possibly a cliche but true) is absolutely worthwhile. Where I live, we can see a lot of sky and one early evening, I stood in awe of a starling murmeration happening in the skies above our neighbourhood, it truly was awe inspiring. And it did make me feel good, fascinated to watch how those birds swooped and soared as one without bumping into each other, it was a sight to behold. Of course, a big ice cream sundae with all the trimmings also brings out my 'awe' factor but most if not all of my experiences are generally connected to nature and our natural world. All the more reason to do what we can to save our precious Earth.