Think about the last time you felt. The sky is full of stars. It’s a song that goes somewhere deep and unexpected. A stranger stops helping someone they do not know and has something in your chest in response. If you have ever wondered how often you have to deal with awe, you are not alone.
That feeling is shocking. And most of us are living with it less than we are.
In a life full of alarms and rush habits, we have largely forgotten how to pause for wonder. But science has spent two decades studying what happens when we do, and the findings are interesting. Awe is not just Happiness Stumble. It is one of the most powerful tools we have for emotion. Healthy, younger and fuller.
Here’s why it’s important and six simple ways to get more emotional.
“The world is still amazing. We just have to remember how to watch it.”
Something scary is real (and why we forgot it) ✨
Awe is the feeling of the presence of something big that goes beyond your normal understanding of the world. That’s how UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher KeltnerOne of the world’s leading researchers on the subject defines it.
Big does not mean Grand Canyon. It can be physical, like standing by the sea, but it can also be deeply human, such as seeing an act of extraordinary courage or kindness. Baby’s hand. A red tree. A choir has a full voice. Any of these can stop us in our tracks.
What amazes most people is how often they are surprised. Keltner ResearchCollected from tens of thousands of accounts across 26 countries, the average person reports a shock two to three times a week. The problem is that fear is common. It is that our life full of hurried screens trains us to rush through it non-stop to feel it real.
Why Awe is Good for You
For a long time, amazement was considered a pleasure, but a small feeling, a scattering of miracles on another normal day. Research has clearly shown that this view is wrong. Awe turns into something closer to necessity.
A Study 2023 published in the scientific report Followed 269 adults for 22 days and found that on the day people experienced panic, they reported less than 20 percent less stress, fewer physical symptoms and more general well-being. A parallel study of 145 health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic found the same pattern.
The physical effects continue. A 2015 study of 94 undergraduate students Those who reported fear were more likely to have significantly lower levels of interleukin-6, a sign of inflammation in the body. Awe was the strongest predictor of all the positive emotions studied.
Awe also does things that are unusual for our emotions. In neck 2012 study published in Psychological SciencePeople who have just experienced arousal report feeling that time has passed, making them less patient, more generous, and more satisfied with their lives.
Brain scans provide an explanation of why. Awe reduces activity in the network, the default mode of the brain, the system connected to self-focus and mental conversation. It drives us from thinking about ourselves to feeling part of something bigger, a change researchers call “small self-efficacy.” Studies have consistently shown that people with astonishing experience become more generous, more humble, and more connected to others.
Less stress
Highly scary days are associated with less than 20% stress and fewer physical complaints (Scientific Report 2023)
Calms the body
Linked to lowering blood pressure and reducing inflammatory markers (IL-6) in the body
Silent mental conversation
Reduces activity in the brain default network, relieves jealousy and self-centered thinking
Make us more generous
Shrink the ego through the influence of “small self”, change the focus from me to us and increase kindness
Extend time
People feel less rushed and impatient after a while, even though nothing has changed about their schedule.
Emotions and relationships
Linked to greater well-being, stronger social relationships and a lasting sense of meaning and purpose
6 ways to have a more amazing experience 🌌
1. Look for beauty, daily morality
This is the most astonishing discovery: the single source of the greatest wonder in everyday life across cultures and continents, not nature or music or great architecture. It is the goodness of others. Keltner calls it moral beauty, and it describes the awe we feel when we see someone else’s courage, kindness, or strength.
Strangers help those who fall. A friend stays when they can leave. Neighbors take care of other people’s children quietly. These moments are everywhere and they are more amazing than most people expect.
Take a week to actively notice them, no matter how small, and write one down every evening. You are not looking for great gestures. You are training your attention to the beauty that is already there.
2. Step into the vastness of nature
Nature is a reliable source of astonishment as long as humans remain human, and researchers consistently rank them among the most influential factors. Time in nature is associated with low blood pressure, reduced cortisol, and small self-transformation that makes us feel connected rather than isolated.
The important thing to know is that you do not need a mountain. City parks, river walks, ten minutes of sitting under a big tree or wide open sky overlooking the backyard can all provide the same key element: a scale that reminds you that the world is bigger than your mailbox. If possible, leave your phone behind and spend five minutes looking at something bigger than you.
3. Let the music move you.
Music is one of the most trusted sources of wonder and one of the most unused parts. The special feeling it can create, sometimes called freezing, is a physical sign that something amazing is happening because it creates a tremor or chills that travel through the body. Listening shared, whether at a concert, church service, or playlist in the living room with someone you love deepens your influence.
The key is to listen, of course, not to have music in the background while doing seventeen other things. Awe requires attention, and attention is what we give the least amount of music. Pick a piece that has transformed you before, sit down with it full and let it have you completely.
4. Find common time
Something happens when people move, sing, or experience something together. It does not happen alone. Researchers call it collective energy, and it describes the electricity of shared experiences.
That is why a concert feels different from listening at home, why engaging in hymns or singing can create a truly elusive feeling and why the power of the crowd changes what an event happens to you.
Shared awe shifts the focus of the brain from individual concerns to collective ownership. Find a shared experience this month, concerts, worship services, community events or classes, and notice the difference between experiencing it alone and being part of a crowd.
5. Slow for art and design
Art and architecture are always deliberate attempts to create awe, and they are often successful. The challenge is that we tend to follow them quickly, checking the room rather than actually stopping.
Museums, churches, beautifully designed buildings and completely handmade pottery: these objects carry the efforts and vision of other people, and when we pay attention to them, they can cause us to pause.
Brain research shows that arousal reduces activity in self-focused networks. Standing in front of something that is large or complex enough, we forget to be busy for a while. Visit a place this month with a clear intention of experience rather than go through it and spend at least five minutes with one thing.
6. Perform great walks
Researchers at UC San Francisco have studied what happens when you walk normally, but add a specific element: intentional attention to novelty and wonder by moving around your surroundings as if seeing them for the first time. People who wandered around reported less joy and sadness than normal walkers, and their photos showed that they looked outside rather than inside.
A spectacular walk is not a longer walk or a better route. It was the same walk with different eyes. Leave your headphones behind, move a little slower than usual, and look for something you’ve never noticed before. Details on the building, how light falls on normal objects, plants grow through cracks. Consider it a small discovery.
Miracle is closer than you think ✨
Avi really never went anywhere. It is present in the morning sky as you drive across your way to work in a song you almost skip, and in a neighbor who quietly helps someone without making a fuss. We stop noticing it not because it is gone, but because we are so busy.
The world is still shocked. Science just gives us permission to take it seriously to consider wonder not something that belongs to luxury but something that is close to necessity. Look a little more often. The rest are likely to follow.
