Jennifer Stellar learned that last one from a stranger. While running a study in which people logged their daily moments of awe, she noticed something odd: One participant reported far more moments of wonder than anyone else. Stellar, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, went looking for an explanation in the participant’s logs—and found the simple act of adding milk to a cup of coffee. Every day, they “stopped for a minute and watched how it swirled around and made this beautiful pattern,” she recalls. Meanwhile, Stellar was barely noticing her own morning cup. “I'm just pouring my milk in, chugging it, and doing other things,” she says. “And here they are taking a quiet small moment and having an awe experience.”
Awe is one of those emotions you recognize the instant you feel it. It’s the feeling you get “when you encounter things that are vast and beyond your frame of reference,” says Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.
Stellar thinks of awe as something “so extraordinary that it defies comprehension.” She often explains it on a more visceral level: “You see something that gives you goosebumps,” she says, “and you find yourself going, ‘whoa’ or ‘wow,’ and your eyes widen and your mouth opens a bit.” If you’ve ever made that face, you’ve felt it.
The benefits of awe
Awe doesn't just feel good in the moment. Researchers increasingly believe it can shape our mental health, relationships, and physical well-being.
One reason may be what researchers call the “small self.” Awe shrinks you in a helpful way. The feeling is partly about thinking less about yourself and partly about feeling connected to something larger. Stellar describes it as a release from “that noisy ego that's always in your head, talking about stuff and generally not saying the nicest things.”
Awe doesn't just change how people feel about themselves; it changes how they relate to others. Researchers have found that the emotion often gives rise to what they call “self-transcendent” feelings, including compassion and gratitude. “We really prioritize the needs and feelings of other people,” says Virginia Sturm, a professor in the departments of neurology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California San Francisco, “because we feel kind of small and more connected to this larger universe.”
How to experience more awe
The good news is that awe doesn’t require special training—or even a spectacular setting. In one of Sturm’s studies, people were asked to take a weekly 15-minute “awe walk” for eight weeks. The instructions were remarkably simple: Look at the world with fresh eyes, pay attention to the details around you, and engage your senses. People could walk in cities, suburbs, or the countryside. The point wasn’t the route but the mindset.
Here are a few other ways to invite more awe into your life:
Think small
One of the biggest misconceptions about awe is that it requires a bucket-list experience. Keltner practices awe in little ways by listening to music, taking in the sky, or pausing to really look into another person’s eyes. “You don’t need to go to Burning Man,” he says. “Just look for a few minutes a day.”
Use awe as a reset button
You don't have to wait until you're relaxed to seek out awe. Some research suggests it can be especially helpful when you're stressed. During the pandemic, Keltner's team asked exhausted health-care workers—many of them working long shifts in chaotic hospitals—to pause for a moment and think about something that had made them go “whoa.” Some, for example, described a patient showing extraordinary courage or love. Even that brief exercise helped reduce anxiety and loneliness. The lesson: Awe isn't just something to enjoy when life is going well. Sometimes it's exactly what you need in the middle of a difficult day.
Stop treating awe like dessert
Many of us think of awe as a reward—a special experience reserved for vacations, concerts, or other occasions. Stellar argues that mindset gets it backwards. Rather than treating awe like dessert, we should think of it more like a vegetable: something beneficial that belongs in everyday life. “It should just be on your plate,” she says.
After all, the person who reported the most awe in Stellar's study wasn't trekking through Patagonia or chasing eclipses. They were standing in their kitchen, watching milk swirl through a cup of coffee.
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