The feeling we get when touched by something vast

Clinical psychologist Neil Farber defines awe as “an overwhelming feeling associated with vastness, reverence, wonder and at times a touch of fear; a sense of transcending day-to-day human experience in the presence of something extraordinary. Awe is inspired by objects or events that are considered to be greater than ourselves such as genius, great beauty, extreme power, impact or sublimity.”

Awe turns out to be an important feature in the field of positive psychology. Psychotherapist Kirk J. Schneider says in his article The Sense of Awe Takes Center Stage, “studies indicate that the cultivation of awe—above and beyond even happiness—can increase life-satisfaction, patience, volunteerism, gratitude and empathy for one’s fellow humans. The studies also suggest that the sense of awe can have beneficial effects on the immune system, on psychological problems such as anxiety and depression and disease in general. Finally, the studies are revealing the potency of awe to connect people to a nondogmatic, noncontrolling higher power. This power has had remarkable effects not only on the reduction of addictions but on a sense of the creativity and richness of day-to-day life.”

Conditions that favor the awakening of awe…

According to Dr. Schneider—

• The time to reflect
• A capacity to slow down
• A capacity to savor the moment
• A focus on what one loves
• A capacity to see the big picture
• An openness to the mystery of life and being
• An appreciation for the fact of life
• An appreciation of pain as a sometime teacher
• An appreciation of balance (e.g., between one’s fragility and resiliency)
• Contemplative time alone
• Contemplative time in natural or non-distracting settings
• Contemplative time with close friends or companions
• In-depth therapy or meditation
• An ability to stay present to and in conflict accept that “this too shall pass”
• An ability to stay present to and accept the evolving nature of life
• An ability to give oneself over—discerningly–to the ultimately unknowable
• An ability to trust in the ultimately unknowable

Awe is the source of all true art and science.

 Albert Einstein, Physicist

According to Greater Good Magazine “Awe is the feeling we get in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world, like looking up at billions of stars in the night sky or marveling at the birth of a child. When people feel awe, they may use other words to describe the experience, such as wonder, amazement, surprise, or transcendence.” The same article provided a list of awe’s benefits. 

Benefits

Research on awe has been demonstrated to have long-term effects on our minds, bodies and social connections.

• Awe feels good. Along with it can come a cascade of other positive emotions such as joy and gratitude, which are linked to greater health and well-being.

• Awe makes us happier. Research indicates that people have higher well-being on days when they have positive experiences of awe, compared to days with no awe. In another study, participants who imagined viewing Paris from the Eiffel Tower reported feeling more satisfied with life than participants who imagined viewing a plain landscape.

• Awe encourages curiosity and creativity. People who experience awe find greater interest in abstract paintings, for example, and persist longer at difficult puzzles.

• Awe makes us more generous, encouraging us to help others even when it costs us.

• Awe helps us gain perspective.

• Awe is linked to better physical health: Awe-prone people show lower levels of a biomarker (IL-6) that reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, and autoimmune disease.

• Time seems to expand as we feel awe and immerse ourselves in the present moment, detached from our normal, mundane concerns.

• Awe sharpens our brains, encouraging critical thinking.

Lani Shiota, associate professor of psychology at Arizona State University, specializes in the study of awe. She says, “How often you experience awe depends on your mindset: how open you are to the novel and unexpected in your environment; whether you choose to seek out extraordinary experiences; how much you attend to the wonder and beauty present in everyday life. These all help create moments of seeing the world as a beautiful and amazing place.” For more on this, check out her video on YouTube: How Awe Transforms the Body and Mind.

Personally, I cried witnessing the beauty of Hawaii’s Napali Coast on a helicopter tour, was overwhelmed with awe while paddling alone in a canoe through a rainstorm down a narrow jungle stream in Belize. Standing at the bottom, looking up at El Capitan in Yosemite National Park also brought me to tears. Other instances: seeing my daughter being born, sitting eight feet away from Ansel Adams showing us (RIT students) his exquisite photographs and sitting atop the Temple of the Inscriptions (Maya temple in Palenque, Mexico), feeling at peace and at home. More recently I experienced awe just by standing still, watching in the distance, hundreds of vehicles on expressway at night. The steady stream of red tail lights going one way and headlights going the other evoked a sense of the humanity’s diverse expression (vehicles) and movement around the planet, everyone wanting to be somewhere else.

While “joy” is a message from the soul that indicates what we’re doing is in harmony with our pre-birth plan, “awe” touches the transcendent nerve directly, giving us a brief taste of immensity, a numinous reminder that we are far more than this watery vessel with five limited senses. Instantaneously, we know there’s more going on in the world and cosmos than we can imagine—and grander experiences lie ahead.

Create experiences that leave you in awe, for these will be the highlights of your life.

Ryan Blair, Entrepreneur and author Nothing To Lose, Everything To Gain

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