Learning to experience life in awe

By DAVE CELONE and DIANE ROSTON

For the Valley News

These are times that foster fear. As an antidote, try, instead, to nurture awe.

“On your weekly walk, practice feeling awe.”

This instruction was given to adult participants in a 2021 University of California-San Francisco study that sought to discover a simple way to improve emotional and physical well-being. The awe walkers focused on their surroundings rather than themselves during a 15-minute weekly walk. Compared to the control group who walked as often and as far, the awe walkers had increased positive emotions and decreased anxiety and depression.

Research reveals that even in troubled times, awareness of awe can keep anxiety and stress at bay.

“Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world,” explains Dr. Dacher Keltner, PhD, Professor of Psychology at University of California- Berkeley.

Studies have identified that awe has its own unique “fingerprint” of facial, bodily, and vocal expressions — typically, widened eyes, slightly raised eyebrows and slightly open mouth, with vocalization something akin to, “Wow” or “Whoa.”

The positive effects of awe are mediated by physiological changes, including increased vagal nerve tone (causing increased sense of calm), decreased sympathetic nervous system arousal (decreased fight-or-flight tension), and increased oxytocin (positive impact on relaxation and trust). Awe has also been shown to reduce inflammation, as reflected by reduced interleukin- 6, an inflammation biomarker.

Joy, in contrast, is associated primarily with the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure. Joy is good, but awe is wow!

Awe is also associated with reduced focus on the self and increased feelings of connection to something larger than oneself. It is well-established that increased self-absorption is associated with increased depression and anxiety.

Similarly, awe enhances cooperation, sharing and generosity. This extends further to a sense of connection to the larger world. Even further, awe deepens our sense of meaning in life, a strong predictor of physical and mental well-being.

Where might we experience awe? Seek it in “something that is not immediately understandable,” Keltner suggests, such as nature, music, art, beauty and moral beauty (witnessing people helping others), inspiring moments, such as “collective effer vescence” (sports fans madly cheering together), spiritual experiences (prayer, chanting, ceremonies), epiphanies (learning that changes our world view), and, of course, birth and death. Psychedelics may also be associated with awe.

Can love be awe-inspiring? We think so. The five languages of love, originally described by marriage counselor Dr. Gary Chapman, are: 1. loving words, 2. acts of service, 3. spending quality time together, 4. tender touch, and 5. giving and receiving gifts. Since falling in love floods our brain with reward circuit chemicals, it’s likely that practicing your love languages can induce feelings of being lovestruck, just a hair’s breadth away from being awestruck.

A note of caution: negative experiences, such as floods or fires, also can engender awe. In these cases, the experience of awe does not create the benefits associated with positive awe.

How do we access awe during terrible times? Dr. Victor Frankl, MD, psychiatrist and survivor of the Holocaust, described how he and other prisoners at the Auschwitz death camp, exhausted from the day’s work, followed a fellow prisoner outside to witness a breathtaking sunset. Even in those circumstances, men stood to witness the setting sun, awestruck.

When times are hard, consider taking an awe walk. Awe is a path to health.

We are surrounded by opportunities for awe. We just need to take time each day to notice. Look at the night sky and feel how small we are. Experience the way the bright sun glints off a metal roof, the sound of wind in the trees, a distant mountain rising through fog, organ music coming from a church on Sunday morning, the tantalizing smell wafting from a wood-fired pizza oven.

Make today your day to become awestruck. It’s a potent antidote to help keep your fears at bay.

Diane Roston is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine. Dave Celone is vice president of alumni relations and development at Vermont Law and Graduate School in South Royalton.