Cultivating Awe as a Key to Well-being
Awe has the power to shift our perspective, dissolve self-focus, and reconnect us to wonder—discover how awe is the common ground of creativity, nature, yoga, and spirituality with the power to positively effect our well-being
Collage I created recently as part of a creativity workshop ‘Facing the Sun’ by Julie Pointer Adams
Rediscovering Awe Through Nature, Creativity, and Yoga
With the intention of engaging in a free creativity project and practicing child-like exploration, I am currently participating in a creative workshop hosted by artist Julie Pointer Adams. One of our first exercises was collage-making—a practice I haven’t engaged in for some time. By chance (or perhaps serendipity), I have recently received a collection of old alpine club journals from my 93-year old grandmother. As I sifted through their pages, I cut out countless striking images of snow-capped peaks and alpine landscapes.
During this creative exercise, I came to contemplated my fascination with the mountains. I have now been living in Innsbruck, Austria, surrounded by the Alps for almost four years. As I am writing this, it is spring outside, the peaks are still white and nature in the valley is blooming. On my daily hikes on the hill, I feel a consistent fascination with the beauty of this landscape that brings me joy and awe every day.
In self-development work, a frequent prompt is ‘What makes you feel most alive?’ As I was pondering my answer as part of Julie’s workshop again, these were essentials on my list: being in the mountains (on skies or hiking), capturing beautiful landscpaes with my camera, dissolving in the flow of creative work, practicing Kundalini yoga (importantly chanting mantras in a group). And then I came across an academic article on the phenomenon of ‘awe’, linking these main things on my list together.
Understanding Awe: A Scientific Perspective
During a philosophical aesthetics class at the university during lockdown, I first encountered the concept of the Sublime. Philosophers and artists have long contemplated the power of awe. During the Romantic era, Edmund Burke (1757) distinguished between the "Beautiful"—what is harmonious and pleasing—and the "Sublime"—what is vast, overwhelming, and humbling. Burke’s ideas marked a shift from the Neoclassical to the Romantic era—a movement in late 18th-century Europe that valued emotion, imagination, and a deep reverence for nature. In many ways, this cultural response to industrialization mirrors our present moment, I believe. At its core, the Sublime resonates with what modern science identifies as ‘awe’.
Today, modern psychology recognizes awe as a distinct emotional experience that transcends personal boundaries and fosters a sense of interconnectedness (Bai et al., 2017). Awe can emerge from various sources: nature, spirituality, music, collective movement, and even psychedelics. Research by Monroy and Keltner (2023) illustrates how awe positively influences mental and physical health.
Model for awe as a pathway to mental and physical health from (Monroy & Keltner, 2023) ‘Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health’
Their model demonstrates how awe contributes to well-being through two primary pathways: cognitive and physiological. Cognitively, awe reduces self-focus, fostering humility and a greater sense of connection. Physiologically, awe activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing stress and inflammation, which benefits overall health.
These four key awe-inspiring domain plays a unique role:
· Nature: The vastness of landscapes, the intricate details of a single flower, or the rhythmic sound of ocean waves can elicit feelings of wonder and interconnectedness, of being part of the universe’s creation that is so much bigger than us.
· Spirituality: Rituals, meditation, and communal religious experiences can invoke awe, reinforcing a sense of meaning or purpose and belonging.
· Collective Movement & Music: Whether through dance, chanting, or attending a concert, shared rhythmic experiences create a sense of unity and transcendence.
· Psychedelics: Substances like psilocybin and LSD have been shown to induce awe-inspiring experiences, often leading to an experience of dissolution of the sense of self and to profound shifts in perception and emotional well-being.
Awe as an Antidote to Narcissism and Hyper-Individualism
We live in an era of relentless self-focus, amplified by social media, self-optimization culture, and the pressure to curate a perfect online persona. According to Keltner (2024), excessive self-focus contributes to issues such as anxiety, depression, and rumination. Awe acts as a counterforce - it diminishes our sense of self-importance while expanding our awareness of something greater. Experiences of awe help dissolve the ego, encouraging humility, connection, and engagement with the collective. This effect is particularly evident in communal experiences, whether through group chanting, dance, or witnessing a breathtaking natural phenomenon together.
Cultivating Awe Through Free Exploration, Play, and Presence
Awe flourishes when we embrace curiosity, spontaneity, and play. As children, we naturally approach the world openly with wonder. Yet, as adults conditioned by education and culture, we often suppress this inclination in favour of productivity and efficiency. Get some inspiration and resources for making play part of your adult life at The National Institute for Play.
Julie Pointer Adams, in her creative workshop booklet ‘Facing the Sun’, references Gabrielle Roth’s (an American musician and dancer) words on healing: “In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?”
These questions remind us that wonder is not a luxury—it is a necessity. So, take this as your invitation and science-backed permission. Allow yourself to explore without expectation, to play without outcome, and to become quiet to be fully present in the moments that inspire awe. Whether it’s through nature, art, music, or movement, rekindling a sense of wonder holds an important key to our well-being.
We are all born as creative beings, here to learn, develop, and play. When we cultivate experiences of awe in adult life, our lives will feel more vibrant and whole, our environment more like playgrounds to explore! If this feels overwhelming or abstract, take the practical exercise by author Julia Cameron (2023) as a start: “Once a week take your artist—the youthful, playful part of you that creates—on a solo date. The point is that you commit to a chunk of time where you focus on your artist - and on fun. These mini-adventures are festive excursions that you do alone”. Go to the movies, a botanical garden, a museum, any activity that you can think of that inspires a sense of happiness, inspiration, and possibly awe.
Resources
Bai, Y., Maruskin, L. A., Chen, S., Gordon, A. M., Stellar, J. E., McNeil, G. D., Peng, K., & Keltner, D. (2017). Awe, the diminished self, and collective engagement: Universals and cultural variations in the small self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(2), 185–209. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000087
Burke, E. (2009). A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Sublime and Beautiful (1st ed.). Routledge.
Cameron, J. (2023). Living the Artist’s Way - An Intuitive Path to Creativity. Souvenir Press, London.
Carmel, J. (2024, January 18). Feeling drained? Here’s how to rediscover your childlike wonder. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2024-01-18/how-to-rediscover-childlike-wonder
Charim, I. (2022). Die Qualen des Narzissmus: Über freiwillige Unterwerfung (5th ed.). Paul Zsolnay Verlag.
Keltner, D. (2024). Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (Internationale Ausgabe). Penguin Publishing Group.
Monroy, M., & Keltner, D. (2023). Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(2), 309–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221094856
Play for Adults—National Institute for Play. (n.d.). Https://Nifplay.Org/. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://nifplay.org/play-for-you/make-play-part-of-an-adult-life/
