What A Wonderful World

Exploring mother nature or simply reading a book could be paths to experience awe-inspiring moments – and inviting awe into our lives can be the key to our wellbeing.

- Elli Jacobs

Remember the last time you felt a sense of awe? Perhaps you were staring up into the night sky, being moved by music, or standing on a mountain top taking in the wonders of nature during your holiday.

While the source of what arouses these jaw-dropping, breathtaking and heart-swelling displays of awe in each of us is different, it’s indisputably a powerful emotion which allows us to be in the presence of something vast that transcends the mundane reality of life.

Michelle ‘Lani’ Shiota, associate professor of psychology at Arizona State University, and one of the few researchers to study awe in a lab, says, “Awe is an emotional response that we experience when we encounter something that challenges or stretches our understanding of the world, and as a result changes how we view the world around us.”

While historically awe was reserved for feelings towards the divine, today feelings of amazement can occur in ordinary life on a day-to-day basis and can provide psychological, social, and health benefits.

Body and mind

Awe lowers stress levels and protects our body. And when compared with other positive emotions like joy or contentment, awe was found to be different from them in almost every way.