Cultivating Awe

I wrote about Awe in the beginning of 2025 and have been touching on it the entire year. I have found that studying awe has been a gift for me, and has brought me so much gratitude in my life. To wrap up the year of Awe, I want to share more about what awe is.

The Definition

Awe is one of 20 primary feelings that all humans around the planet experience. It is universal alongside joy, anger, sadness, fear and other common emotions we are all familiar with. To experience awe, the moment must contain a level of curiosity and/or mystery and something that is outside of the normal box of our perception. It is a moment where we feel a greater sense of connection to the world and the life within it.

The Science

When we have a moment of awe, our DMN quiets down, which is our busy brain that generally ruminates about the self. We literally quiet the critical narrative about ourselves, and dive into something that feels beautiful, phenomenal and stops us in our tracks. Awe has been proven to help support the Vagus nerve and in turn quiet our nervous system. I also find it interesting that awe generates Oxytocin releases as well (the love/connection molecule). Lastly, it has strong findings of helping people find meaning in their lives, and studies are reporting higher levels of joy/happiness because of it. There is a catch: Research has found that 25% of experiences of awe can include fear/sense of threat or danger. Awe can happen alongside a fear response, such as a beautiful storm approaching but lightning striking too close for comfort.

Unique Aspects of Awe

Awe is experienced in joyful or hard times, and in life changing transformational moments, or small blips in a normal day. Being witness to a birth or death can bring about a sense of feeling our own mortality, or the cycle of life, and awe is part of that process. It helps us see past the mundane parts of life, and feel more interconnected or an opportunity for meaning. On the same token, awe can be experienced in the simple acts of everyday life where we stop and find wonder in something.

How to Cultivate More Awe

A neuroscientist who studies awe states that people should seek out awe for 10 minutes once a week. She stated that the difference between mindfulness and awe is that we need to be mindful (notice our sensations without judgment and with kindness) in order to experience awe, but awe is taking it to the next level by bringing in the deep appreciation for the beauty, connection, meaning and mystery to whatever you are paying attention to. Here are some ways you can work on cultivating more awe:

• Taking a walk without your phone and studying the objects around you. Get lost in the grooves of a tree trunk, a flower petal or a river stone

• Listening to music that moves you emotionally

• Creating music that moves you

• Participating in the arts or a creative expression where there is a level of novelty

• Visiting new places or taking new routes to familiar places and slowing down to find something extraordinary

• Experiencing moral beauty (watching someone you admire act in a way where morals or values are displayed in a way that is inspirational to you)

• Getting in nature whether it’s water, woods, forests, mountains or deserts

• Diving into spirituality

I deeply believe that developing more awe in my life has helped me with grief, created more sense of wonder and adventure this year, and allowed me to feel more playful and grateful. If it’s not awe you seek for 2026, that’s fine, but put your intention out there into something that feels nourishing, nurturing and healthy for your soul!

~Angela Melzer