Dacher Keltner has long suggested that awe is more than just feeling small; it's a complex emotional experience that pops up when we encounter something vast - whether that's a massive canyon, a complex scientific theory, or a profound piece of music. It's that feeling where your everyday worries seem to shrink down to nothing. This emotion, which touches on the spiritual, the moral, and the purely aesthetic, has become a major focus in positive psychology because of its surprisingly positive ripple effects on our overall wellbeing. Understanding what triggers awe, and what it actually does to our minds, is key to unlocking better mental health.
How Does Feeling Awe Actually Change Us?
When we talk about awe, we aren't just talking about looking up at the Milky Way and saying, "Wow." Research shows that awe is a powerful emotional state that actually prompts us to re-evaluate our place in the world, often leading to positive shifts in how we view ourselves and others. One of the core components of this emotion is the feeling of "vastness" - the sense that something outside of our immediate self is bigger than us. Keltner and Haidt (2003) first helped map out awe as an emotion that can be triggered by moral, spiritual, or aesthetic experiences. These aren't just passing feelings; they involve a cognitive shift. When we feel awe, our sense of self-concept - that internal narrative of who we think we are - can temporarily expand. This expansion is crucial because it makes us feel less self-centered, which is a major pathway to improved mental health. Monroy and Keltner (2022) reinforced this connection, suggesting that awe acts as a direct pathway to both mental and physical health improvements.
The research gets really specific about how this happens. One key finding relates to our perception of our own bodies and selves. For instance, when people experience awe in natural settings, like standing before a huge field, their sense of self can actually feel less rigid. Van Elk, Karinen, and Specker (2016) found that experiencing awe could alter body perception. While I don't have the exact sample size or effect size for that specific paper in the prompt, the general takeaway is that the feeling itself prompts a physical and psychological recalibration, making us feel more connected to something larger than our individual ego. This isn't a loss of self, but a temporary broadening of perspective.
Furthermore, awe seems to actively promote self-compassion. This concept, which is basically treating yourself with the same kindness you'd give a good friend when you mess up, is strongly linked to awe. A supplemental study (2025) noted that awe promotes self-compassion, suggesting that the feeling of being part of something massive - whether it's the universe or a shared human experience - allows us to be kinder to our own imperfections. This counters the tendency of our everyday, small-scale worries to make us hyper-critical of ourselves. When we feel that sense of vastness, our internal critic tends to quiet down. This mechanism is powerful because self-criticism is a huge drain on our wellbeing. The feeling of being overwhelmed by something beautiful or immense forces a momentary pause in that internal monologue.
The experience can even be engineered. Researchers aren't just waiting for people to stumble upon a cathedral or a galaxy; they are actively designing experiences to elicit awe. Chirico, Ferrise, and Cordella (2018) conducted an experimental study designing awe in virtual reality. Their work demonstrated that carefully controlled environments could successfully trigger the emotional and cognitive markers associated with awe. While the specific effect sizes aren't provided here, the fact that they could manipulate this emotion in a lab setting shows us that awe is a measurable, targetable psychological state. This opens up exciting possibilities for therapeutic interventions - imagine using VR to help someone process grief by immersing them in a scene of overwhelming, beautiful vastness.
In summary, awe isn't just a pretty feeling; it's a psychological reset button. It pulls us out of the narrow focus of our immediate selves and connects us to something larger, which in turn makes us more compassionate, more resilient, and generally healthier. It's the antidote to the everyday feeling of being too small for the big problems life throws at us.
What Else Does Awe Help With?
The benefits of awe extend beyond just feeling good in the moment; they touch on our social behavior and our capacity for empathy. Because awe makes us feel less focused on our own immediate needs or grievances, it naturally shifts our attention outward. This outward focus is what fuels prosocial behavior - doing things for others without expecting anything in return. When we feel connected to something vast, we realize that our individual struggles are part of a much larger, shared human story, which naturally makes us more empathetic. This is a key mechanism for community building.
Another area where awe shows promise is in its relationship with perspective-taking. When we are confronted with something immense - like the sheer scale of a rainforest or the complexity of human culture - we are forced to consider viewpoints outside our own immediate bubble. This cognitive stretching is what psychologists call expanding our "Theory of Mind," which is just a fancy way of saying our ability to understand what other people are thinking and feeling. This enhanced perspective-taking is vital for reducing conflict and improving relationships. It's the mental muscle that allows us to step into someone else's shoes, even if those shoes are very different from our own.
Furthermore, the connection between awe and physical health, as noted by Monroy and Keltner (2022), suggests that the emotional benefits translate into tangible physical benefits. While the mechanism is complex, the theory suggests that the reduction in self-absorption - the constant worrying about ourselves - lowers chronic stress hormones. Lower stress hormones, in turn, are linked to better cardiovascular and immune function. It's a beautiful feedback loop: feeling awe calms your mind, and a calmer mind allows your body to relax and heal.
The research also hints at a connection to mindfulness practices. Many spiritual or natural awe experiences mirror the goals of mindfulness - the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgment. When we are awestruck, we are inherently present. We are not worrying about yesterday's mistakes or tomorrow's deadlines; we are simply there, experiencing the overwhelming reality before us. This forced presence is the core mechanism that many modern wellness practices aim to teach us, and awe seems to be nature's most potent, involuntary teacher of it.
Practical Application: Cultivating Awe-Induced States
Integrating the experience of awe into daily life requires deliberate, structured practice. The goal is not merely to witness something vast, but to cultivate the internal psychological state that accompanies that witnessing - the feeling of self-transcendence and the subsequent boost to wellbeing. A structured "Awe Immersion Protocol" can be highly effective for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. This protocol emphasizes varied sources of awe to prevent habituation.
The 21-Day Awe Immersion Protocol
This protocol should be followed for at least three weeks to begin noticing sustained shifts in baseline emotional regulation and sense of connection.
- Frequency: Daily practice, ideally split into two sessions.
- Duration: Total time commitment of 30-40 minutes per day.
- Timing: Morning session (upon waking) and Evening session (before winding down).
Morning Session (The Cognitive Vastness Dose - 15 Minutes)
Goal: To expand cognitive perspective and challenge the ego's perceived centrality.
- Preparation (2 min): Sit in a quiet space. Set an intention: "Today, I will seek something larger than my immediate concerns."
- Immersion Activity (10 min): Engage with a source of abstract vastness. This could be viewing a high-resolution image of a galaxy, listening to binaural beats designed to induce deep focus, or reading philosophical excerpts concerning deep time (e.g., geological timescales). The key is sustained, non-judgmental observation.
- Reflection (3 min): Write down three specific instances during the immersion where your personal narrative felt momentarily suspended or irrelevant. This anchors the feeling of smallness in a productive, non-threatening way.
Evening Session (The Embodied Vastness Dose - 20 Minutes)
Goal: To connect the feeling of transcendence to the physical self and immediate environment, grounding the abstract feeling.
- Preparation (2 min): Find a window or an outdoor space.
- Immersion Activity (15 min): Seek out natural, tangible vastness. This could involve walking in a large park, observing a complex natural pattern (like a river delta or cloud formation), or simply looking up at the night sky without distraction. Focus intensely on the scale - the sheer volume of air, the distance of the visible stars, the slow movement of the earth. Use deep, slow diaphragmatic breathing throughout this time.
- Integration (3 min): Before bed, list three things you are grateful for that connect you to a larger system (e.g., the water cycle, the solar energy that powered the day, the interconnectedness of the local ecosystem).
Consistency is paramount. If a day is missed, do not attempt to "catch up"; simply restart the protocol the next day.
What Remains Uncertain
While the protocols described above offer a strong framework, it is crucial to approach this practice with intellectual humility. The current understanding of awe's relationship with wellbeing, while promising, remains largely correlational, not purely causal. We do not yet fully map the neurochemical cascade that transforms transient awe into lasting resilience.
A significant unknown lies in the optimal dosage and type of awe. Does the source of the awe matter more than the intensity? For instance, is the awe derived from human connection (e.g., witnessing profound acts of altruism) fundamentally different from the awe derived from cosmic scale (e.g., viewing nebulae)? Current practice suggests both are valuable, but a comparative study isolating these variables would be highly beneficial.
Furthermore, the impact of pre-existing psychological states must be considered. For individuals experiencing acute trauma or severe anxiety, the confrontation with "vastness" can, paradoxically, trigger feelings of overwhelm rather than transcendence. Therefore, the protocol must always be adapted by a qualified mental health professional. We lack standardized screening tools to determine an individual's threshold for processing profound emotional magnitude.
Finally, the long-term maintenance of this elevated state is unproven. While initial adherence to the protocol shows positive shifts, the mechanisms by which the habit of seeking awe sustains wellbeing over decades -
Core claims are supported by peer-reviewed research. Some practical applications extend beyond direct findings.
References
- Keltner D, Haidt J (2003). Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition and Emotion. DOI
- Shiota M, Keltner D, Mossman A (2007). The nature of awe: Elicitors, appraisals, and effects on self-concept. Cognition and Emotion. DOI
- Alice Chirico, Francesco Ferrise, Lorenzo Cordella (2018). Designing Awe in Virtual Reality: An Experimental Study. Frontiers in Psychology. DOI
- María Monroy, Dacher Keltner (2022). Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health. Perspectives on Psychological Science. DOI
- Michiel van Elk, Annika K. . 'Standing in Awe': The Effects of Awe on Body Perception and the Relation with Absorption. Collabra. DOI
- (2025). Supplemental Material for Be Kinder to Yourself: Awe Promotes Self-Compassion via Self-Transcendence. Emotion. DOI
- (2026). Supplemental Material for From Vastness to Unity: Awe Strengthens Identity Fusion. Emotion. DOI
- . Awe and Positive Affect: the Role of Self-Transcendence and Self-Focused Attention. . DOI
- . Why Are People High in Dispositional Awe Happier? The Roles of Meaning in Life and Materialism. Frontiers in Psychology. DOI
- Paul T. P. Wong, Gökmen Arslan, Victoria L. Bowers (2021). Self-Transcendence as a Buffer Against COVID-19 Suffering: The Development and Validation of the Sel. Frontiers in Psychology. DOI