Since the early 2000s, a movement has been afoot among psychologists to study and better understand the science of “AWE”, an overwhelming, self-transcendent sense of wonder and reverence in which you feel a part of something that is vast, larger than you, and that transcends your understanding of the world. The cause can be nature, music, art, a political march, a spiritual figure, or a ceremony. Some people refer to awe as a form of rapture or reverie or an altered state that unearths joy, well-being, and inner calm.
If you’ve hiked to the top of Ben Nevis, gazed at a wonderful sunset from a Spanish beach, had your eyes filled with tears during childbirth, or felt goosebumps witnessing someone you love honoured in an award ceremony, you know the feeling. Standing on top of Sydney Harbour Bridge, reaching the top of a huge climb to suddenly see Loch Lomond stretched out in front of me, and standing at the top of the Empire State Building were all awesome for me.
The Paradox of an Awe State
The state of awe is a paradox. Your feelings of being diminished connect you to something larger. There’s a tremendous openness and freedom that comes when you consider yourself a speck of dust amid the universe or a grain of sand on an expansive beach. Think about looking up into the sky and seeing the vastness of space with stars. You don’t stand in the way of anything, and you don’t overcrowd or obstruct anything. Instead of trying to be “all that,” you’re humbled by the spaciousness and your smallness, yet at the same time you feel bigger than life. Studies show that in an awe state, you feel the presence of something larger than you. You’re engaged with the expansiveness of the external world, less focused on yourself and more on others, which takes your mind off your burdens, trials and tribulations, your worries, anxieties, and frustrations.
A New Study Explores the Power of ‘Awe Walks’
An “awe walk” is a stroll in which you intentionally shift your attention outward instead of inward. So, you’re not thinking about the tight deadline, the unfinished project, the strain in your relationship with your spouse, an essay for school, or concerns about the current pandemic. A study published on September 21, in the journal “Emotion”, found evidence that a regular dose of awe can boost positive feelings. In the study, 60 older adults took weekly 15-minute “awe walks” for eight weeks. Half of the participants was randomly assigned to a simple walk group. The other half was placed in an awe walk group, in which researchers described the emotion of awe and suggested the walkers try to experience that emotion as they strolled.
After each walk, participants filled out brief surveys, detailing characteristics of the walk and the emotions they had experienced, including questions intended to assess their experience of awe. The surveys showed people in the “awe group” reported increasing experience of awe on their walks as the study went on, suggesting some benefit of practice. The awe group also had significant boosts of positive prosocial emotions such as compassion and gratitude over the course of the study.
Answers to open-ended survey questions reflected awe walk participants’ growing sense of wonder and appreciation for the details of the world around them. For example, one participant reflected on “the beautiful autumnal colours and the absence of them amidst the evergreen forest ... how the leaves were no longer crunchy underfoot because of the rain and how the walk was more spongy ... the wonder that a small child feels as they explore their expanding world.”
In contrast, participants from the control walk group tended to be more inwardly focused. For example: “I thought about our vacation in Hawaii coming up this next Thursday. Thought about all the things I had to do before we leave.” Another reflected on “what a beautiful day it was and that later I was going to go see my great-granddaughter.”
The researchers also asked participants to take selfies at the beginning, middle, and end of each walk. Analysis of these photos revealed a parallel, visible shift in how participants portrayed themselves. The awe group increasingly made themselves smaller in their photos over the course of the study, preferring to feature the landscapes around them. At the same time, the smiles on participants’ faces grew measurably more intense.
“One of the key features of awe is that it promotes what we call ‘small self,’ a healthy sense of proportion between your own self and the bigger picture of the world around you,” explained Dr. Virginia Sturm, lead investigator and associate professor of neurology and psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the University of California at San Francisco. “To be honest, we had decided to do this particular analysis of participants’ selfies on a lark. I never really expected we’d be able to document awe’s ability to create an emotionally healthy small self literally on camera!”
The scientists discovered a simple intervention
that could make a big difference in our workday. Awe walks are simple, easy, short, and
cost-free. Yet shifting our energy and attention outward instead of inward may
lead to improvements in our emotional well-being. More joy and connection with our surroundings
is something all of us can use nowadays.
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