Everyday before leaving for work, Danny Brown would set up a time-lapse in front of his window to capture the day outside while he was in the office. When he got home, he could witness all that he missed while he was locked into the computer during the work day.
“It was a grand shift in perspective that created a need to change my way of thinking,” Brown told Salon in a phone interview. “For me, that change was from a daily experience to this almost overview effect — like nature kept going today, while I was focused on the expense report … or this cold front moved in and I didn’t even notice.”
Eventually, Brown left his office job so that he could return to school to study that feeling, where it came from, and whether it has the power to heal the body and mind.
“I realized the feeling I was getting from the time-lapse and what I was tapping into was awe,” Brown said.
The feeling of awe can wash over you when watching the sunset or standing next to a gigantic redwood tree. It can arise when watching your child take their first steps or even when holding a loved one’s hand as they pass. Defined as “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder,” awe is not inherently positive or negative but a complex emotion associated with meaningful experiences by everyone at some point in their lives.
"You have to attend to the experience — it has to matter to you in some way."
Awe occurs when we experience vastness, which could be triggered by something perceptual like walking through the Grand Canyon, or something conceptual like understanding a big idea with widespread implications, said Dr. David Yaden, a Johns Hopkins associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, who studies altered states of consciousness. Experiencing that vastness is ultimately about recognition: recognizing our own smallness to the world around us or, perhaps, recognizing ourselves in another.
“Then there’s a need to understand or accommodate that experience into your existing psychological schema,” Yaden told Salon in a phone interview. “Basically, you have to attend to the experience — it has to matter to you in some way.”
Experiencing awe has been shown to have an impact neurologically. In one 2019 study, experiencing awe was associated with reductions in activity in the brain’s default mode network, which is associated with self-reflective thought and also helps you identify where your body’s boundaries are relative to the external world.
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“There are often feelings of connectedness related to awe, and this is a bit of a speculation, but you can imagine that these alterations to your bodily boundaries may lend themselves to feelings of enhanced connectedness,” Yaden said.
This also might be why awe could be a useful tool in promoting mental wellness. Self-focus and rumination are the root of many mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, and experiencing awe can, in a way, free the mind from some of those invasive thoughts, said Dr. Dacher Keltner, the faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center and a psychology professor at UC Berkeley, who has written a book about awe.
Awe could also reduce feelings of isolation or loneliness by promoting a sense of interconnectedness, said Dr. Alice Chirico, the director of the Experience Lab at the Catholic University of Milan, who studies awe.
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"[Awe] helps us experience the so-called sense of 'small self,' where individuals feel part of something greater, which naturally reduces self-referential thinking and rumination — key drivers of depression," Chirico told Salon in an email.
This self-transcendence is also at the heart of psychedelic research. A large portion of people who undergo psychedelic therapy report experiencing mystical experiences, which often include feelings of awe. Although mystical experiences may bring to mind religious or spiritual connotations that inherently conflict with the scientific paradigm, these experiences — whether reached through psychedelics or something like meditation — have been objectively tested and shown to have lasting impacts on psychological functioning.
Nevertheless, some psychedelic researchers have suggested that the therapeutic effects of psychedelics could still take place without the “trip” or “experience” part of the psychedelic experience. But this idea is debated within the field, with others saying this self-transcendent experience is central to the benefits that psychedelics provide and that they are likely far more effective if the experience element is integrated in addition to the medicine.
“I think [the awe effect] is necessary for the full and enduring therapeutic effects,” Yaden said “I think to lock in long, lasting, persisting changes, you need shifts in your emotions, attitudes and beliefs about yourself in the world.”
In other studies, experiencing awe has been shown to reduce stress, soften feelings of grief after a loss, and reduce feelings of hopelessness. Experiencing awe also activates the vagus nerve, which can reduce the body’s inflammation, and releases oxytocin, which is typically associated with connection and building relationships, Keltner said.
“Awe helps you think creatively, it helps you be rigorous in your thought, it calms your body and makes it receptive to the world,” Keltner told Salon in a phone interview. “Awe reduces stress, makes you feel connected, and reduces loneliness.”
Millions of U.S. adults suffer from depression, anxiety and loneliness, with long-term physical health effects. However, fewer than half of people experiencing these mental health problems receive the care they need. As a result, it is particularly critical to continue studying something like awe, which anyone can access, Keltner said.
“It helps you understand the meaning of your life, and this is what it’s all about,” Keltner said. “We are in a lot of crises right now, and we need a reorientation.”
Brown intends to study whether the feeling of awe can invoke some of the mental health effects that psychedelics do given its similarities. The idea is to explore whether any of the same neurological biomarkers are identified when people experience awe as when they use psychedelics.
“A huge piece of the psychedelic experience is this oneness with the universe, this ability to connect with other people,” Brown said. “I just see that as so important to the human condition, and given how many people have depression and anxiety, there is a public health case for this research for sure.”
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