What is Awe?
The experience of awe is always positive, moving and incorporates a sense of vastness that doesn’t fit neatly within our existing understanding of the world, so your perspective is stretched1. Awe is a feeling of reverential respect mixed with wonder. People often experience awe when they appreciate the vastness of the universe, the perfectness of a new born child or the beauty of a flower. And it turns out, that the experience of awe is good for your health.
Studies2 have found that people who experience awe have health and wellbeing benefits. Specifically, people who regularly experience awe also have:
- decreased stress,
- decreased depression symptoms,
- decreased perception of pain
- increased well-being
- increased positive emotions
- increased connection to those around you
- expanded sense of time
- reduced connection to material things
- enhanced humility
- improved generosity and cooperativeness and consequently better relationships with others
How can I experience Awe?
Transcendent experiences like being in nature, witnessing great art, or meditating on the universal connection to the Universe can elicit a subjective sense of awe, joy and wellbeing. It doesn’t have to be a religious experience, but it can be. Atheists might experience awe observing the stars at night considering the vastness of the universe, while a religious person might experience awe hearing a choir in a cathedral.
Awe, can commonly be experienced in nature. Observing a forest, a large tree, the industriousness of a tiny ant, the playfulness of a puppy or the sunset over the ocean, can induce the experience of awe.
Music, art, dance, ceremonies and rituals4 can create awe. Observing a group of people dancing, an orchestra playing, or a friend getting married can help you to feel awe. You can experience awe when you engage in a powerful story by watching a moving film or by reading an inspiring book about someone who has done something amazing. You can watch someone do something remarkable like a skilled magician, a talented athlete, a skilled craftsperson or a clever street performer. You can visit a landmark, it can be a natural formation or something humans have created. The key is to be fully present and to give your full attention to the wonder of what you are observing.
Experiencing awe doesn’t have to be a significant event, although it can be (awe is often experienced during the birth of a child for example or in the presence of a person’s great courage), just stopping for thirty seconds3 and noticing art, a bee on a flower or the kindness of a small gesture can improve your wellbeing.
The important thing is to stop and pay attention.
- Smirnova, A. (2021). In awe of god, nature and technology: A lexical approach to the differentiation of emotional responses.3L, Language, Linguistics, Literature, 27(4), 230-243. doi:https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2021-2704-16
- Awe reduces depressive symptoms and improves well-being in a randomized-controlled clinical trial. (2025). Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), 15(1), 16453. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-96555-w
- Krause-Sorio, B., Becerra, S., Siddarth, P., Simmons, S., Kuhn, T., & Lavretsky, H. (2025). Your brain on art, nature, and meditation: A pilot neuroimaging study.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1440177
- Monroy, M., Uğurlu, Ö., Zerwas, F., Corona, R., Keltner, D., Eagle, J., & Amster, M. (2023). The influences of daily experiences of awe on stress, somatic health, and well-being: A longitudinal study during COVID-19.Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), 13(1), 9336. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35200-w.
