Seek out awe
Regularly expose yourself to vast, complexity-expanding experiences — nature, art, music, ideas — that trigger awe.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Regularly expose yourself to vast, complexity-expanding experiences — nature, art, music, ideas — that trigger awe.
- Why it works: Awe is a positive emotion triggered by encountering something vast that challenges existing mental frameworks. Research by Dacher Keltner and others finds that awe produces a "small self" phenomenon — temporarily reducing self-focused thinking and increasing prosocial motivation — and may reduce inflammatory markers. It is one of the positive emotions with the most distinctive cognitive and physiological signature.
- Evidence: Backed by observational / correlational evidence.
- Avoid: Treating awe as spectacular-event tourism — waiting for a grand vacation — when regular, low-key encounters with the vast (a sky, a piece of music, a compelling idea) can produce the same emotion more frequently.
Why it works
Awe is a positive emotion triggered by encountering something vast that challenges existing mental frameworks. Research by Dacher Keltner and others finds that awe produces a "small self" phenomenon — temporarily reducing self-focused thinking and increasing prosocial motivation — and may reduce inflammatory markers. It is one of the positive emotions with the most distinctive cognitive and physiological signature.
How to do it
- 1Identify your personal awe triggers: natural landscapes, music, architecture, scientific ideas, witnessing excellence.
- 2Seek them deliberately and with full presence — not as background.
- 3Take "awe walks": go somewhere natural or artistically stimulating and practice attending to vastness rather than ruminating.
- 4Let yourself be still in the awe rather than immediately sharing or capturing it.
What the evidence says
ObservationalAwe research by Keltner, Stellar, and colleagues has found associations between awe and reduced self-focus, increased prosocial behavior, and in some studies, reduced inflammatory cytokines. "Awe walks" in older adults were associated with greater well-being and positive affect in a randomized study.
Honest caveat: Awe research is relatively new and some findings (inflammatory markers) are preliminary. The wellbeing link is promising but not as robustly established as gratitude or kindness interventions.
- — Stellar et al. (2015), awe and cytokines, Emotion
- — Sturm et al. (2022), awe walks randomized trial, Emotion
Common mistake
Treating awe as spectacular-event tourism — waiting for a grand vacation — when regular, low-key encounters with the vast (a sky, a piece of music, a compelling idea) can produce the same emotion more frequently.
IX Coach prompts brief awe reflections — asking you to describe a moment of vastness from your recent experience — and helps you identify accessible awe triggers you can build into your regular life.
Practice this with IX Coach →