Awe is Good for You…

© Martha Wooding-Young, The Resilient Executive, LLC. Baby deer on the edge of the woods at Heartwood Farm.

…and you don’t have to travel to some far-off place to get some. I experienced it this morning when making prolonged eye contact with a baby deer in the woods. I entered a state of timeless beauty – it could have been five seconds or five minutes – where the ordinary processing equipment of my mind simply stopped for a bit. Solid science has now shown that awe is a distinct emotion, and that the positive side of awe has significant benefits for physical and mental health, including reduced inflammation and threat arousal, as well as increased prosocial relationality and social integration. Sure, that first view of a mountain range is a reliable producer of awe, but so are many other, more accessible things: shared music, dancing, spiritual experience, and almost any form of nature, large or small, engaged with fully. While the effects are well known, the mechanisms remain elusive, but since we know it works, why not regularly help ourselves? If you need ideas on how, see Dacher Keltner’s new book-length treatment of his decades of research on this topic called Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. If you’d like to talk about how building awe into your day can change your perspective and greatly enhance your leadership, reach out.