You don't need to book a flight to see the Northern Lights or or watch a total solar eclipse to experience awe. All you have to do is look up at a sunset, down at the veins of a leaf, or deep into your morning coffee. (Really.)

Jennifer Stellar learned that last one from a stranger. While running a study in which people logged their daily moments of awe, she noticed something odd: One participant reported far more moments of wonder than anyone else. Stellar, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, went looking for an explanation in the participant’s logs—and found the simple act of adding milk to a cup of coffee. Every day, they “stopped for a minute and watched how it swirled around and made this beautiful pattern,” she recalls. Meanwhile, Stellar was barely noticing her own morning cup. “I'm just pouring my milk in, chugging it, and doing other things,” she says. “And here they are taking a quiet small moment and having an awe experience.” 

That participant was onto something. Actively seeking out awe turns out to be one of the most powerful and overlooked things you can do for your health. And you don't have to spend a dime or go anywhere to experience it. You just have to pay attention.

What awe actually is 

Awe is one of those emotions you recognize the instant you feel it. It’s the feeling you get “when you encounter things that are vast and beyond your frame of reference,” says Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. 

He's identified a set of reliable sources that includes nature, music, visual design, birth, spirituality, and moral beauty: moments when we witness extraordinary kindness, courage, or generosity in other people. People often experience awe while listening to a symphony, he says, watching an athlete do something seemingly impossible, holding a newborn baby, or hearing thousands of voices join together at a concert. But awe also turns up in moments so ordinary they're easy to miss: the way sunlight filters through trees, the rustle of leaves in the wind, the intricate geometry of a snowflake. 

Stellar thinks of awe as something “so extraordinary that it defies comprehension.” She often explains it on a more visceral level: “You see something that gives you goosebumps,” she says, “and you find yourself going, ‘whoa’ or ‘wow,’ and your eyes widen and your mouth opens a bit.” If you’ve ever made that face, you’ve felt it.

She finds some of her own most powerful moments on her walk to work, when Toronto’s maple trees erupt into color each fall. “I think people make the mistake of sometimes thinking it has to be really big things—they’re like, ‘Oh, I have to go see the pyramids,’” she says. In reality, awe is often hiding in plain sight. The challenge isn’t finding it; it’s slowing down long enough to notice.

The benefits of awe

Awe doesn't just feel good in the moment. Researchers increasingly believe it can shape our mental health, relationships, and physical well-being.

Just a few minutes a day is linked to less stress, anxiety, and depression; lower inflammation; less loneliness; and more generosity and connection, researchers have found. “I don't think there's anything you can do that's better for you than a few minutes of awe,” Keltner says.

One reason may be what researchers call the “small self.” Awe shrinks you in a helpful way. The feeling is partly about thinking less about yourself and partly about feeling connected to something larger. Stellar describes it as a release from “that noisy ego that's always in your head, talking about stuff and generally not saying the nicest things.” 

Unlike shame, which can also make people feel small, awe doesn't trap you inside your own thoughts. Instead, it directs attention outward, toward something larger than yourself.

Awe doesn't just change how people feel about themselves; it changes how they relate to others. Researchers have found that the emotion often gives rise to what they call “self-transcendent” feelings, including compassion and gratitude. “We really prioritize the needs and feelings of other people,” says Virginia Sturm, a professor in the departments of neurology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California San Francisco, “because we feel kind of small and more connected to this larger universe.”

Keltner says he's been struck by how many people seem to be searching for awe. “Awe is, in some sense, what's sublime about life,” Keltner says. He knows what its absence feels like, too. After his brother died, Keltner found himself “awe-deprived and struggling.” To pull himself out of that state, he began deliberately seeking moments of wonder throughout the day: a piece of music, a striking sky, a meaningful conversation. Now, it’s a habit. “I practice it every day,” he says.

How to experience more awe

The good news is that awe doesn’t require special training—or even a spectacular setting. In one of Sturm’s studies, people were asked to take a weekly 15-minute “awe walk” for eight weeks. The instructions were remarkably simple: Look at the world with fresh eyes, pay attention to the details around you, and engage your senses. People could walk in cities, suburbs, or the countryside. The point wasn’t the route but the mindset.

Sturm practices the exercise herself. On her walk to work, she sometimes catches herself mentally running through her to-do list. Then she redirects her attention outward. “I remind myself to look at the leaves, to feel the breeze on my face,” she says.

Here are a few other ways to invite more awe into your life:

Figure out what makes you say “whoa”

For some people, it’s nature. For others, it’s music, art, sports, spirituality, or seeing the world through a child’s eyes. “I’ve encountered people who are like, ‘Music doesn’t do it for me,’” Stellar says. “Some people are like, ‘I don’t like nature.’ That’s fine.” The goal isn’t to force yourself into someone else’s version of awe, she says. It’s to identify the experiences that reliably leave you feeling amazed.

Think small

One of the biggest misconceptions about awe is that it requires a bucket-list experience. Keltner practices awe in little ways by listening to music, taking in the sky, or pausing to really look into another person’s eyes. “You don’t need to go to Burning Man,” he says. “Just look for a few minutes a day.”

Screens count, too

Researchers regularly induce awe using short videos in the lab. Nature documentaries, footage of extraordinary human achievement, and other awe-inspiring scenes can all do the trick. “People love nature programs because of awe,” Keltner says. Whether it's a BBC Earth episode, a rocket launch on YouTube, or an Olympic athlete accomplishing something remarkable, the feeling can still register.

Use awe as a reset button

You don't have to wait until you're relaxed to seek out awe. Some research suggests it can be especially helpful when you're stressed. During the pandemic, Keltner's team asked exhausted health-care workers—many of them working long shifts in chaotic hospitals—to pause for a moment and think about something that had made them go “whoa.” Some, for example, described a patient showing extraordinary courage or love. Even that brief exercise helped reduce anxiety and loneliness. The lesson: Awe isn't just something to enjoy when life is going well. Sometimes it's exactly what you need in the middle of a difficult day.

Pay attention to goodness

Nature is the most obvious source of awe, but Keltner says one of the most reliable is actually “moral beauty,” when people exceed our expectations for kindness, courage, generosity, or grace. One of the prompts he often uses is: “Who inspired you today?” The answer might be a stranger helping someone in need, a friend showing up when it matters most, or a person facing hardship with remarkable resilience.

Stop treating awe like dessert

Many of us think of awe as a reward—a special experience reserved for vacations, concerts, or other occasions. Stellar argues that mindset gets it backwards. Rather than treating awe like dessert, we should think of it more like a vegetable: something beneficial that belongs in everyday life. “It should just be on your plate,” she says.

After all, the person who reported the most awe in Stellar's study wasn't trekking through Patagonia or chasing eclipses. They were standing in their kitchen, watching milk swirl through a cup of coffee.