Awe & Wonder: The Protective Benefits To Mental & Physical Health

In this episode, we delve into the transformative power of awe and wonder, exploring how these profound experiences can enhance our spiritual connection and significantly improve our mental and physical health. Drawing on groundbreaking research from experts like Dr Dacher Keltner, Dr Beau Lotto and Dr Sean Goldy, we uncover the science behind awe and its remarkable benefits, from reducing stress and anxiety to fostering social connections and resilience.

We also explore the importance of cultivating awe in children to bolster their mental health and resilience from an early age.


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Intro and Outro music: Inspiring Morning by Playsound

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Transcript

Tatiana: 0:00

Welcome to the Integrated Wisdom Podcast. I am your host, Tatyana Da Silva. Join me as we discuss what it means to live an integrated life and explore ways for you to create a life filled with greater meaning, peace, and connection by integrating the wisdom of spirituality, psychology, Neuroscience, Epigenetics and Energy Psychology are hoped to empower you to create deeper and more loving connections with yourself and others, whilst also paving the way for humanity at large to be reimagined and inspired to become the very best version of itself. Hello, and welcome to the integrated with them podcast. Thank you so much for joining me for yet another week. For many people all over the world these last few days have just been filled with awe and wonder. The solar flares that have been, raging over the last week or so. Have caused the most incredible light shows both in the Northern hemisphere and in the Southern hemisphere. With the photos hitting social media that have just been breathtaking. Unfortunately in Sydney, we didn't really get to see those majestic lights of the Australis Borealis because we have been having so much rain. So much cloud cover. But I know that some of my colleagues in the Southern parts of the country have had the, the amazing experience of being able to witness this beautiful site in person. I've seen some remarkable for it. As well as, you know, all the Northern hemisphere. Experiences with the Aurora borealis. It's just been breathtaking. Right. And I thought this would be such a great time to, to speak to. The benefits to both our mental and physical health. Of experiencing awe and wonder in life. I believe very strongly that the experience of awe and wonder is a gateway to our spiritual essence and our connection to. I guess the larger. Context of greater context that exists beyond our mind, our material life. And. I've been in my course that I'd be running. I mean, advocating quite, quite strongly about the benefits of awe but. for me, I believe that awe can be found in so many different things. My personal awe, awe gateway, are, sunsets, I'm a sucker for beautiful sunsets, and you know, the, the colors and, and the, the light that we get at that time of the day. I always find breathtaking, always fills me with this sense of awe and wonder, and it makes me feel so. Filled with love and gratitude, right. In those moments, I really do feel. Like a small, tiny part in a much bigger. More meaningful whole. And so I found it really curious when I've been doing some research on. Various spiritual concepts. And what science is showing you about the benefits to mental. And physical health. To come across, uh, a couple of bodies of research on awe specifically in the physical and mental health benefits that we can experience through having moments of awe which I wanted to share with you all, because obviously at the moment, we'd be having these amazing awe inspiring experiences. And, you know, there that's one extreme, but awe can be found in the most. Uh, most humble of settings. It can be a appreciation, appreciating nature more generally. You know, beautiful flowers, uh, beautiful birds. I think, you know, landscapes can always be very awe inspiring. But also I find that we can experience awe in witnessing. The remarkable. Uh, kindness of some people. Uh, we can find, awe in music, right. Some types of music or some people's voice. They have this ability to speak directly to our soul, right? Your whole body will be. Encased in goosebumps and. tears will come into our eyes and that's an experience of awe. So there's lots of different ways in which we can foster awe in our day to day life. But to have science that shows how beneficial it actually is to cultivate awe and wonder as a practice. I think, uh, just. Reinforces even more why doing something like engaging in. The experience of awe more consciously and deliberately. Can have such vast and wide ranging benefits to us. So one of the researchers that really struck me. In their findings and the implications for. How the experience of awe can have benefits for us. Came out of the university of California, Berkeley. And it was conducted by. A social psychologist, Dr Dasher Keltner, who is a specialist in Awe. That's his focus of study he's written widely and studied widely. On the impacts of experiencing awe for people. And his research is so remarkable because he, in his body of study, he was able to find that experiencing awe can lead to a reduction in the experience of stress. So it can be a stress management strategy. It helps to reduce anxiety. You threw in his findings, he was able to see that experiencing awe decreased. Individual's experience of anxiety. But also it had physiological effects. His boy, his results showed that experiencing awkward actually reduce the number of inflammation markers. In the body. And you could also improve the cardiovascular vascular function. Of The individuals that we're engaging in or. Which is amazing, right. One of the mechanisms by which experiencing awe we will be. stress management strategy or leads to reductions in anxiety. Was that he was found to you? Elevate the vagal tone. So. the vagal nerve is one of the longest nerves in our body. Comes out of the base of our skull. About brain and it travels all the way down into our gut. And it is kind of, I always use this analogy with my clients. That it's kind of like a light switch for our nervous system. When the vagal tone is really strong and effective, our body is very, very good at bringing itself back into a recalibrated. Uh, regulated state after something happens to us that stressful. So, physiologically our body has this really clever mechanism. To deal with periods of threat, right? So in perceives a threat. It will kick. Start our sympathetic nervous system. So that fight and flight reaction that we can experience at times, which is at the core of anxiety. But our body wasn't designed to, to experience this. For prolonged periods of time. And so naturally if everything's working as it should. Once the threat has passed, our bodies should be putting itself back into a parasympathetic state. Which is what we would call the relaxed and digestive stage. The body doesn't need to attend to any perceived threats. You can focus just on basic physiological functions. And so the vagal nerve is very, very integral to the efficacy of this mechanism. Having a strong vagal tone means that our body is very, very efficient at bringing itself back to a regulated state. After periods of stress. And it can help increase our resilience to stress. And so to have this body of studies showing that experiencing awe and wonder has this physiological effect, it can lead to an improved available Tyrone. That then subsequently leads to a reduction in experiences of stress and anxiety. Uh, I think it's such a remarkable finding in terms of looking for other ways, in which we can be buffering ourselves against the demands of daily life. Right? Modern life is very stressful by design. We're constantly bombarded with demands with stimulation. There's a lot of social issues going on at the moment that are Quite stressful and leading to lots of experiences of fear and worry for many of us and the need for these additional protective strategies has never been greater. So to find something like this, that's relatively easy. We couldn't find ways to. Engage with awe and wonder almost on a daily basis. Right. It's free of charge. There's lots of benefits to having a strategy like this up your sleeve. And Dr. Keltner studies, didn't just focus on the physiological benefits. His studies also found that. Individuals who were able to engage with experiences of awe and wonder also tend to report more satisfaction with their lives. They experienced less feelings of loneliness. And reported having a greater sense of connection to others. And so it's it's I guess another way of really cultivating mindfulness, we know the benefits of mindfulness. To our mental health to our physical health. To connecting us in the, in the present moment. And. Avenues or experiences of awe and wonder can be just another gateway for that. Right. For those of you who like me. I struggled to sit down and meditate. One day I'll get there, but it hasn't happened yet. But there are other avenues where we can get into these states. And experiences of Or one of them. But, you know, it's really interesting. That Dr. Kellner studies, aren't the only ones on awe and the benefits of awe for individuals. Some studies that have been conducted out of. John Hopkins center for psychedelic and consciousness research, for example. That were conducted by, uh, Dr. Sean Goldy. He looked at the experiences of all in the benefits for people. And it can have this, uh, this self transcending impact as well. Right. It can help connect people with that sense of. Uh, vastness beyond us, which is what I was describing at the start. That's certainly what happens to me when I witness a beautiful sunset. Immediately, I feel really small, but in the best possible way. I feel it's so tiny in comparison to the vastness of the universe and the perfection of creation. And. here's the science That kind of confirms that. Yes, that is what happens when we engage with awe. So it's pretty remarkable, but also his research showed that having awe inspiring experiences. Can really enhance the connection with others. So, you know, when we're with our partners, for example, or our kids having joint experiences of awe can really enhance the bond between the two individuals. So that's something really curious to get, to keep in mind. All right. Uh, in terms of strengthening bonds and. Enhancing the quality and connection of our relationships seeking joint experiences that are all inspiring. Can be a really powerful way. Of enhancing that connection. And the last research that I wanted to share with you. Is a body of research that came out of that comes out of London. Conducted by a Neuroscientist Dr Beau Lotto. So he also has been studying awe amongst the other things in his lab. And he found in his studies that a strong sense of awe, of these experiences of awe can actually lead to what he termed cognitive Closure or decrease in cognitive closure. So, what that means is. It basically leads individuals to have a decreased need for certainty. Right. So when we're having experiences of awe we, don't the part of our brain that gets activated when we wouldn't. We don't like. No ambiguity when we don't feel comfortable with. Uncertainty. Get deactivated. Which is really phenomenal when you think about. The fact that at the core of anxiety, Is, uh, an intolerance to ambiguity, right? Uh, there's this really strong need for certainty. And I think. Many of us can find ourselves at time. Needing to control things, needing to have certainty and meaning for things to make sense. Uh, which can keep us trapped in stress and anxiety. In perfectionism, for example. And so this is a mechanism again, that helps free us from the burdens of that. Right. By enhancing our Experiences of awe, it opens up our experiences of curiosity and openness to other experiences. It suspends our need to know for certain. And allows us to have a greater degree. Of tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. Which protects. Protects us and buffers us against the experience of anxiety. Right. Not to mention that It has been shown in other, in research as well, too. Enhance our capacity for tolerance and pro-social behavior. Right. So. It's. Again, when you think about. The stresses and the negativity that's permeating in the world right now. To be able to tap into something like moments of awe and wonder as a mechanism to diffuse the impact of that negativity. To enhance our capacity for tolerance and pro social behavior. Uh, I think. It's so timely to have a finding like this. Because it gives us some clues about ways that we can navigate these very, very tricky time. And the help people navigate this very, very tricky time. Uh, towards a more sustainable and positive solution for everybody. And so, you know, I think. Like I said at the start. Experiences of awe and wonder have far reaching benefits. Right. But they don't have to be. these ridiculously breathtaking experiences. Yes. The, the Borealis that have been. Gracing the world all over the place. In the last few, few days, Are absolutely moments of awe and wonder, and it's a shame we can't have more of those more regularly. But I guess the, the beauty is that we don't need to be having. these huge experiences to be tapping into the benefits of awe and wonder. Right. We can have those moments, even in the most humblest. Of interactions. As I said, for me, it's sunsets. I always feel me with awe it can be. You know, going for a walk and noticing the flowers, the birds, the. Beautiful landscapes. Sometimes it might be beautiful architecture. Sometimes it might be. Music. Right. Or art in a, going some works of art can just fill you with wonder. Of what human beings are capable of. The beauty that human beings are capable of. All right. There's so many different ways we can tap into that. So I'm inviting you to, to play around with this notion. Look for ways in which you can connect with that feeling of awe and wonder. Right. See if you can cultivate that a little bit more on a day-to-day basis, more intentionally into your life. And observe how it makes you feel observe. I have the impacts that he may have. And for those of you out there who are parents fostering these in your children? You know, Really. In, uh, engaging them in exploring the natural world. For example. Children are so ready to have experiences of awe. Right like that you can find awe and wonder in almost everything. It's it's. It's a delightful thing to do. To witness. So helping them foster those muscles already at such early stages in their life. Is protecting them. Against experiences of stress. We know that cultivating these sorts of things can lead to enhanced cortical thickness in the brain, for example, which can be a buffer against. Depression against. Other mental health conditions. So. Yeah, I encourage y'all to. To play around with the notion of awe and see how you can introduce it into your lives a little bit more. But that's all I have for you today. Thank you so much for again, joining me for this week, I would always love and welcome your thoughts, your experiences, for those of you who have. Going out there and tried D enhance or have had awe inspiring experiences. That have led you to having other positive experiences or that have pulled you out or times when maybe you were struggling. I would love to hear from, from you and your thoughts and experiences on this, you can find me on Instagram at integrated, underscore wisdom. As integrated underscore wisdom, or you can email me. Uh, hello@integratedwisdom.com.au that's hello@integratedwisdom.com.au. I welcome your contacts. So welcome hearing from you. And for those of you who haven't yet subscribed to the podcast, I. I invite you to subscribe. Share it with others who you feel may benefit from this conversation. And leave me a rating. I'd love to hear how all of these things are landing for you. How I can serve you more. More fully. But also so that the algorithm can know to push out this content to others. And I hope you'll have a lovely week and I'll speak to you all next time. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Integrated Wisdom. It is my sincere wish that today's episode may have intrigued and inspired you to reclaim your power and step into becoming more fully integrated spiritual beings. New episodes are published every Wednesday. And I hope you'll continue to join us as we dive deeper into what it means to live an integrated life. So if it feels aligned to you, I invite you to hit subscribe and share it with others who you feel may benefit too. You may also find me on Instagram at integrated underscore wisdom. Remember, each moment is an opportunity to embrace your divine potential and create a world that is more frequently inspired. So for now, stay connected, stay inspired and keep shining your light. Into the world.