Sit down for a moment. Take a breath. Isn’t it crazy that we exist? That somehow, these loosely held together bags of proteins that we are manage to send cat videos to each other while surfing a spinning ball that spins around a massive ball of fire in an infinite universe?
And that’s not even the mystery. That part we can explain with physics, evolution, science. The mystery is that this all exists in the first place. That, somehow, there is experience, continuity. And all this magic, just so we can worry about our job security?
Metaphysics is the field thinking about this. And it’s called metaphysics because it’s beyond physics: it’s not the realm of science anymore. It’s the realm of theories we’ll never be able to prove. So why bother?
Turns out, we can do science on how this affects us. And it’s big: Feeling awe helps us to tame our ego, feel smaller, and thereby feel better, become more prosocial and generous. So: What’s the best way to feel awe?
How to feel awe
Find something vast
Our ego becomes small when we realize we’re just a speck in a much larger picture. Studies show that nature works best for this, but you can find vastness in many places:
Vast nature: Mountainscapes, the ocean, stargazing, sunsets, far views, tall forests. What’s something that’s close to you you could explore over a weekend trip? Bonus points for also making it a workout with friends.
Vast visualizations: Some things you can’t see over a weekend. Try visualizations for that. For example our place in the universe, the possibility of an infinite universe, and our microverse. When was the last time you were in a planetarium?
Vast population: Try to wrap your head around the fact that there are billions of other humans with just as complex lives as you on this planet, born by a very very long chain of mothers. Get on a high building in a city and just watch.
Ground yourself
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy famously had the “Total Perspective Vortex”, a device that would show people their true insignificance in relation to the universe and thereby kill them. Looking infinity in the face can feel overwhelming, ground yourself.
Surrender: You are just a monkey with a slightly bigger brain and it’s not made for understanding infinity. Your working memory can’t hold more than eight numbers at once. Find relief in allowing yourself to not understand any of this.
Focus on your experience: The world is vast, but you get to experience it. Focus on your breath, your senses, your emotions. Somehow allow both the vastness of the world and the smallness of yourself coexist.
Try gratitude: For me, the feeling that always stays with me is gratitude. I don’t understand how all of this works, I never will, but I am so happy I get to experience this, to live this life, to fall in love, to eat ramen, to make music.
Dive deeper
Awe is “level 1” on the scale of spiritual and mystical experiences. The higher you go, the more you approach self-transcendence, and can get into states that feel like unity, sacredness, and certainty.
Consider prayer: More prayer is associated with more spiritual events, though the reliability for mystical experiences is lower. If you are part of a spiritual tradition, consider exploring their mystical branches like Kabbalah or Sufism.
Consider meditation: While daily meditation is a great practice for mental health, more spiritual experiences are hard to achieve in day-to-day life. Retreats and advanced practices have some evidence for eliciting mystical experiences.
Consider psychedelics: At the risk of mentioning drugs again: Psychedelics are the most studied and reliable way of inducing spiritual experiences. Probably because they are easier to study. We wrote about them here.
Some starting points on feeling awe
Look around yourself and just appreciate the complexity of it all.
Plan a trip to the planetarium, history museum, or the ocean.
Bet money on actually doing this.
Missing something? Thoughts or feedback? Add a comment and we’ll add it to next year’s version