By Karen Kaplan, MS
A new wellness strategy for parents and individuals who must deal with stress, anxiety, and being overwhelmed is getting out and experiencing awe and wonder.
I recently had the opportunity to listen to an interview and then read an article in HuffPost that noted the research being finally published by Dr. Keltner, a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, and the director of the Greater Good Science Center, Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life.
He tells us that when one experiences awe, a part of our brain is deactivated. He found that experiencing awe activates our vagus nerve, which can slow down our heart rate and help our digestion. He also found that when we experience awe, it cools down the inflammation process.
Dr. Dacher Keltner wrote the book AWE, The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, published by Penguin Press in January 2023. Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life - Kindle edition by Keltner, Dacher. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Keltner writes that increasing awe in our lives calms our stress, affecting our moods and respiration. Yes, it can help with depression.
He talks about merely taking 'Awe Walks' a few times weekly.
He tells us to pause and notice our surroundings. Some of us are wowed by the first flowers of spring; their color and smell awe us. Others are wowed by old cars, cute dogs, gardens growing in our neighborhoods, and the changing colors of leaves in the fall.
I remember seeing rows and rows of streets just after COVID, with hearts lit up in their windows. Each home I passed connected me to feelings of gratitude and wonder.
How do colorful sunrises or sunsets resonate with you? I know I connect to those experiences and feel a sense of wonder.
At the above moments, our anxiety may no longer be present. Sadness may lessen.
Do you remember times when you saw or felt something that gave you goosebumps or a positive tingling in your body? That was a feeling of awe.
Have you ever returned to places that made you feel childlike again? Was it the zoo, Disneyland, a playground, a walk on the beach, collecting seashells, a horseback ride, grandma’s house, trick or treating, camping, a dance, or a musical concert? Feeling childlike can be filled with awe.
Have you ever sat in a workshop, and someone inspired your thinking, dreaming, or hoping? You were in a state of awe.
Have you ever put on a favorite record or music station and suddenly, your body starts moving, the words start coming to you, and suddenly, you are rocking out? You are in a state of awe. You are not depressed, anxious, or inspired by the music.
Find the time to create awe experiences for people diagnosed with different abilities, such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), cognitive limitations, or physical challenges. Change their state of being overwhelmed to being in a state of awe, in a state of wonder. Creating events that can connect with them, inspire them, bring wonder to them, open their minds, and give them goosebumps.
This means you identify their interests, obsessions, topics that mean something to them, activities, and things that wow them. Perhaps it is in nature, films, or a specific type of music. Maybe it's gaming, waterfalls, or washing machines. Just ensure they have time during their day or week to feel a sense of awe and wonder.
Do not forget to allow yourself to find time to be in a state of awe.
Remember, awe is a wellness strategy that needs to be part of everyone’s life.
Karen Kaplan, MS, is a native San Franciscan. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, in speech pathology and audiology. She minored in special education and obtained her speech therapist and special education credentials in California. Karen worked as a speech therapist for schools for 20 years before opening her own residential and education program for students with autism. She worked in credential programs at Sacramento State University as well as UC Davis and spent 20 years directing private schools for those with autism and similar learning challenges.
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Karen founded a non-profit, Offerings, which helps cultures globally to understand those with developmental challenges. For seven years, she founded and facilitated an autism lecture series and resource fair in Northern California. Karen still facilitates an annual Autism Awesomeness event. She is currently consulting, helping families, schools, and centers for children, teens, and adults. Karen has authored three books: Reach Me Teach Me: A Public School Program for the Autistic Child; A Handbook for Teachers and Administrators, On the Yellow Brick Road: My Search for Home and Hope for the Child with Autism, and Typewriting to Heaven… and Back: Conversations with My Dad on Death, Afterlife and Living  (which is not about autism but about having important conversations with those we love).
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