Awe — attunement to beauty, so healthy
Denisa Rensen
"awe—an experience of such perceptual vastness you literally have to reconfigure your mental models of the world to assimilate it."
— Jason Silva, Shots of Awe
From my teenage years, I have been deeply fascinated by the flow state, writing extensively about bliss, ecstasis, flow, awe, and later on eros. Recently, after experiencing a period of sadness, perhaps an odd bout of depression, a feeling so new to me, I realized the profound importance of tapping into awe, no matter the catastrophe. Living in Cabo and having just built my house on the stunning East Cape coast, one of the most beautiful places on earth, I couldn't understand how I could not crawl out of this darkness and feel the beauty around me. Yes, I went through something emotionally traumatic recently, but I kept asking myself, "Denisa, where is your bliss? Come on! Look around.
In this exploration, I came back to the idea that health and wellbeing are intricately tied to our attunement to beauty.
As Henry David Thoreau beautifully said,
"If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal — that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself."
This tender reminder underscores the significance of awe in our lives.
The Transformative Power of Awe
Awe is more than just a fleeting feeling of wonder; it is a profound emotional response that has tangible benefits for our health. Studies indicate that awe can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, clinical depression, heart disease, and arthritis, offering benefits akin to those of a healthy diet and regular exercise. According to Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner, “Don’t underestimate the power of goosebumps.”
Neurophysiology of Bliss and Awe
Understanding the neurophysiology of bliss, ecstasis, flow and awe reveals their profound impact on our health. These states differ significantly from normal states of consciousness, particularly in their neural, electrical, and chemical profiles.
Normal State (21st Century Normal):
Neuro-anatomy:
Hyperfrontality with high activity in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala.
Neuro-electricity:
Dominated by beta and alpha brain waves.
Neurochemistry:
Elevated levels of stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine.
Cardiac Rate/Rhythm and Heart Rate Variability:
Erratic heart rhythms and low heart rate variability.
Endocrine:
High levels of stress hormones.
Respiratory Patterns:
Typically thoracic and shallow breathing.
Systemic Effects:
Neuro-endocrine-immune imbalance.
Degenerative effects on the body.
Flow State:
Neuro-anatomy:
Transient hypofrontality with reduced prefrontal cortex activity, promoting integrative and less critical thinking.
Neuro-electricity:
Shift towards theta and gamma brain waves.
Neurochemistry:
Increased levels of dopamine, endorphins, and anandamide, fostering reward and satiety.
Cardiac Rate/Rhythm and Heart Rate Variability:
Coherent heart rhythms and high heart rate variability.
Endocrine:
Elevated levels of reward chemicals and reduced stress hormones.
Respiratory Patterns:
Balanced, abdominal, and dynamic breathing.
Systemic Effects:
Neuro-endocrine-immune poise.
Regenerative and bioresilient effects on the body.
Vagal Tone
Vagal tone is a key part of this conversation. It plays a significant role in experiencing awe, bliss, and flow. The vagus nerve, a key component of the parasympathetic nervous system, regulates rest, digestion, and recovery processes. High vagal tone is associated with better mood, reduced anxiety, and enhanced immune function. Integrating practices that enhance vagal tone can create a fertile ground for bliss, for awe.
Breathing: Awe means ‘breathe in”
Deep, slow breathing.
Alternate nostril breathing.
These practices stimulate the vagus nerve, promoting relaxation and reducing stress by activating the ventral vagal complex.
Cold Exposure:
Regular cold showers or ice baths.
Enhances vagal tone and promotes resilience by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, preparing the body for moments of awe and bliss.
Mindfulness and Meditation:
Shifts the nervous system from stress to relaxation.
Fosters emotional regulation and enhances the body's ability to recover from stress, creating a fertile ground for flow states.
mindful touch, making love, a unique type of meditation
anything that brings you into the present moment, in reverence, in forgiveness, in tenderness
In addition to all this beauty, incorporating integrative therapies can further support vagal tone and overall health. Homeopathy, peptide therapy, and innovative approaches like stellate ganglion block (SGB) with peptides can significantly enhance the body's resilience and capacity to experience awe and bliss.
Homeopathy: Balances the body's energy and promotes emotional and physical well-being.
Peptide Therapy: Uses peptides, bioregulators or therapeutics, to enhance neuro-endocrine poise can really help.
Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) with Peptides: Involves injecting a local anesthetic mixed with peptides near the stellate ganglion to reset the autonomic nervous system, reduce chronic pain, and alleviate symptoms of PTSD, thereby promoting relaxation and improving overall well-being. This is something we can do clinically, if lifestyle and mindset shifts need extra support.
Final Thoughts
Life is inherently challenging, often presenting us with moments that test our resilience. As I reflect on the contrasts between banality and wonder, disengagement and radiant ecstasy, I realize that mental habits often trap us within our safe zones, our comfort zones. This leads to hedonic adaptation, where repeated exposure to the same stimuli renders them invisible, dulling our capacity for awe. We have eyes yet see not, ears that hear not, and hearts that neither feel nor understand.
To break free, it’s key to heal our bodies and to scramble the self temporarily, allowing the world to seep in and transform even a blade of grass into an infinitely magnificent world.
Attention, when sudden and close, can graduate so sweetly into surprise, astonishment, and stupefied amazement—what we call rapture and illumination. This ecstatic burst of awe expands our perceptual parameters beyond previous limits, forcing us to reconfigure our mental models to assimilate such beauty. This is inspiration, from the Greek root meaning to breathe in, to take it in. You could say that we have a profound responsibility to awe, fitting the universe through our brains and transforming it into poetry.
To learn more about bliss, ecstasis, awe, flow, feel free to visit the blissDesigned Magazine www.blissdesigned.com/magazine, the place I deposit all my insights on the body SOMA, on the mind PSYCHE, on passion EROS and on our meaning FUTURAE.