Awe Walk Essay

Awe Walk Going for walks has always been an enjoyable and calming activity for me. During the COVID lockdown, walks were a way for me to get into a new environment outside of my house and allow for my brain to breathe. Since things have gone back to mostly normal, I have not gone for many walks due to my busy schedule, I barely have enough time to go home and sleep! This activity was refreshing and pleasant as I love being in nature and being surrounded by fresh air. For my Awe Walk, I went with my mom and my puppy, Maple. I invited my mom because walks used to be our way of spending time together and catching each other up on our individual lives. Reflecting back on my Awe Walk, it was calming, comfortable, and safe to engage with awe. Going

As we walked down the path, I noticed the crunching of the snow and ice under our feet, a sound that brings me great joy to be honest. I also noticed the squawks of the Canadian geese and the wet smell of mud and grass. The sound of the geese and the smell of the ground brought about feelings of excitement because it means that spring is basically here and after spring it is summer (one of my top two favorite seasons)! Our walk was about 30 minutes long and started at 8pm so I luckily got to experience both a sunset and star-gazing. I find awe in both of these things. I absolutely love watching the sun drop down behind the horizon, I find it so beautiful and inviting. While looking at the stars, I notice that I feel extremely small. I recognize that I am such a small part in a massive universe and the stars are my reminders of that. My mood had increased after this walk, I felt much more at peace, more calm, and much more prepared to tackle my busy life. In all, I felt like I was in the presence of awe for the entirety of my walk. I felt as though I was so small and “meaningless” in the grand scheme of things. The sun, stars, trees, snow, and animals are constant reminders that all my problems are very much “in-the-moment” things and are

Stress is closely associated with depression and anxiety, physical risks, and lifestyle problems. Stress levels are shaped by the extent to which the individual appraises the present context as taxing or exceeding current social, financial, and cognitive resources. Previous empirical studies have begun to see how awe shifts appraisals of the social environment and the self. People who experience awe report a greater sense of connectedness to people in general and a greater awareness of common humanity compared with those who experience pride or amusement. The authors also stated that in natural settings and in the context of daily living, people feeling awe draw a smaller self-image, write smaller letters in signing "Me", and perceive themselves as smaller and less significant than those who recall joy experiences. This research study’s hypothesis was that the experience of awe would reduce daily stress levels by altering individuals' appraisals of the self. Awe was found to be associated with reduced levels of interleukin 6 (IL6), a biomarker of the body's inflammatory