The Science of Awe: The Biological Shortcut to Expanding Consciousness

0:03Darin Olien:Welcome to Super Life with me, Darin Olien, a podcast where we explore, discover, and share solutions that promote a healthier life and a better world. Together, we'll ignite possibilities, inspire change, and build sovereignty, creating a roadmap towards a super life for you and for all. Get ready to start living your super life.

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2:10Darin Olien:Welcome to the podcast, everyone. This is Darren O 'Lean, and this is the Super Life Podcast. Today, I'm going to get into something that's really cool. The science of awe, a biological shortcut to expanding consciousness. Is that true? We're going to dive into it. Quote unquote, awe is the feeling you get when the world is bigger than your understanding. It literally changes your mind. From Dr. Keltner from USC Berkeley. What if the fastest way to expand your consciousness was not meditation, psychedelics, or decades-long spiritual quests, but a single moment of awe? What if awe, real, embodied awe, is a biological key we've been overlooking?

3:00Darin Olien:Science seems to be catching up, and the results are astonishing. Awe reduces inflammation, rewires your brain, and increases your sense of connection. Bam. How about that? The modern life has cut us off from awe, but nature left a backdoor. Awe is a temporary collapse of the ego. How great is that? A softening of the self and a widening of consciousness. It's what makes your chest expand and your mind quiet and your heart open. That's true. How great is that? So what awe actually is? Awe is triggered when you encounter something vast that changes your mental framework. Awe motivates people to transcend their self-interest and connect to something bigger.

3:57Darin Olien:quote-unquote, from the research stellar et enel, 2015, from the work from Emotion. Examples of awe, a star-filled sky. Now, it's rare due to light pollution. Yes, that is true. How many places in the city can you now look up and see all of the stars? Very few. Over 90 % of the world's population do not see the stars. That's no good. Another example, watching a river curve and carve its way in a canyon. Standing before a giant redwood. Or standing before a 500-year-old oak tree. Or a glacier. Or just a huge vista. Or really, maybe just a flower. Listening to music that makes your chest ache and your heart open.

4:52Darin Olien:observing the intricate pattern of that flower, of that leaf, of that ant that has such a clear intention. All of these things are examples of awe. Ancient cultures and religions understood awe intuitively. And therefore, so do we. We do if you give it a chance. Hinduism calls it Darshan, the act of beholding the divine. And it's all over nature. I was riding my bike, running my dogs the other day, and I saw two hawks on two different tree limbs. And one stood so proudly, so big, chest was up, and it took my breath away. I stopped, the dog stopped barking, and I just observed the majestic hawk, the red-tailed hawk that was before me.

5:49Darin Olien:Blew my breath away. And at night, thank God, I get to walk outside my door and look up and see the stars. Feel the trees. Feel my feet on the ground. This is awe. You can find it. Greek philosophers called it thalma, a wonder. The root of curiosity and philosophy, even the Bible, repeatedly links awe to wisdom and reverence. Wonder is the beginning of wisdom, said Socrates. Now how is the science of awe and how does it rewire you? How does awe reduce inflammation? People who experience awe regularly show lower levels of IL-6, a key marker of inflammation. This is the research I found. This suggests awe literally supports your immune system.

6:47Darin Olien:Awe quiets your default mode network. This is basically where your ego resides. The default mode network is the brain's self-referential network. The me, the my problems, that rumination loop. In awe, in nature, in observing the vastness shuts this off. Awe decreases this default mode network. It decreases the activity, reduces rumination, and enhances connection. Keltner quotes, awe quiets the ego. It allows people to transcend themselves and experience a sense of being a part of something larger. Also, awe expands time perception. Stanford research shows that awe makes people feel like they have more time, decreases impatience, and stress.

7:51Darin Olien:Quote unquote, awe stretches the perception of time, giving people a sense of abundance rather than scarcity. Awe increases altruism and pro-social behavior. Experiencing awe reduces self-focus and increases generosity. Quote unquote, feeling awe promotes pro-sociality by making individuals feel smaller and more connected to the collective. Awe boosts the vagal tone. The vagal tone is linked to resilience, calm, and emotional regulation. Awe naturally activates the parasympathetic nervous system, shifting the body into rest and digest mode. And why are we starving for awe? Light pollution. Most people can't see the Milky Way.

8:47Darin Olien:Ancient humans evolved under the starlight for 200 ,000 years. Some even say they hear the stars. Indoor living of 90 to 97 % of time indoors has disconnected us from the rivers, the wind, the forests. technology phones deliver micro dopamine hits replacing awe with scrolling if your skin isn't looking as healthy as it could you're missing the simplest step caldera labs regimen this is my personal routine and it's definition of performance skin care without compromising your health values with clean ingredients. My simple routine features the newest products, the great and the hydro layer, which are built on proprietary plant-based exosome technology.

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10:45Darin Olien:You get 30 % off site-wide. They're throwing in free products on top of it. the more you spend, it's the perfect time to grab gifts or treat yourself to the skin that looks the best and healthiest. Go to calderalab.com forward slash Darren and use the code Darren, D-A-R-I-N. Go get your products to make your skin the best ever. Quote unquote, Quote, we've traded the vastness of the universe for tiny screens. Paraphrased from Dockler Keltner. So how do we reclaim this? So how do we reclaim the magnificence of awe? Look at the stars. Look at the clouds. Look at the moon. Don't look directly in the sun during the day, but look at the sun.

11:37Darin Olien:Drive out of the city. Look at the plants. Look down. See the earth. Let the eyes adjust to nature. Quote-unquote, quote-unquote, astronomical awe puts human problems in perspective. Increasing well-being. This is all in the research. Incredible. I was sitting here thinking of this episode and I was like, I remember I was in New Zealand. I was talking to some of the aboriginal people about light pollution and how powerful this is. How powerful we need to reorient ourselves with the magnificence of what life is. Which is what led me to this episode. So, can you sit by moving water? Lakes, rivers, oceans calms the nervous system.

12:28Darin Olien:Stand before something ancient. A glacier, a tree, a canyon, a vast view. And also, micro awe, right? So, you can look at a leaf. You can look at the sunlight coming through the trees, clouds, cloud patterns, all of this stuff. Awe is available everywhere if you choose to have it. It's there all the time. Nature herself is always there. Use awe as an emotional first aid. Overwhelmed? Go outside. Find the sky. Look at the horizon. Go to water. Let yourself reset. That's how powerful nature is. Limit awe killers. Limit yourself from the phone. Even if it's 30 minutes, 60 minutes, whatever it is, shut the phone off.

13:21Darin Olien:Turn on airplane mode. Go out, see the awe around you. No notifications. Dim your lights. I try not to turn on any lights at night. I just let the sun go down and I immerse myself and let myself be in the natural circadian rhythm. Let yourself feel small. Humility equals freedom. The awe repositions you within the universe. Letting your soul breathe. Letting the distractions go down in this life so that you can reorient yourself to the magic of what life really is. Awe is not entertainment. It is biological, emotional, and certainly spiritual. And it is a nourishment. This is the ultimate biohack because it is something our ancestors always did.

14:19Darin Olien:It does reduce inflammation. It rewires your brain. It expands time perception. It deepens your connection and your empathy. Quote, awe is the gateway to the self-transcendent, the pathway to meaning, the shortcut to the soul. If you want a bigger life, more meaning, more vitality, start with awe. I promise you, awe, this is a simple practice, but we need to stop the modern day dopamine fix. Awe is a gateway to reducing stress, to increasing your empathy and feeling at peace, feeling your soul, feeling your heartbeat again, and having more empathy for yourself, having more empathy and connection to what really matters.

15:14Darin Olien:Have yourself the best super life day ever.