Originally published September 29, 2024
This past week has been busy, full of lots of focus and tackling little details leading up to a big milestone in my burnout recovery journey.
It also means that I've been prioritizing productivity over presence, intentionally, knowing that I've set aside time this week to take off and recoup after a big push.
As someone who girlboss-ed too close to the sun for years, these periods of planned hustle always come with a period of reflection after the fact and I'm excited to see what I learned this time.
I'm looking forward to more walks, spending time with good friends, and focusing on awe and the little wonders of life.
Oh, to be a kid again
One of the biggest focuses of my burnout recovery has been somatic, regulating my nervous system, and exiting my body's near constant state of fight or flight (freeze or fawn).
A big part of this work for me was finding feelings of awe and wonder in the mundane, the little moments of every day.
Turns out, scientists and psychologists have been studying just this.
Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, has been studying awe for the last two decades and how experiencing it can positively affect our bodies, relationships, and our interactions with the world around us.
A 2023 scientific report it notes "Empirical studies find experiences of awe to be associated with increased vagal tone, reduced activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and lower inflammation..."[1]
- Vagal Tone = a higher measure of the activity of the vagus nerve, the body's largest autonomic nerve, which is responsible for regulating many bodily functions, including heart rate, digestion, and respiration.
- Sympathetic Nervous System = the network of nerves that activates fight or flight during stress or danger.
- Inflammation = when your immune system releases chemicals to fight harmful stimuli and begin healing.
All of which is very good news for bodies like mine that have spent, not just years, but decades in fight or flight.
It also reports, "Awe is often experienced through encounters with other people’s courage and kindness, nature, collective gatherings (dance, rituals, and ceremonies), music, visual art, religious and spiritual practice, epiphanies, and birth and death."
As I near the end of my period of planned hustle, I'm excited for this week's...
Try This:
The Awe Walk
In addition to being a professor, Keltner is also the directer of the Greater Good Science Center and served as the scientific adviser behind Pixar’s “Inside Out.”
