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When was the last time you felt awe? Perhaps it\u2019s an emotion you notice often, evoked by the trees, clouds, or people around you. Or maybe it\u2019s something you associate with more dramatic, less frequent experiences.\n\nDr Dacher Keltner, has written a sublime book on the subject of awe. It\u2019s called Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life and in it he proposes that awe is an emotion that\u2019s all around us, waiting to be discovered \u2013 and in doing so, we can transform our health and lives for the better.\n\nDacher is one of the world\u2019s foremost emotion scientists and Professor of Psychology at the University of California. He\u2019s also Director of the Greater Good Science Center, which studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of happiness and wellbeing. He has spent decades studying the science of happiness and believes that across the world, we are collectively having a moment of reflection and looking for more meaning.\n\nIn this conversation, Dacher defines awe as our response to powerful things that are obscure, vast, and mysterious. They\u2019re beyond our frame of reference, making us feel small and filling us with wonder. But you don\u2019t have to go to the Grand Canyon or see the Northern Lights to find them. Having studied people\u2019s understanding and experience of awe in 26 different countries, he\u2019s found eight types that are common and easily available to us all.\n\nThey include nature, music, moral beauty (noticing others\u2019 kindness), birth and death, and my favourite \u2018collective effervescence\u2019. This is that feeling of coming together with others, moving as one, and sharing the same consciousness \u2013 you may have experienced it in a sports stadium, at a music concert, on a dancefloor, in worship, in a choir, or even at parkrun.\n\nWe spoke in depth about how birth and death are strong triggers for awe, sharing our own painful yet precious experiences of watching close relatives die. We also considered how awe reduces the ego and makes you humble. And how having a regular practice of contemplation, like meditation or breathwork, can open us up to easily noticing and benefitting from everyday awe.\n\nI truly believe that Dacher\u2019s work can help all of us find greater meaning and greater health. He\u2019s done a fantastic job of finding the science to support his words, but I think we also know intuitively that what he says makes perfect sense. This was a wonderful and deeply profound conversation that contains science, storytelling, raw emotion and so much more.\n\nSupport the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts\xa0https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to\xa0https://fblm.supercast.com.\n\nThanks to our sponsors:\nhttps://www.athleticgreens.com/livemore\nhttps://www.vivobarefoot.com/livemore\n\nShow notes\xa0https://drchatterjee.com/340\n\nDISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.