When Awe Brings You Back to Yourself

Lately I’ve been noticing how awe has a way of bringing me back to myself.

I’ve had several experiences within the past year that have cracked me open to awe:

The mountains. Always the mountains. There’s nothing like the emptiness of the expansive wilderness that sits me right down on a rock and tries to observe something incomprehensible.

Going to a planetarium that has me grappling with the largeness of the universe and my seemingly insignificant place in it.

The metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies is pure magic to me and an incredible lesson from the universe in how transformation takes time and trust in the mysteries.

Listening to Hans Zimmer on some high quality headphones moves me to feel something profoundly meaningful and deeply alive.

Driving out into the darkness of the night, away from the city lights with my kids and experiencing the rippling pink and turquoise hues of the northern lights together.

Awe often shows up when we encounter something larger than our everyday lives that stretches our understanding of what’s possible.

This year especially, I’m deeply grateful for these moments of awe as they have felt like medicine to me while witnessing the dark and shadowy powers that exist in our world. Research backs this up for me: these moments of awe help us cooperate more, connect more, and see ourselves with more accuracy and humility. And some research indicates that awe may be one of the fastest, most powerful catalysts for personal transformation.

This absolutely feels true to me.

Awe is one of the few experiences that reminds us, instantly and unwaveringly, that there is more to our lives than what’s right in front of us. That we are part of the vastness. That we are held by it. That we can return to it whenever we need.

And awe is absolutely a resource that perhaps you can consider strengthening and installing using EMDR BLS for yourself (or your clients).

Resourcing Awe Using EMDR

You might say something to your client like:

“Can you bring to mind a moment when you felt a sense of wonder, awe, or something larger than just you?, something - big or small - that reminded you that life is bigger than just this moment? It might be from nature, music, art, a relationship, a spiritual or meaningful moment… or even something very ordinary.”

Then guide the client to notice:

Where they feel it in the body

Any images, sensations, or emotions

A word or phrase or message that captures it (e.g., open, connected, humbled, alive)“

Once it’s embodied, you can:

Install it with slow BLS (tactile or eye movements)

Use it as an interweave or an anchor point

Pair it with a positive cognition or statement, if that fits

A quick note of nuance – awe shouldn’t be used as a means of bypassing of emotions, a rush into meaning making, or a silencing of protective parts. When used well, awe can coexist with pain rather than replacing it.

If you’ve had your own moment of awe lately or if you’re realizing you haven’t felt that tug in a long time, I hope you follow it. Let it lead you outside, into the arts, into beauty big or small, into ritual, into wonder. Hover there, notice that, allow it to move you in meaningful ways.

Written by: Cassie Krajewski