Awe does not need a mountain. A leaf with the light through it, the sound of rain starting, a child concentrating: small moments can be enough, if you stop for them. These six practices are ways of pausing. They are optional, they do not promise a feeling of awe, and they ask for very little time.
1. Choose one thing and look at it for a minute
Pick something ordinary: a leaf, a cup, your own hand. Look at it for a minute as if you had not seen it before. Notice the colours, the edges, the light. If your mind wanders, bring your eyes back. If you feel nothing in particular, that is fine, and you have still given your attention a rest from screens.
2. Look up
Your eyes may spend much of the day on screens and the ground. You might step outside, tilt your head back a little and look at the sky, the tops of the trees or the ceiling light. Only look up in a place that is safe, with your feet steady and the ground clear. If you feel dizzy, lower your gaze. Orienting to the wider space around you is one way to begin.
3. Listen for three sounds
Close your eyes if you are seated and safe, or keep them open if you are standing, and listen for three sounds: one far away, one nearby, one very quiet. You are not trying to hear anything special. If you can, let the sounds come and go without naming them.
4. Slow your walk for one block
On a short walk, slow down for the length of one street. Feel your feet meet the ground. Look at something you usually pass: a doorway, a tree trunk, a puddle. Stay alert to traffic, other people and uneven ground. Do not do this while crossing roads or cycling.
5. Touch something with attention
Hold a stone, a piece of fruit or a warm mug. Feel its weight and surface and temperature. You might use tracking to describe what you notice in plain words: smooth, cool, heavy. Put it down when you have had enough.
6. Tell someone about it
If something small caught your attention, you can say so: “The light on the wall was lovely this morning.” Awe does not need an audience, but sharing a small thing can make it part of the day. Skip this if it feels like another task.
Making a few minutes for it
If you want to build in a short habit, you could:
- take one slow minute with your first drink of the day
- look out of a window while a kettle boils
- pause for one breath at a doorway
- keep your phone in a pocket on one walk each week
- notice one thing on your commute, if you are a passenger
Pick one. If it starts to feel like a chore, change it or drop it.
When it does not come
Some days you will look and feel nothing. That is not a failure, and awe is not something you can summon. A practice of noticing does not need a particular result. You might simply have had a calmer minute, or a boring one, and both are fine.
Awe and difficult feelings
Sometimes noticing the world’s scale can bring up other feelings: sadness, loneliness, a sense of being small. If that happens, you can stop, look at something near you, and feel your feet on the floor. Grounding can help you come back to the room. You do not have to push on with the practice.
Safe places for looking and listening
Choose places where you can be at ease: a garden, a park bench, a balcony, a quiet corner of a street. Stay away from edges, water and roads when your attention is turned inward or upward. If you are alone in an unfamiliar place, tell someone where you are.
With children
A child can be good company for this. You could ask a child to find the smallest thing they can see, or to describe a sound. You do not need to explain anything. Following their attention for a minute can be enough.
If your days feel flat
If most days feel flat or grey, and little brings interest, that is worth mentioning to a doctor or therapist. Practices like these are small supports and not a treatment. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, contact a crisis line or your local emergency number.
Related: a daily somatic routine.
