The Science of Wild Awe: Why Time Outside Is a Need

What Is Awe?

Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world. That is how UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner defines it in his book Awe, the result of more than two decades studying the emotion.

In Keltner's research, awe follows a pattern: a sense of vastness, a sense of mystery, and a dissolving of the boundary between ourselves and everything around us. In Keltner's words, awe returns us to the idea “that we are part of something much larger than the self.” It can come from music, from a newborn, from an act of courage. But he gives a full chapter to what he calls wild awe: the awe we find outside.

On California's American River, a group of military veterans spent a day in rafts as part of one of Keltner's studies. Afterward, one of them wrote this:

“Looking up at the star-spattered sky, I thought about the universe and how infinite it is. It makes what I do feel less important; but the opportunity of what I could do more powerful and lightweight. I never see how many stars are in the sky like I did tonight.”

Time outdoors is often treated as a luxury, something we fit in when life allows. But a growing body of research shows it is closer to a necessity, with real effects on our health and well-being.

A Need on Par with Food and Water

Keltner opens with a direct question:

“How might we make the case that we have a biological need for wild awe, a need that is on par with our needs for protein-rich food, thermoregulation, sleep, oxygen, and water?”

To answer it, Keltner uses the same yardstick scientists use to separate a true biological need from a simple preference. A basic need passes three tests:

• It shows up early in life. If something appears in young children before culture has a chance to teach it, it is likely wired in rather than learned.
• The body has dedicated systems to meet it. We don't evolve specific nerves, hormones, and brain networks for things we can live without.
• Going without it causes harm. This is the line between a need and a want. Skip a want and you are disappointed. Skip a need and your health suffers.

Keltner shows how our need to belong passes all three. It emerges early in childhood, runs on brain chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin and on the vagus nerve, and when it is denied, as in solitary confinement, it leads to chronic illness, depression, and premature death.

Then he runs wild awe through the same tests. It shows up early: given the chance, children “find abundant awe exploring the outdoors,” climbing trees, splashing in water, collecting bugs and leaves. Our unusually long childhood evolved in part to allow for that kind of exploration. The body has systems built to respond to it (we will dive deeper into this next). And as with any biological need, Keltner writes, “when our need for wild awe is satisfied, we fare better, and when it is thwarted, we suffer in mind and body.”

What Awe Does to Your Body

According to Keltner, “the sights, sounds, scents, and tastes of nature lead to awe-related vagus nerve activation and reduce fight-or-flight cardiovascular response, blood pressure, cortisol, and inflammation.” The vagus nerve runs from the brain through the chest and gut, and when it is activated, heart rate and stress response settle. Keltner describes our bodies outdoors as “like an antenna.” A few of the signals they pick up:

• Moving water. The sound of a river, creek, or surf activates the vagus nerve.
• Scents of plants and trees. Certain natural scents calm our stress-related physiology. Garden scents like basil, rosemary, and pine travel through the brain's emotion and memory regions.
• Phytoncides. Compounds released by many plants that reduce blood pressure and boost immune function.
• Natural scenery. Even images of nature activate dopamine networks in the brain, the same networks behind exploration and wonder.
• Touch and attention. In forest bathing studies from South Korea and Japan, people walk slowly, take in scents, feel leaves and bark with their hands, and stop to study a single tree.

Over time, getting outside is linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and cancer. Keltner is blunt about it: “it is hard to imagine a single thing you can do that is better for your body and mind than finding awe outdoors.”

The line that stuck with me most:

“Our bodies respond to healthy doses of awe-inspiring nature like we respond to a delicious and nutritious meal, a good sleep, a quenching drink of water, or an uplifting gathering with friends or family: we feel nourished, strengthened, empowered, and alive.”

At RecPak, we spend our days thinking about what fuels people doing hard things in hard places. It turns out the places we go are a big part of what fuels us for life.

A Clearer Head and a Smaller Ego

Awe sharpens the mind. Researcher Frances Kuo had children diagnosed with ADHD take walks of equal length and effort through a green park, a quiet neighborhood, and downtown Chicago. It turns out the walk in the park was the most effective at improving their concentration. In another study, backpackers on their fourth day in the backcountry of Alaska, Colorado, Washington, and Maine scored 50 percent better on a reasoning test than hikers just setting out.

It also cuts us down to size. In other words, it keeps our ego in check. Keltner and UC Irvine professor Paul Piff had students spend two minutes looking up into a stand of towering eucalyptus trees. Compared with students who looked up at a science building, they reported feeling less entitled, and when a stranger dropped a handful of pens, they picked up more of them. Emerson described the same shift in his 1836 essay Nature: in the woods, “all mean egotism vanishes.”

Why Veterans Hunger for It

Keltner writes that people in uniform find awe in the people they serve with and in the intensity of deployment, and that “the transition to civilian life leaves veterans hungering for awe.” RecPak's founder, Deed Ziegler, is a former Marine officer, so this part of the chapter hits close for our team.

Reading this chapter, I was surprised to come across a familiar name. Military veteran Stacy Bare is a dear friend I have made through the outdoor community, and he turns out to be one of the people behind this research. Stacy built outdoor programs through the Sierra Club and partnered with Keltner's lab on the American River study. Veterans rafted alongside teenagers from underresourced high schools in Oakland and Richmond, many of whom had never been camping. One week later, both groups felt less stress and reported greater well-being. The teens reported better relationships with friends and family. The veterans showed a 32 percent drop in PTSD symptoms. When the researchers looked at why, it was not pride or joy that explained the change. It was awe.

One of the teens put it this way:

“There was a point today where I noticed . . . everything. There was smoke rolling over the hills, I felt in awe. There was water cresting and breaking over the boat, I felt wonder. I felt peaceful.”

Protecting the Places That Give Us Awe

Keltner also found that awe leads people to treat nature with reverence. After brief experiences of awe, study participants committed to using less, recycling more, and buying fewer things. The places that restore us are the ones we end up fighting for.

None of the benefits above exist without the places themselves: the rivers, forests, ridgelines, and night skies where awe happens. Public lands and wild places don't protect themselves. That is why RecPak has teamed up with organizations doing that work:

• 1% for the Planet. RecPak commits at least 1% of annual revenue to environmental causes. It is a commitment we made early and one we keep as we grow.
• The Conservation Alliance. A coalition of outdoor businesses pooling resources to protect wild places. RecPak has been a member since 2024 and stands with its Brands for Public Lands coalition.
• American Alpine Club. Supporting the climbing and mountaineering community and the landscapes it depends on.

Every one of our customers benefits from these places, and so does our company. Contributing to their protection is part of the cost of doing business in the outdoors.

We also believe the outdoors should be open to everyone. The teens on that river did not need to be convinced. They needed access.

Making Room for Wild Awe

The good news is that wild awe does not require an expedition. Keltner himself found it in a line of poetry about a twig floating on a river current, a reminder to look to the ordinary for new wonders. Awe has less to do with where you go than with how you pay attention once you get there. A city park, a creek ten minutes from home, or the sky at dusk can all do the work if you give them a moment.

Start by slowing down and looking up. Most of us move through the outdoors the way we move through a workday: head down, eyes on the next step, focused on the destination. Awe asks for the opposite. It comes from noticing the scale of a tree, the movement of water, the way light changes on a ridgeline. In the eucalyptus study, two minutes of simply looking up was enough to shift how people felt and acted. Building those pauses into a hike or a run turns exercise into something more restorative.

Then give it time. The benefits of wild awe build on each other. A short walk can sharpen attention, but the backpackers who scored highest on the reasoning test were four days in, after the noise of daily life had worn off. Longer trips let the mind settle in a way an afternoon rarely can. When a multi-day trip is not realistic, consistency is the next best thing. Regular time outside, even in small doses, keeps the need met instead of letting it go unmet for months at a time.

Finally, go with other people, and bring someone new. On the American River, raft mates' emotions and stress levels moved together over the course of a single day. Awe is something we feel in our bodies and share with the people beside us. Some of the strongest results came from teens who had never been camping before. Sharing the outdoors with someone experiencing it for the first time is one of the most direct ways to pass on what it gives us, and one more reason access matters.

The summer after his brother died, Keltner hiked a hundred-mile route around Mont Blanc with a copy of William Wordsworth's poem The Prelude in his backpack. Two centuries earlier, Wordsworth had walked seven hundred miles to see that same mountain. The poem's first line stayed with Keltner the entire way:

“O there is a blessing in this gentle breeze.”

Get outside and find yours.

 

Source: Dacher Keltner, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life (Penguin Press, 2023), “Wild Awe,” pp. 124-141.