January 2026
AWE is often a Precursor to Gratitude*
"Awe" Shucks . . .
This PJT Newsletter was scheduled for LAST November since traditionally, in the United States, November is the month of gratitude . . .
We failed to send it . . .
"People succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories." Ralph Waldo Emerson
and are preparing for a victorious 2026
"Awe" Wonderful!
Awe is the closest feeling we have to magic.
It can have profound effects
on your mind & body.
Awe has a way of igniting a childlike wonder in us, often acting as a “gateway to every other resilience practice*.”
Awe is hard to describe because there’s no feeling quite like it.
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Amazement and wonder are probably the closest comparisons we have to awe.
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Awe can be complex, sometimes creating feelings of disorientation or even fear (say, when you encounter something unsettling and a bit beyond your grasp).
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“Awe is an emotion you feel toward a thing or person that is so extraordinary, it almost defies comprehension, and it often changes or challenges how you view the world."
Here's your first, not necessarily foremost,
PJT AWE inspiring News
Feeling Awe Benefits Your Health,
in ways you might not expect.
Physiologically speaking, the body’s response to awe “resembles a sort of freezing,” with the actual goosebumps to prove it,
In fact, compared to other emotions, awe can make you feel like you have more time as it:
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increases your patience
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roots you in the present
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sparks a willingness to give up time to help others
The slow-down it triggers in your body can translate to a host of mental and physical benefits. Studies have shown awe can:
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Reduce your “fight or flight” response,
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Boost levels of the “feel-good” hormone oxytocin,
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Improve your vagal tone (a clinical measurement that offers insight to your heart function and how your body reacts to stress)
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Potentially reduce inflammation.
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Might sharpen your thinking. (A study in the journal Emotion found that people who were induced to feel awe were not as easily persuaded by “weak” arguments compared to folks who thought about something neutral.)
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Give your system a much-needed break and potentially a better ability to handle stress in the future.
Even . . .
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Redirect your default focus on yourself and direct that attention toward other people
For example " . . when your eyes trace the stars and the darkness between them, you might start to think of yourself as an itty-bitty speck of dust in an incomprehensibly big universe; at the same time, perhaps that’s the very thing that makes you feel intertwined with the world around you, including other people. That humbling thought pattern is what makes awe a unique “prosocial” emotion."
"These blips of astonishment remind and encourage you to act as a piece of a greater whole, facilitating optimism, generosity, and altruism. “If you see yourself as connected to others, in this web of life, you’re probably more likely to care about somebody else when they’re suffering, or help them if they need it.”
The power of a “micro awe.” small things can create big emotion
what gives you that feeling of transcendence:
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The thunderous bass of a rock show
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The brush strokes of an impressionist painting
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Pouring cream into coffee and watching it swirl
Ya Gotta LOOK for AWE
If you go for a walk give yourself a goal of observing three things on your route that you hadn’t paid much attention to before:
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Architectural details of a building on your block
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Moss creeping over a wall
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Tree branches gently swaying
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Dogs running in a park.
All little moments of awe build up to a greater sense of well-being. Be open to those moments. They are there when you look for them.
Get into your feelings with someone.
Awe helps us feel a little less isolated, a little more part of something.
“Awe makes a good memory that much more vivid.” Once you start opening up about the snippets that have stuck with you, it becomes contagious. “Awe starts with you but don’t let it end with you,” “Share it with other people.”
Give awe its own space in your wellness routine.
"The key is to be “thoughtful about protecting awe-inducing moments . . . when you find yourself in an awe inspiring moment, slow down and give yourself a chance to experience it.”
"To foster more of this magic in your life, you need to be intentional about it just like any other habit that’s good for you."
Resources & References for this article:
Jeff Thompson, PhD, research scientist focusing on awe, department of psychology, Columbia University.
Jennifer Stellar, PhD, associate professor of psychology, researches awe at the University of Toronto Mississauga
https://www.self.com/story/health-benefits-of-awe
"AWE" NO
Foods You Might Not Have Realized Were
Man-Made
Some health enthusiasts admonish against "man-made" foods.
Many of our everyday foods--almonds, collard greens, and wheat--were carefully bred by farmers thousands of years ago. Because it happened back in 6500 BC, most people forgot about selective breeding. Here are 4"natural" foods we took from the complete list in the article that were originally made by humans:
Bananas Would Go Extinct If We Stopped Planting Them
Early farmers in South Asia cross-bred the plants to create the modern banana. But there was one problem: Since bananas don't have seeds, they're sterile. Farmers discovered that they could replant the shoots to sprout new trees. This means that if we stop planting bananas, they will go extinct.
If They Weren't Man-Made, Almonds Would Kill You
Scientists know that it's a cross-breed - wild almonds are fatally poisonous when consumed in large amounts. and are bitter, whereas our edible almond is sweet.
Carrots Were Not Always Orange
The carrots of today look nothing like natural carrots. Orange carrots descended from the yellow carrot, which derived from white or purple carrots. The earliest-known ancestor dates back to Persia in the tenth century.
Tomatoes Weren't Red Until The 1900s
Tomatoes are native to Southern America and date back to at least 500 BC. According to historians, the Aztecs cooked and ate tomatoes that were small and yellow.
Click link to find out what else you eat started out as something "else".
https://www.buzznet.com/2024/10/natural-foods-are-actually-man-made-1/
Awe Struck
How Hiking Will Change Your Life
Nature is One of the Strongest Pathways to Awe
Hiking builds muscle, boosts your brainpower, and activates happiness hormones. The outdoor exercise is incredible for your mental and physical health.
Think of hiking as simply taking a longer walk in nature; you can hike at any pace, at any elevation, and any length of time.
Just Plan Awe
Know that "mmm...ah!" feeling you get when you see a beautiful waterfall or gaze out from atop a mountain?
Research shows that such experiences:
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Benefit your state of mind. "We know that just looking at photos of nature reduces stress."
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Even five minutes in nature can boost your mood and self-esteem, according to a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology.
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Exercise produces endorphins (known as the happiness hormone). Actually moving through nature takes the feel-good benefits to a new level.
"Hiking creates a wonderful combination of less stress and more happiness"
"You get double the benefit when exercising in nature. . . Walking in nature turns down the stress response and feel-good chemicals like dopamine and endorphins increase." A lower stress response also means less inflammation in the body, (Inflamation is highly connected to a downward mood)
The benefit of hiking can be attributed at least in part to the awe that most people have in nature.
AWEsome!
Eating a Little Dark Chocolate Every Day Can Make You Healthier (and Happier)
Added bonus - research shows ‘planned indulgence’ can also make you more likely to achieve your goals.
It Just Takes A Little
Research studies show that eating dark chocolate can:
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Reduce the risk of dying from a stroke by nearly 50 percent.
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Make people happier. It contains psychoactive ingredients like phenylethylamine — a neuromodulator that regulates emotional states — that produce mood-boosting results, long after you’ve finished eating.
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Over 30 studies found that people who ate a small amount of dark chocolate every day lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing their LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.
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People who have a plan for when they will indulge in temptations like eating chocolate feel more positive and motivated and are more likely to stick to their long-term goals.
MOST AWESOME of ALL!
There was no (adverse) effect on participants’ weight, body fat percentages, or waistlines. How? Because it only took 1/2 ounce a day!
Anything more didn’t produce any additional effects.
Remember this!
The biggest benefits come from dark chocolate that contains at least 60 percent cacao solids;
in cardiovascular studies, participants consumed
70 percent dark chocolate.
AWE YES!
TWO ingredients, ONE bowl, Microwaved
INSTANT gratification
INDULGE WITH FUDGE!
Two Ingredient Hot Fudge
"Typical hot fudge recipes contain seven or eight ingredients, like heavy cream and multiple types of sugar— but the sweetened condensed milk takes care of all of that at once."
You can choose any type of chocolate chip to make this hot fudge, but remember DARK chocolate is healthiest and the sweetened condensed milk already is quite sweet on its own.
if you want a sweeter version, then choose milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips mixed in with the DARK chocolate.
Ingredients:
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14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
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1½ cups of DARK chocolate chips.
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Combine the chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl.
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Microwave for two minutes, take it out and stir.
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If there are any lumps in the fudge, microwave for up to another minute, then stir again.
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If the consistency ends up being too thick for your taste, you can add a tablespoon or two of water, then stir thoroughly to make it a bit thinner.
Pour it over ice cream, eat it with a spoon, drink it from the bowl . . .
https://www.tastingtable.com/1565651/make-hot-fudge-two-ingredients/
AWEsome BRAINS
The Human Brain (yours included) Cleans Itself
"A unique peek inside the human brain may help explain how it clears away waste like the kind that can build up and lead to Alzheimer’s disease."
"Brain cells use a lot of nutrients which means they make a lot of waste. Scientists have long thought the brain has special plumbing to flush out cellular trash, especially during sleep – they could see it happening in mice. But there was only circumstantial evidence of a similar system in people."
"Now researchers have finally spotted that network of tiny waste-clearing channels in the brains of living people, thanks to a special kind of imaging."
"The brain is remarkably active during sleep. One reason seems to be that's the time it does a deep clean. And that's gotten attention because while losing a good night’s sleep muddles people’s thinking, chronic sleep deprivation also is considered a risk factor for dementia."
So how does the brain cleanse itself?
"The University of Rochester first reported finding a network they dubbed the “glymphatic system." Cerebrospinal fluid uses channels surrounding blood vessels to get deep into tissue and move waste until it exits the brain."
"When mice were injected with a chief Alzheimer’s culprit named beta-amyloid, it cleared away faster when the animals were sleeping."
"It’s not clear exactly how that network works although some research has shown the pulsing of the blood vessels helps move the waste-clearing fluid where it needs go."
"But it’s been hard to find that system in people.MRI scans can spot some of those fluid-filled channels but don't show their function.
A team in Oregon injected a tracer into five patients who were undergoing brain surgery and needed a more advanced form of MRI. The tracer “lit up” under those scans and sure enough, 24 to 48 hours later, it wasn’t moving randomly through the brain but via those channels just like prior research had found in mice."
"Sleep isn’t the only question. Animal studies show an old blood pressure drug now used to treat PTSD may improve glymphatic function."
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-scientists-alzheimers-disease-washington-sleep-b2625438.html
Not Awestruck by now? This will "struck" you!
Is Death a Thing of the Past?
Over the last 70 years, 'scientific advances' like life-support machines have 'made it harder and harder to find the line between being a person and being a body'
What is death?
"It might seem one of life's more straightforward questions but experts' understanding of the subject continues to evolve and deepen.
"Multicellular life forms that emerge from the cells of a dead organism suggest that a "third state" lies beyond life and death."
"The discovery has raised fresh questions about what it means to die, and the process of "declaring death" has become "progressively messier"
Researchers have found that:
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"Skin cells extracted from deceased frog embryos were able to adapt to the new conditions of a petri dish in a lab".
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It has also been observed that "solitary human lung cells can self-assemble into miniature multicellular organisms" that navigate their surroundings and "repair both themselves and injured neuron cells placed nearby".
"Yale neurobiologist Nenad Sestan, who analyses slices of tissue from brain banks around the world, enjoyed an "accidental breakthrough" when "a specimen from London missed the plane . . . die after only a few minutes without oxygen so the delay in the tissue arriving was thought to be "catastrophic". But when Sestan asked a colleague to dissect a piece of it and let it grow in a petri dish containing cellular nutrients, they found that some cells grew."
"Further studies "achieved stunning results". Parts of pig brains were revitalised after being retrieved from an abattoir. Four hours after the pigs had died, "neurons were firing, blood vessels were functioning", and the brain's immune cells were "chugging along".
"Then the team decided to scale up and perform "mind-blowing" experiments on pigs themselves. When the animals were hooked up to a new life-support system called OrganEx after being dead for an hour, they "looked lifelike, their hearts restarted, and they even moved".
"It was like, whoa, whoa, what should we do now?" said David Andrijevic."
https://theweek.com/science/is-death-a-thing-of-the-past
There's no prescription. Unique, diverse experiences and things can elicit awe:
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A beautiful skyscraper, a feat of human ingenuity
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Embrace the sublime at a concert or museum,
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During a mindfulness meditation
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A spiritual ceremony
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In the throes of a psychedelic experience.
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Admiring others . . . someone who just gave birth
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Grandparents telling stories about living through moments of history
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Awesome
*AWE is our own precursor to gratitude . . .
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"Awe" Shucks
Copyright © 2026, Peggy Arndt & Judy Westerfield