Regulating the Autonomic Nervous System✨ What is an Awe Experience? Resetting Brain Fatigue✨ The Mental Benefits of the "30-Second Sky Observation" That Rewires Neural Circuits🩵 Give "Hikoukigumo" (Contrail) a Listen🎶
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I had a realization this time, so
I am rushing to write this article.
Looking up at the sky
actually has very positive effects
both scientifically and for mental health⭐︎
An article about photos of the sky🩵
↓
By looking up at the sky,
it is not just a matter of mood;
several mechanisms have been identified
that directly affect our brains and autonomic nervous systems.
I would be happy
if you read until the end.
※Created with Gemini.
🧠Autonomic Nervous System Regulation (Relaxation Effect)
When looking up at the sky,
you naturally adopt an "open chest" posture.
✨Deep breathing
Improving your posture expands your lungs,
making it easier to breathe deeply (diaphragmatic breathing).
✨Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system
Deep breathing makes the parasympathetic nervous system dominant,
helping to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone.
💡Brain Fatigue Recovery (Default Mode Network)
Modern people tend to stare at "small screens"
nearby, such as smartphones and PCs.
👀 Visual Liberation
By looking at the vast sky in the distance,
the brain, which has been busy processing
visual information, switches to "rest mode."
💭 Enhancing Creativity
The time spent gazing blankly at the skyis said to activate the
"Default Mode Network"
where the brain organizes information,making it easier for
new ideas to emerge.new ideas to emergeis said to be the case.
What is the Default Mode Network (DMN)? It refers to the "brain's idling state." It is the internal network of the brain that becomes active not when we are concentrating on a task, but when we are doing "nothing," such as zoning out or looking at the sky. • Role: Organizing memories, integrating information, self-reflection, and simulating the future. • Benefits: It becomes easier to come up with new ideas (creativity) and organize your own emotions. • Caution: If you get lost in worries and "mind-wandering" occurs, it can waste brain energy and actually make you feel tired.
🌌 Psychological Effects of an "Awe Experience"✨
In psychology, the experience of
encountering magnificent nature or the vast universe and
feeling "something that transcends oneself"is called an
Awe experience.
A famous researcher in this field is
Dacher Keltner
(a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley).
It comes from the emotion of Awe.
🌌 Images of Awe Experiences
For example, these are moments like:
When you look up at the starry sky and feel, "How small I am."
When your heart is quietly moved by magnificent nature or at a shrine.
When you are so moved by music or art that you are left speechless.
When your heart is filled with emotion after encountering someone's deep kindness or way of life.
In your heart,
a quiet sense of wonder that expands, saying "Wow..."
That is an awe experience✨
✨Relativizing worries
By seeing the overwhelming vastness of the sky,
it has the effect of objectively reframing your worries,
making you realize that "my worries are small."
✨Increased sense of happiness
You become humble,and research has shown that
gratitude toward others and a sense of happiness increase.
What is an Awe experience?
It is "an experience of encountering something overwhelming and feeling a sense of reverence."
When you encounter the vast universe, an endless horizon, or great art and history,
it refers to the feeling that "my existence is small, yet at the same time, I am part of a larger world."
• Psychological effect: Small-self effect: Your worries feel small, and stress is reduced.
• Increased altruism: Kindness toward those around you and humility increase.
• Changes in the sense of time: The feeling of being "chased by time" eases, and you gain mental space.
Synergistic effect of DMN and Awe experience
The act of "looking up at the sky" triggers both of these simultaneously.
1. Looking at the vast sky triggers an "awe experience," stopping the circuits of daily minor stress.
2. By just staring blankly, the "DMN" begins to function appropriately, and information in the brain is organized.
As a result, a state is created where "the worries haven't disappeared, but for some reason, my heart feels lighter, and new solutions become visible."
🌞 Serotonin secretion (Effect of sunlight)
Looking up at the blue sky during the day
also leads to taking in sunlight.
✨Happiness hormone
As light enters through the retina,
the synthesis of "serotonin," which stabilizes emotions, is promoted.
✨Sleep quality
Since serotonin turns into the sleep hormone "melatonin" at night,
it also leads to a good night's sleep.
🌱 A little tip
✨Just "30 seconds" is enough
It doesn't need to be a long time;
just looking up during a break at work
will refresh your brain.
🌫️ Follow the movement of the clouds
If you observe the clouds flowing,
you can achieve an effect close to mindfulness (a state of focusing on the here and now).
👉 Neural circuits are strengthened by
"repetition."
✨Morning sky
Brain to "Active Mode" (Serotonin)
✨Daytime Sky
Resetting Brain "Information Overload"
✨Evening Sky
Brain to "Rest Mode" (Melatonin)
🌻Bonus
Looking up at the sunset sky also has a "mind and body reset effect" that is different from the daytime blue sky.
From a scientific perspective,
it is clear that the "color" and "timing" of the sunset
work directly on our brains.
🌆Relaxation effect from "warm colors"
The main colors of the sunset,
orange and red, have the following psychological effects.
✨ Parasympathetic nervous system switch
Warm colors symbolize "warmth" and "peace,"
acting as a trigger to switch the brain from active mode (sympathetic nervous system) to rest mode (parasympathetic nervous system).
✨Serotonin regulation
By bathing in the soft light of dusk,
the secretion of serotonin, which stabilizes the mind, calms down, and silence visits the heart.
✨"Synchronization" of biological rhythms
Our bodies are equipped with a clock called
"circadian rhythm" that is aligned with the Earth's rotation.
What is a circadian rhythm?
A circadian rhythm is an "approximately 24-hour internal clock" that living things on Earth, including humans, possess.
It is called "circadian" by combining the Latin words "circa" (about) and "dies" (day).
The reason we are active during the day and sleepy at night without even thinking about it is because this rhythm is ingrained in our bodies.
What happens when the circadian rhythm is regulated?
When this rhythm is "synchronized" with the Earth's cycle, a positive cycle is created for the mind and body.
• Improved sleep quality: Hormones (melatonin) that naturally induce sleepiness are secreted at night.
• Stabilization of the autonomic nervous system: Daytime performance increases, and you can relax deeply at night.
• Mental care: Mood swings are reduced, leading to mental stability.
🌃Preparation for the night
By the retina sensing the light of the sunset,
a part of the brain called the pineal gland determines that "it will be night soon."
✨Promotion of melatonin secretion
By gazing at the sunset,
the sleep hormone melatonin begins to be produced smoothly for the night,
making it easier to fall into a natural and deep sleep.
✨Organizing "Emotional" Feelings
Experiencing the fleeting beauty of a sunset leads to
emotional detoxification (purification).
✨Reflection
The time spent looking at the evening sky at the end of the day becomes a "mindful" moment to objectively look back on the day's events and organize your emotions.
✨
Feeling Connected
Because the sunset visits everyone equally regardless of location, it is said to have the effect of easing feelings of loneliness and
making you feel connected to society and the world (a type of awe experience)
.
🌼How to enjoy the sunset to maximize its effects
✨Stop for a "few minutes"
The peak of the sunset is very short.
Just by focusing on that "here and now" and observing the colors changing, you will feel refreshed.
✨ Pair it with deep breathing
If you stand up straight and take deep breaths while imagining that you are inhaling the orange color of the sunset into your body, your autonomic nervous system will be more easily regulated.
🏞️Summary
What is it like outside your window or in the air right now?
Our neural circuits can undergo positive changes just through the small habit of
"looking up at the sky", ranging from
stress relieftoimproved sleep quality, and those
few seconds of looking upbecome self-care that tunes your brain and heart.
Depending on what you see and feel today, your neural circuits will gradually change their shape.
We are busy every day and tend to only look at our feet or the small screens in our hands, but just by looking up and gazing at the sky for a few dozen seconds, new circuits for "relaxation" and "awe" will be etched into your brain.
Whether the sky you look up at is blue, dyed in the colors of the sunset, or shining with stars, the time spent touching its vastness is a precious moment to cherish yourself.
Why not stretch and look up at the sky right now?
Thank you for your valuable time,
and for staying with me
up to this point♡♡♡
🎧Today's Recommendation🎶
"Hikoukigumo" (Vapor Trail) cover by Naotaro Moriyama
#NeuralCircuits #BrainScience #AutonomicNervousSystem #MentalHealth #StressRelief #LookUpAtTheSky #BrainRefresh #RelaxationEffect #BrainFatigue #SelfCare #SunsetEffect #SleepQualityImprovement #Mindfulness #HappinessHormones #BodyClock #HealingTime #HabitFormation #DefaultModeNetwork #AweExperience #LifeHack #Hikoukigumo #NaotaroMoriyama
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