How to Welcome More Awe Into Your Life

When was the last time you felt truly awestruck, when something made you pause and whisper a quiet “wow”?


Did time feel like it slowed down, just a little?

Awe is an emotion we feel when we encounter something vast, beautiful, or beyond our ordinary understanding, something that invites us to step out of our usual perspective and see the world with a sense of wonder and openness. 

It can happen in “big” moments, like standing at the edge of the ocean or looking up at a star-filled sky, and in quieter moments, like hearing a child’s unexpected wisdom or being moved by a piece of music.

As researchers study awe more closely, they’re finding that it does much more than create a pleasant moment; it can genuinely support our wellbeing in everyday life.

How Awe Benefits Your Wellbeing

  • It can ease stress and quiet repetitive worry which boosts mood.
  • It can change how we experience time, making it feel more expansive and less rushed.
  • It can strengthen feelings of connection to other people, to nature, and to something larger than ourselves.
  • It can foster humility and curiosity, making us more open to learning, growing, and seeing new possibilities.
  • It is linked with acting more generously and placing less focus on material possessions.

Different Paths to Awe

There are many ways this emotion can show up in our lives. Some people feel it most easily in nature, others through spiritual experiences, and others when they witness acts of kindness or courage. It can be triggered by “big ideas,” like scientific discoveries or excellent performances in art, music or sports.

You might notice that certain paths to awe feel especially powerful for you, and that they can be a steady source of comfort and perspective, especially during times of change.

A Short Positivity Break to Experience Awe

One of the places I most often feel awe is in nature, and that inspired me to create a guided visualization set in a natural landscape. My hope is that it will help you use your imagination to create your own awe-inspiring moment, even if you are listening from an ordinary, everyday setting.

You can watch (or simply listen to) the awe positivity break here:

Tap Into Awe: Short Guided Visualization for Calm & Wonder

Closing Out Our Positivity Break Series

This awe practice marks the end of our recent positivity break series based on the 10 positive emotions identified by Barbara Fredrickson. Over these past weeks, we’ve explored how positive emotions like joy, gratitude, and hope can support wellbeing in everyday life, and awe feels like a fitting place to pause. It’s a reminder that even in seasons of uncertainty or transition, moments of wonder are still available to us.

If you missed any of the previous positivity breaks, you’re warmly invited to visit my YouTube channel and watch the ones that call to you: Dianna Collier Coaching.

I’ll be stepping away from the newsletter briefly while I travel to one of my favorite awe-inspiring destinations: Rhode Island. It’s a place where I reconnect with nature,visit with family and experience “wow” moments while exploring the rocky coast and ocean views.

During this pause, I invite you to notice where awe might already be present in your own daily life, and how you might make a little more space for it.

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear from you. Please share:

  • A recent moment when you felt awe, and what you noticed around you.
  • One small way you’d like to make more space for awe in your life (a walk at sunset, pausing to notice trees on your commute, listening more deeply to a favorite song, etc.).

Leave a comment and join the conversation! 

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized support tapping into positive emotions while navigating a life transition, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation. I have spots available at the end of August & September.

From Blah to Inspired: A Positivity Break to Spark Motivation

When was the last time you felt inspired?

Not just “in a good mood,” but genuinely lit up — more creative, more alive, more willing to take a step forward. That’s the experience I want to help you reconnect with this week.

What Is Inspiration?

Inspiration is that uplifted, energized feeling that comes from something or someone that moves you. It often shows up as a sense of “I want to do something with this,” a pull to create, to grow, or to take brave action in your life.

Why Inspiration Matters

Inspiration isn’t just a nice feeling; it’s part of a bigger story about how positive emotions help us grow. Research by Barbara Fredrickson and others shows that positive emotions (including inspiration) tend to broaden our thinking and, over time, help us build resources like creativity, resilience, and stronger social connections.

In everyday life, that broaden-and-build effect can look like:

  • Fresh ideas and creative sparks.
  • More motivation to try something new or take the next step.
  • A clearer sense of what matters to you and where you want to go
  • A little more energy and hopefulness about what’s possible.

So when you feel inspired, it’s not “just a moment.” You’re also expanding your mindset and planting seeds for future growth.

This Week’s Positivity Break

This week’s Positivity Break video helps you generate inspiration intentionally, instead of waiting for it to randomly show up. 

In the video, you’ll be guided through a short journaling practice, with prompts designed to help you notice what truly moves you and calls you forward.

You can watch the video here:

Inspiration Starts Here | A Positivity Break to Spark Motivation

Share What Inspires You

I’d love to hear what lights you up.


Tell me about a moment, a person, a piece of art, or a song that inspires you. 

Share in the comments. Your story might spark a little inspiration for someone else.

Need Support?

If you’d like help reconnecting with inspiration while navigating a life transition, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation. 

How Healthy Pride Builds Confidence and Momentum

Pride gets a bad reputation.

For many people, it’s tangled up with arrogance, ego, or a sense of superiority. But that version of pride isn’t what we’re aiming for here.

In positive psychology, pride is something much more grounded and useful. It’s a sense of self-approval that comes from recognizing your efforts, growth, and progress. 

Healthy pride stays open. It allows you to say, “I see what I’ve done,” while still leaving room to learn and grow.

And when you let yourself feel it, pride doesn’t hold you back. It helps you keep going.

The Missing Piece for Many High Achievers

Many of my clients struggle to feel this kind of pride.

They’re working toward meaningful, often ambitious goals, yet rarely pause to acknowledge what they’ve already done. 

Their focus stays on what’s next, what’s missing, or what could be better. Over time, that can quietly drain motivation instead of sustaining it.

But pride, when we allow ourselves to feel it, can become a powerful source of energy.

A Small Shift That Changed My Day

I saw this in my own life just last week.

I started the day in a grumpy mood. I didn’t feel motivated or inspired. But instead of waiting to feel better, I began moving through a few actions I had already prioritized.

I walked the dog before the Texas heat set in, got in a weight training session after missing a few workouts, and sat down to work on my newsletter.

While researching and writing, something shifted. I became absorbed in what I was doing, and my energy started to rise.

Then I noticed something else. I felt proud. I was showing up and following through, even when I didn’t feel like it. Recognizing that changed the trajectory of my day.

Pride That Isn’t Dependent on Today

That’s the kind of pride that supports growth.

And importantly, it doesn’t have to depend on how productive or successful today happens to be.

Some days will have more energy or visible progress than others. That’s part of being human. If pride only comes from what you accomplish in a single day, it will always feel inconsistent.

What if you could access a sense of pride based on a broader view of who you are and how you’ve grown?

This Week’s Positivity Break

That’s what this week’s Positivity Break is designed to help you do.

In just a few minutes, you’ll be guided through a simple reflection to help you reconnect with a more supportive and encouraging view of yourself.

You can watch it here:
https://youtu.be/LaQAzdGl9mk

As you go through it, notice what it feels like to receive your own recognition.

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear from you.

What is something—big or small—that you feel proud of right now?

Share in the comments and join the conversation! 

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized support tapping into positive emotions while navigating a life transition, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation. 

What Curious People Know That the Rest of Us Don’t

Hi Friends,

What if the secret to a better day is already inside you?

It sounds almost too simple, right? But one of the most powerful tools we have for living a fuller, more engaged life isn’t a new app, a productivity hack, or a perfectly planned morning routine.

It’s interest— that bright, alive feeling when something captures your attention and makes you want to lean in a little closer.

So, what exactly is interest?

According to positive psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, interest is the feeling that sparks the urge to explore, learn, and absorb new experiences. Think of it as curiosity, fascination, and engagement all wrapped up into one beautiful emotion. 

And just like all ten of the positive emotions identified by Fredrickson, interest has the power to broaden our thinking and build lasting wellbeing.

Why cultivating interest is worth your time

Research on curiosity and interest has shown some pretty compelling benefits:

Better memory and learning 

When curiosity is activated, the brain’s dopamine reward system fires up, priming the hippocampus to absorb information more deeply. Curious brains simply learn better.

Lower anxiety  

Approaching new or uncertain situations with interest rather than apprehension actually dials down the stress response. Interest reframes “What if something goes wrong?” into “I wonder what I’ll discover.”

More happiness and life satisfaction  

Research found that on days when people felt more curious and interested, they reported higher life satisfaction and a greater sense of meaning in life.

Stronger relationships 

Being genuinely curious about the people around us builds real intimacy and connection. Curious people are consistently rated as warmer and more enjoyable to be around.

Greater resilience  

People who approach challenges with interest and a growth mindset tend to bounce back more easily. They become problem-solvers, not avoiders.

The bottom line? Interest is a resource, and the good news is that we can practice it.

Ready to tap into yours?

In this month’s Positivity Break, I’m guiding you through a short journaling exercise designed to help you reconnect with what genuinely interests you, in your learning, your relationships, your strengths, and your everyday life.

👉 [Click here to watch the video] 

It’s short, it’s reflective, and it just might make your week more interesting. 

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear from you.

What are you most curious or interested in right now? 

Leave me a comment and join the conversation! 

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized support tapping into positive emotions while navigating a life transition, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation. 

I’m on a podcast: Letting Go of Perfection and Embracing Compassion

I’m just back from a beautiful family trip to Italy, full of connection, perspective, and gelato. I’m returning with some exciting news to share.

While I was traveling, an episode of The Secrets of Being podcast, where I had the honor of being a guest, was released. 

In this conversation with host Dawn Airhart Witte, we explore something so many of us experience but don’t always talk about openly: burnout, and how self-compassion can be a powerful way through it.

I share parts of my own journey from a high-stress career into this work, along with simple, practical ways to meet yourself with more kindness, especially in the moments when you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or not “enough.” 

We also talk about what it really means to give ourselves permission to be human, and how small practices like self-compassion breaks can create more resilience and ease in everyday life.

If this resonates with you, I’d love for you to take a listen in whatever way works best for you:

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/E0HLNd3F0XM


Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4kviqG6


Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/40JJ93uzECuuGPFODWV7Ht?si=juuoy4HLTOC528yUhv9-HQ

After you listen, let me know what stands out for you; leave me a comment and share any reflections, questions, or takeaways.

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized support dealing with burnout in a self-compassionate way, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation. 

The Easiest Gratitude Practice You’re Not Using

Gratitude gets talked about a lot and for good reason. 

It’s one of the simplest ways to lift your mood, widen your perspective, and remind your brain that not everything is doom and laundry. 

Even a tiny moment of appreciation can help you feel more grounded and connected to what’s good right now.

This week’s Positivity Break offers a fresh (and kind of fun) twist on gratitude using something you already have with you. It’s quick and might just surprise you with how easily it brings a smile.

Take a minute and try it here:

If you’re in the mood for more ideas (especially on those “not feeling it” days), I’ve got you covered here:
https://diannacollier.com/2025/11/25/gratitude-practices-for-grumpy-people/

One last note: I’ll be taking a short break from the newsletter while I travel with my family and celebrate my older daughter’s college graduation. I’ll be back mid-June—with, I’m sure, a few new moments of gratitude to share.

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear from you.

Tell me about your moment of gratitude or share the photo that inspired it.

Share in the comments of my blog and join the conversation! Let’s spread a little collective gratitude!

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized support tapping into positive emotions while navigating a life transition, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation. I have spots open in June.

A simple practice to feel more love this week

Love can sometimes feel like something we have to earn, chase, or wait for, just out of reach, especially on the days when we’re stressed, disconnected, or running on empty.

But what if love isn’t something you have to wait for?

In positive psychology, love is something we can intentionally cultivate, and one powerful way to do that is through a practice called loving-kindness meditation.

This week’s positivity break introduces this simple, well-researched practice that helps you generate feelings of warmth, care, and connection, starting from within and gently expanding outward.

What I love about this practice is that it meets you exactly where you are. Whether you’re feeling open and connected or a little guarded and depleted, loving-kindness meditation helps you access love in a way that feels safe and doable.

And the benefits are more than just a fleeting good feeling. Research shows that loving-kindness meditation can:

  • Enhance empathy and emotional regulation
  • Strengthen feelings of social connection and belonging
  • Reduce self-criticism and support greater self-compassion
  • Lower stress and even improve overall well-being over time

In other words, this isn’t just about feeling good in the moment. It’s about gently rewiring how you relate to yourself and others.

This week’s positivity break is an invitation to pause, soften, and reconnect with that steady, expansive sense of love that’s already within you.

You can watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/TUXEH954YHM

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear from you.

What did you notice when you practiced generating feelings of love? Did anything surprise you?

Share in the comments and join the conversation! Let’s spread a little positivity together!

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized support tapping into positive emotions while navigating a life transition, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation.

Cultivate Hope for Change with this Guided Practice

Have you ever been in the middle of something that feels hard, maybe a season of uncertainty, a challenge that’s stretching you, or a goal that feels just out of reach, and noticed that hope isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind?

Hope is a unique emotion.

It’s most relevant in these moments, when we’re struggling or wishing something could be different, but it doesn’t always show up on its own. 

It’s something we have to cultivate.

It requires a willingness to imagine that change is possible.

Not perfect.

Not all at once.

But a little bit better.

In this week’s positivity break, I’m inviting you to gently reconnect with that sense of possibility. 

Through a short guided reflection, you’ll have a chance to imagine your life a year from now and hear from your future self about what helped you get there.

It’s simple, but often surprisingly powerful.

You can watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/T8fuykuUsZ4

As you watch, notice what resonates. You might be surprised by the wisdom that surfaces.

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear a piece of insight from your future self.

How are you cultivating hope in a better future?

Share in the comments and join the conversation! Let’s spread a little positivity together!

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized support to build hope while navigating a life transition, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation.

Find Serenity in Minutes with a Five Senses Meditation

If your mind has been buzzing and your days have been stacking up with tasks and plans, that can feel like a lot to carry. 

For these moments, I want to share a simple and supportive practice to help you pause and reconnect with a sense of calm.

This week’s positivity break is about cultivating serenity, that calm, peaceful feeling we can return to even in the middle of a busy day.

In this short video, I guide you through a five senses meditation to help you slow down and come back to the present moment. It’s an easy practice you can use at home, outside, or even while waiting in line somewhere.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/-uFFOd-qJW8

This practice can be especially helpful when life feels like a lot, whether that looks like a long to-do list, traffic, overbooking, overwhelm, or everyday stress and anxiety.

I do a version of this most mornings when I take my dog and coffee outside. I look at the sky, scan the yard for wildlife, notice what I can hear, feel the temperature of the air on my skin, smell my coffee, and savor the taste of it. This routine has become a small way to begin the day with a little more ease.

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear from you.

If you tried the positivity break, what did you think, and how do you cultivate serenity?

Share in the comments and join the conversation! Let’s spread a little positivity together!

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized strategies to increase positive emotions, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation.

Why I spent a month dressing up a metal donkey

What if just a few moments of lighthearted silliness could add more ease into your day?

This week’s Positivity Break is all about amusement. When I am talking about amusement, I mean that feeling of pleasure or enjoyment that is often triggered by humor. 

It’s easy to overlook, but this positive emotion carries some powerful benefits.

Amusement helps loosen the grip of stress, broaden our thinking, and bring a sense of play back into our day. 

Small moments of amusement help build emotional resilience over time, not by fixing everything, but by helping us hold life a little more lightly.

I recorded a short Positivity Break to help you experience this firsthand. It’s a simple (and slightly silly) activity designed to spark a bit of amusement.

👉Watch the Positivity Break on Amusement here: https://youtu.be/9W1BUVEu32k

If you’d like to invite more amusement into your week, here are a few other gentle ways to make space for it:

  • Notice who or what already amuses you, kids, pets, a coworker, even yourself in certain moments, and linger there a little longer
  • Keep a “ridiculous thoughts” note on your phone and add to it throughout the week
  • Take a 2–3 minute break to watch or listen to something humorous
  • Let yourself create something purely for your own amusement, a silly photo, a playful display, a ridiculous story
  • Pay attention to moments where others are smiling or laughing, and let that be contagious

For me, amusement often shows up in everyday, unexpected ways. My dog is a constant source of it. And during April of 2020, I dressed up my metal yard-art donkey in different outfits each day. It amused me to create the costumes and even more to see neighbors smiling as they walked by.

This Week’s Challenge

I’d love to hear what’s bringing amusement into your world right now! 

What is something, big or small, that made you smile or laugh recently?

If you tried the positivity break, what object did you choose & what ridiculous job did you give it?

Share them in the comments and join the conversation! Let’s spread a little positivity together!

Need Support?

If you’d like personalized strategies to increase positive emotions, email me at dianna@collierclan.net for a free consultation.