In the middle of a stress spiral, few of us would think to seek out beauty.
And yet, surrounding ourselves with beauty (aesthetic and otherwise) may be one of the most effective ways to alter our internal state in powerful, physiological ways. In my work as a therapist and CEO coach, I’ve seen again and again how noticing something beautiful, however small, can profoundly enhance well-being, creativity, and effectiveness.1 It grounds us, calms us, and even heals us.
When Beauty Grounds Us: The Case of Perla
When my client Perla and I met for one of our sessions, I could sense her anxiety, despite the broad smile plastered across her face. Despite feeling nervous about her future “most of the time,” in the moment, she focused on the positive, saying she felt “really great.”
Before we could discuss her anxiety, I interrupted Perla, saying, “Tell me more about how ‘feeling great’ actually feels.” She told me she felt resourced and alive, sensing an openness in her chest and energy coursing through her limbs. I asked her to close her eyes, focus on these sensations, and tell me what she sees.
“I’m sitting on a rock in a forest stream. There’s rushing water, birds, and wildlife all around,” Perla described to me. As she immersed herself in the vision, I observed her breathing deepen and a genuine smile begin to brighten her face.
I prompted Perla to open her eyes and asked, “What is your sight drawn to now?” She shrugged, “Nothing—my messy office.”
After another moment, Perla offered, “I see a chair in my office—I’ve always loved the curve of its back. It’s graceful, beautiful even.”
I asked Perla if she still felt that simmering anxiety from before. She said she did, but she had also found a sense of optimism—a clarity that things would work out.
As Perla discovered, beauty has the power to shift our entire mindset. It can halt those pesky mental loops we find ourselves trapped in, bringing our attention to the present moment and helping our very nervous system to calm.
It can feel silly to seek out something like beauty when we’re overrun with anxiety, but it is in those moments that we can most use a healthy dose of something appealing and inspiring. As Blaise Pascal reminds us, “In difficult times, carry something beautiful in your heart.”
Or, as I like to say, beauty is potent medicine for the soul.
Research Reveals: Little Things Have a Giant Impact
In my interviews with spiritually intelligent people, nearly every one spoke of how beauty nourished them,2 supporting a lifelong sense of awe.
One said, “The little things, cleaning up after meals, helping my wife with grocery shopping, those things that I used to think of as being in the way of the important things, I now see as having their own beauty.”
Research has shown that beauty is integral to spiritual intelligence, an undeniably valuable quality to integrate into one’s life.3 These studies confirm what ancient traditions have long known: Being surrounded by beauty nourishes us. As just one example, the Japanese concept of forest bathing—slowly taking in the beauty, stillness, as well as vibrance of the natural world—has been shown to reduce stress and enhance mood.4 Furthermore, aesthetic experiences, like engaging with art, paintings, or music, improve our overall well-being.5, 6, 7
Beauty is abundant, hiding in plain sight all around us! You can appreciate the simple elegance of a well-structured work report, your colorful dinner plate, or the way your favorite sports team works together to score a point.
Your Turn: Take a Beauty-Based Break
Try this practice when you’re finished reading this post. Draw on it the next time you’re feeling anxious or unsettled.
- Find a comfortable seated position, with your feet on the ground and your spine upright. Tune into your breath.
- Recall an image of beauty. It could be a landscape, a face, a color, or a piece of music. Allow the memory of it to seep into your body. Let it spread through your torso, down your arms, into your legs. Just notice the shift.
- Open your eyes and look around. What do you observe now about your surroundings? Do the colors or shapes look different? Is anything calling your attention in a new way?
- Reflect. What changed in your body or mind? Did the space around you soften? Did your thoughts slow down?
Over the next week, set aside a few minutes each day to sit with a beautiful image or memory. Particularly as we enter spring and the world around us breaks out into awesome color, we could all use a few more “beauty breaks” in our routine!
Conclusion: Beauty as Medicine
In a world that constantly tugs our attention towards what’s most urgent or loud, turning toward beauty is a quiet but radical act. Like Perla, we may find it’s been there all along—waiting patiently in the curve of a chair.
A moment of beauty won’t make our problems vanish—but it can offer us the resources we need to tackle them. It offers a gentler place to land, a breath of stillness between us and the clamor of our thoughts.
So, the next time life feels rocky or uncertain, look around. Beauty is here, trying to reach out and nourish you. Take it in and let it clear your mind, open your heart, and enliven your spirit.
