The transformative power of peak experiences in the wilderness

On reaching the 4000 metre summit of Malchin Peak in northwest Mongolia (above), I am awestruck.

Before me, a 360 degree spectacle of glaciers, rivers, mountains, and sky as far as the eyes can see, fills me with wonder and deep appreciation.
Exhilaration, triumph and achievement run through me like currents.
My eyes are teary.
It’s a moment of pure, present, unadulterated joy.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow called these ‘peak experiences’: fleeting moments of awe and wonder that have a profound positive effect on us.

These experiences can be brought about by art, music, moments of creative flow and self-expression, mediation, deep reflection and nature.

Wilderness environments are often the setting for these moments of heightened emotion, spiritual and existential insights. Moments that reveal core truths about ourselves, our values, our place in the world; moments that have the power to transform our lives.

One study into the power of wilderness to trigger peak experiences, found some common themes in the experiences described by the participants, including:

1. Being struck the breathtaking aesthetic beauty found in nature and all the ways our senses are affected by nature’s display of colours, spaces, textures.
   Have you ever been filled with wonder by the spectacular vistas of mountains and rugged coastlines?
   Or the murmuring sound of water flowing around rocks in streams? Or the vastness of a gorge, the stars or the ocean?
   In awe of the perfection of giant trees or tiny wildflowers?

2. Feeling a deep and spiritual connection to everything in the wilderness, a deep knowing of belonging and being at one with something bigger than ourselves.
   
   Have you ever felt like this?
   

   I have.
   
   Let me tell you about a time when I was camping on my own for the first time in Western Australia’s remote and vast northwest…
   
   I’d recently bought my first swag and was keen to try it out.
   I drove to Gantheaume Point, a beach just outside of Broome.
   
   When I arrived the sun was already starting to set.
   Apprehensive about spending the night on my own I parked the car so that I wouldn’t have to reverse it, in case I had to make a quick get away.
   The keys were in my pocket the whole night.
   
   Finally, I settled into the swag and watched the sun dim in the horizon.
   Then one by one, stars appeared above me.
   For hours, I lay cocooned in the swag looking up at that vast, star-filled sky.
   I was alone on the beach surrounded by the ocean and the rugged shapes of the ancient, red rock

   That night I was struck by my minuteness; by my tiny place in nature; in the universe.
   I felt both humility and reverence,
   and a kind of exaltation for everything that that existed.
   At the same time I felt exalted by the profound
   I felt a profound connection.
   I belonged there, without question.
   I was part of it, I felt it in every cell.
   And all of it was part of me.
   
   I can still recall this experience vividly today.
   

3. Moments in the wilderness that give us a deeper, fresher and more clear awareness of ourselves, the world, the universe; sometimes these profound revelations transform the way we perceive and think of ourselves and our lives.

4. We are inspired to return to the wilderness because we’ve had repeated peak experiences and we want opportunities to feel these again.

5. Being able to sustain ourselves in the wilderness, to use our bodies to make our way through it, to carry what we need, to find our way, to endure the elements and risk the possibility of injury and pain; to possess and develop the skills needed, can result in powerful feelings of achievement and triumph by overcoming physical and mental challenges.

6. Some experiences in the wilderness are powerful and transformative - they become important and meaningful moments that set people on different directions, to pursue different goals and discard old beliefs and ideas.

7. In the wilderness some people experience a deep peace and happiness from getting away, escaping the pressure, the stress, the demands and the crowded, built environments we spend so much time in.

Can you relate to any of the experiences above?
Have you ever been moved by splendid colour of a bird or a sunset?
Can you recall a feeling of intense joy and accomplishment on reaching the top of a mountain?
Or experienced deep peace and serenity while camping on a remote beach?
Or realised something important about yourself and your life while hiking solo through a forest?

In short, peak experiences can transform our lives.

They have the power to move us deeply and access insights into what makes us happy, our life’s purpose, the direction we are going and the powerful motivation stay on course.