diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5cffce1..a0db82c 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ sqlx = { git = "https://github.com/zert3x/sqlx", branch="feature/skip", features
 thiserror = "1.0.40"
 jsonwebtoken = "8.3.0"
 log = "0.4.19"
+async-trait = "0.1.71"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tokio = {version = "1.28.1", features = ["full"]}
diff --git a/examples/gateway_observers.rs b/examples/gateway_observers.rs
index d8762e0..1572aa9 100644
--- a/examples/gateway_observers.rs
+++ b/examples/gateway_observers.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use async_trait::async_trait;
 use chorus::{
     self,
     gateway::{Gateway, Observer},
@@ -15,9 +16,10 @@ pub struct ExampleObserver {}
 // This struct can observe GatewayReady events when subscribed, because it implements the trait Observer<GatewayReady>.
 // The Observer trait can be implemented for a struct for a given websocketevent to handle observing it
 // One struct can be an observer of multiple websocketevents, if needed
+#[async_trait]
 impl Observer<GatewayReady> for ExampleObserver {
     // After we subscribe to an event this function is called every time we receive it
-    fn update(&self, _data: &GatewayReady) {
+    async fn update(&self, _data: &GatewayReady) {
         println!("Observed Ready!");
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/gateway.rs b/src/gateway.rs
index 3e6a604..c39f1b8 100644
--- a/src/gateway.rs
+++ b/src/gateway.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use crate::errors::GatewayError;
 use crate::gateway::events::Events;
 use crate::types;
 use crate::types::WebSocketEvent;
+use async_trait::async_trait;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use futures_util::stream::SplitSink;
@@ -1667,8 +1668,9 @@ struct HeartbeatThreadCommunication {
 /// an Observable. The Observer is notified when the Observable's data changes.
 /// In this case, the Observable is a [`GatewayEvent`], which is a wrapper around a WebSocketEvent.
 /// Note that `Debug` is used to tell `Observer`s apart when unsubscribing.
+#[async_trait]
 pub trait Observer<T>: Sync + Send + std::fmt::Debug {
-    fn update(&self, data: &T);
+    async fn update(&self, data: &T);
 }
 
 /// GatewayEvent is a wrapper around a WebSocketEvent. It is used to notify the observers of a
@@ -1703,7 +1705,7 @@ impl<T: WebSocketEvent> GatewayEvent<T> {
     /// Notifies the observers of the GatewayEvent.
     async fn notify(&self, new_event_data: T) {
         for observer in &self.observers {
-            observer.update(&new_event_data);
+            observer.update(&new_event_data).await;
         }
     }
 }
@@ -1880,8 +1882,9 @@ mod example {
         events_received: AtomicI32,
     }
 
+    #[async_trait]
     impl Observer<types::GatewayResume> for Consumer {
-        fn update(&self, _data: &types::GatewayResume) {
+        async fn update(&self, _data: &types::GatewayResume) {
             self.events_received.fetch_add(1, Relaxed);
         }
     }