When I think about savoring, I often associate it with food. Taking time to eat something delicious in order to make it last longer. However we can also savor experiences and research has shown that intentionally savoring positive moments can increase our happiness. In many ways this is similar to gratitude because we are looking for things we appreciate, however instead of reflecting back on them, we are allowing ourselves to stay in the positive moment longer and experience it more fully. Research shows that positive events don’t always result in increased happiness, it varies based on how fully we experience them. This is good news! It means we can increase our ability to savor the positive moments and in turn, increase happiness.
There are specific behaviors we can engage in to more fully experience positive moments or diminish them. The Ways of Savoring Checklist (Bryant and Veroff, 2007) is a measure that assesses our tendency to amplify or dampen happy moments. The article I linked above contains the behaviors, however the main themes are summarized below.
Tips to Savor Happiness:
Share it with others. Sharing the actual experience or telling others about it in the moment or afterward can help the moment last longer.
Celebrate it! Physically allowing ourselves to celebrate our joy can amplify it. This may come in the form of laughing, jumping up and down, or a joyful scream or verbal expression. Think of a gameshow contestant that just won the grand prize and let go of any restraint! I have been known to jump up and down and clap when good things happen, and it feels good!
Self talk. I have written about the importance of self talk when it comes to getting through challenging moments, however it is also useful in positive situations. Telling yourself how lucky you are, how proud you are of an accomplishment, how deserving you are of good things happening, allow us to experience happiness more fully rather than dismiss it.
Staying present. Allowing yourself to stay in the moment rather than allowing your brain to jump to the past or the future. Focus on staying in the here and now as long as possible before moving on to whatever is next.
As you might have guessed, there are other behaviors that can dampen our ability to savor happiness that we want to avoid. These include:
Negative self talk. Telling yourself you don’t deserve a positive experience can turn a happy moment into an unhappy one very quickly.
Downplaying the event. Telling yourself it wasn’t as good as you expected or thinking about how it could have been better deplete happiness.
Thinking about when the moment will end. When we get caught up in the future, it doesn’t allow us to enjoy the present. We often think “all good things must come to an end” or “nothing lasts forever” without fully experiencing the moment.
Real Life Example: Staying Present with Positive Experiences
Time is tricky. It can drag on for what feels like an eternity or speed by in the blink of an eye depending on the circumstance. I often struggle with being present and in the moment during planned positive moments, namely vacations. When I travel or visit loved ones, I tend to focus on the vacation ending rather than savoring each moment I get to enjoy. This past week my husband and I travelled to visit dear friends on the beautiful French island of Corsica. I have been looking forward to this trip for some time and it provided the perfect opportunity to practice savoring the moment and being present on my vacation.
When I travel for pleasure I struggle with the mental countdown—“how many days do I have left until it’s over?” I noticed having a specific itinerary filled with plans each day tends to worsen this tendency. It leads to a cycle of focusing on “what’s next” instead of enjoying what is happening in the moment. I decided this vacation provided the perfect opportunity to practice savoring and be intentional about being present and enjoying each moment. I noticed my mind venturing to the future and going into countdown mode. Each time it did, I simply observed it and gently directed myself back to the present and enjoying what I was doing in the moment. Specifically I stayed in the present using the following strategies:
Focusing on the beauty around me. I happened to be in a gorgeous place which made it very easy to direct my attention to the loveliness around me.
Enjoying the current moment or activity. I used self talk to remind myself how lucky I was to be hiking, enjoying the beach, spending time with friends I hadn’t seen for far too long, eating delicious (and sometimes mind blowing) food, etc.
Connecting and being present with the people around me. I wasn’t experiencing the vacation in isolation. Intentionally sharing each moment with others helped make it more memorable and kept me in the present.
Experiencing each moment with my eyes instead of my camera. I made a rule for myself on this trip…if something was interesting enough for me to photograph it, I made sure to intentionally savor the moment with my eyes before or after the photo was taken. Pausing for a few seconds and lingering in the moment, allowed me to feel appreciative of the experience and impacted me more than looking at a photo ever could.
While reducing my mental time travel on vacation will take some practice and time to fully modify, I noticed a difference. Savoring the positive moments allows us experience them more fully and influences our perception of the entire experience. As we approach summer, what plans do you have for spending time with loved ones or traveling? How can you savor those moments?
I really like this, I think it's great advice. I value experiences and this is a helpful guide to truly enjoying and making the most of those experiences.