Hi Friend,
I am a fast eater. I don’t waste a second when I have a good meal or treat in front of me. However, due to a new discovery I tried something I have never done before… The other day I closed my eyes when I took a small bite out of my cookie dough cake pop from Starbucks. I never ate a more delicious treat so slowly in my life!
Sounds super dramatic and cheesy right? Yes lol but the reason I did that was to savor the moment. To completely immerse myself into the experience. Before I went to bed that night I thought about that amazing cake pop 🤤.
Through my own online research I have discovered savoring has been scientifically proven to increase happiness!
Savoring is the act of stepping outside of an experience to review it and appreciate it. Helps you to stay in the moment and intensifies and lengthens the positive emotions. It also helps reminiscing by recalling memories in order to re-experience them. Research shows that savoring increases well-being by boosting positive affect and life satisfaction. (Quoidbach, Berry, Hansenne & Mikolajczak, 2010)
Try this: Pick one positive experience to savor each day over the next week. Mix it up each day. Just simple things you enjoy like a hot shower, meal, treat, or walk, etc.
Enhance savoring by:
-Staying in the moment. Be intentional and focus on the positive experience.
-Think about how lucky and blessed you are in the moment.
-Share the experience with someone else.
-Before you go to bed think or make a note about how great that moment was.
Make sure not to dampen the experience. So Don’t:
-Focus on the future.
-Tell yourself it won’t last long and will be over soon.
-How it will never be this good again.
-Think it could be better, or I didn’t deserve it.
-Check your phone.
Properly savoring moments helps you to notice and focus on good things. It diminishes the space for negative thoughts. When you are mindfully engaged and aware of your feelings during positive events happiness increases.
We too often brush over and move on quickly from everyday positive experiences. Let’s all try to do better by appreciating everyday blessings and positive moments by staying present. Even if that means closing your eyes 😊
– Chris