Learning to savor is a study in joy

It’s easy to find advice and resources for life’s challenges. Most self-help books, and even a lot of our weekly topics here, revolve around problems and how to move through various forms of negativity.

But what about the good stuff?

Weddings. Sunsets. Big hugs. Hearty laughs. Hearing the rain, feeling the breeze, seeing the flowers.

We don’t automatically feel joy. Many sweet moments, big and small, pass right by.

Savoring is an art and a skill, and learning to do it can help those good times penetrate. Savoring can increase our happiness moment by moment and in our lives overall.

Mounting research supports this. Savoring doesn’t only increase appreciation of isolated moments. It also strengthens relationships, facilitates creative problem-solving, and improves mental and physical health.

Fred Bryant, author of Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience, says, “It is like swishing the experience around … in your mind.” When we savor, we’re mindfully engaged and aware of our feelings during positive events.  It’s a healing and restorative practice and habit.

This week’s meditations (available to subscribers) give you a taste of savoring, and here are some other ways to dabble with it in the days ahead, too.

1. Pause more – this is everything. We miss sweetness because we’re always en route. Slow down. Stop. This opens the door for savoring.
2. Consciously engage your senses one at a time. Close your eyes to smell the flowers, taste the wine, or deeply feel the hug.
3. Express: Share your good experiences and feelings. Laugh out loud, jump for joy, squeal when something good happens, tell a friend. Sharing and expressing is a means for savoring, and it helps the good stuff feel even better.
4. Eat something mindfully. Slowly, consciously, sensually eat a square of dark chocolate (or a torte—see recipe below!) or something else.
5. Notice the pulsing energy and vitality of this moment. Life is unfolding RIGHT NOW. It is alive; it is a gift! Remember that. See it. Feel it! Pause frequently to really take that in.
6. Pick an activity that you can actively savor every day. It could be drinking your morning coffee, taking a bath, reading to your child, or snuggling with a loved one. You choose.
7. Remember death. We are on this earth for a short time. Remembering this makes every moment, the good ones and even the not-so-good ones, savorable.

Pick and incorporate at least one of these tips. The more we practice, the better we’ll get at savoring… and joy.