What is Savoring? Ten Strategies to Boost positive Emotions!

There is so much information out there now about dealing with triggers and coping with negative life events but there are also practices we can deliberately engage in to maximize our happiness and well-being. Savoring is one of these practices.

Savoring is intentionally engaging in thoughts and behaviors that heighten our good feelings about positive events. It includes anything that generates, intensifies, or prolongs our enjoyment. Savoring is about paying more attention to and appreciating all the big and small positive things in our lives for as long as possible. It can be done about the past, present, or future: We can savor memories, current experiences, and future events.

Research has identified myriad benefits to savoring, including stronger relationships, improved mental and physical health, and finding more creative solutions to problems. Savoring increases positive emotions (which is one reason it impacts mental health), deepens gratitude, facilitates mindfulness, enhances engagement, and provides greater meaning in our lives.

You might think savoring is something we all automatically do but this isn’t the case. Some people automatically savor, but others tend to dampen positive emotions, which is associated with depressive symptoms and other mental health conditions. Good news though - research is also showing what works and what doesn’t as far as ways to develop savoring as a skill.

Ten Strategies to BOost Positive Emotions

SHARE (“CAPITALIZE”)

Share experiences and memories with others. Fred Bryant the father of research on “savoring,” suggests that we treat positive events just like positive news. Tell another person when you are feeling particularly appreciative of a certain moment, whether it be a laugh with friends or a scene in nature. Studies about the ways people react to positive events have shown that those who share positive feelings with others are happier overall than those who do not.

BUILD MEMORIES

Pause for a moment and consciously be aware of things you want to remember later, such as the sound of a loved one’s chuckle, or a touching moment between two family members. Actively store images for future reminiscing. by taking “mental photographs” (or real ones) to form vivid images.

CONGRATULATE YOURSELF

Don’t hesitate to pat yourself on the back and take credit for your hard work. Tell yourself how proud or impressed you and others are of, e.g., achievements and personal successes.

COMPARE

Comparing good experiences with unpleasant ones gives us a reference point and shows us how much better off we are then we could be.

SHARPEN PERCEPTION

Getting in touch with your senses—or taking the time to use them more consciously—also flexes savoring muscles. Intensify pleasure by focusing on certain stimuli and screening out others. Be vigilant in your attention to positive aspects of your experiences.

ABSORPTION

Try to turn off your conscious thoughts and absorb positive feelings during a special moment, such as taking in a work of art. Studies of positive experiences indicate that people most enjoy themselves when they are totally absorbed in a task or moment, losing their sense of time and place—a state that psychologists call “flow.”

EXPRESS

Express positive emotions through non-verbal behaviors. Smile, laugh, jump for joy, pump your fist in the air.

REFLECT ON TRANSIENCE

Remind yourself how fleeting the moment is and that you should enjoy it now; savor the bitter-sweetness. Realizing how short-lived certain moments are and wishing they could last longer encourages you to enjoy them while they’re happening.

AVOID KILLJOY THINKING HABITS

Avoiding negative thinking is just as important as thinking positively. After a tough day, try not to focus on the negative things that occurred. Self-doubt, suppression, distraction, and negative mental time-travel are all negativity traps.

GRATITUDE

Count your blessings and feel grateful. Recalling the experience through thanks will help you to savor it. Research shows actually saying it out loud brings even more benefit.

There you have it folks…ten ways to easily boost emotional well-being. None of them seem complicated do they? Which one are you going to try first?!