Savoring to Enhance Happiness

Gain more from the happiness you already have

One readily available way of increasing happiness is to savor what you are already happy about, whether it is something major such as your marriage, or something minor such as a favorite food (or the box of chocolate last night for the special day!)

Savoring refers to attending, appreciating, and enhancing the positive experiences that occur in your life. Not just enjoying, but devoting your full attention at the moment to appreciate, and taking it in fully and thoroughly….

Savoring amplifies the positive feelings from these experiences. The skills and a habit of savoring can enhance your happiness.

Savoring requires some preconditions, such as: You are not in a hurry (having pressing responsibilities to tend to), are not otherwise pre-occupied, and are able to connect to a pleasant experience.

When the preconditions are met, savoring first involves being aware of the experience of pleasure. Many of us, while enjoying a pleasant experience, might not consciously be aware of that, therefore miss the chance of savoring to enhance the pleasure.

Savoring also takes skills and can become a habit. Without those, it might not be an automatic process for many, as it takes conscious, active actions. But for those who have the skills (some hints for this short video) and have developed the habit, it can become more “automatic”, allowing you to continually gain the benefits of savoring.

I will talk about developing the skills, and forming the habit, in details in separate posts. Get ready to savor!