“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”>
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!
>”,”name”:”in-content-cta”,”type”:”link”}}”>Download the app.
When you hear the word “savoring,” you likely think of the sort of deliciousness that sets off your senses and all but demands that you inhabit the moment completely. Now take that same concept and apply it to your life. This, too, is savoring, a trending psychological concept that asks you to take that same type of pleasure in your everyday experiences.
“Savoring is purposeful enjoyment,” says Luc LaFreniere, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Skidmore College. “It’s intentionally finding ways to strengthen our engagement with positive emotions and extend how long they last, basking in them and dwelling on them.”
LaFreniere breaks savoring down into two parts: identifying what you like about an experience, and immersing yourself in those elements as often as you can.
LaFreniere’s studies have found that repeated, purposeful savoring can both reduce the symptoms of some psychological disorders while increasing positive well-being. One study found that people with clinical anxiety disorder that were prompted by smartphone to savor positive emotions for seven days had greater reductions in worry, anxiety, and depression than a comparative treatment.
According to psychiatrist and executive coach Anna Yusim, PhD, additional research has shown savoring to be a valuable tool for improving emotional deficits associated with depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. Savoring can also increase optimism, happiness, and life satisfaction.
“Savoring helps to deepen our connection to the present moment,” says Yusim. She notes that savoring can be reactive, occurring in simultaneous response to positive events or feelings, or proactive, which begins with the deliberate seeking out of such happenings.
Savoring and Gratitude
If you’ve ever had a hard time with gratitude—whether due to circumstance or a general difficulty accessing thankfulness—savoring provides similar benefits.
“It is so common for us to tell ourselves that we ‘should’ feel or be more grateful,” says psychologist Terri Bacow, PhD. “This pressure can be invalidating of the very real challenges we face, even when things are going ‘well.’” Bacow contrasts this feeling with savoring, which is a judgment-free experience. “You can choose to savor a moment without feeling any pressure to do so,” she explains. “It’s also more manageable to engage with on a micro level, whereas gratitude can be a much broader concept.”
LaFreniere adds that finding things we like and noticing that spark of positive emotion is possible regardless of context. “Even if it’s uncomfortable, practices like savoring can build our resilience to the inevitable emotional shifts of a good life,” says LaFreniere.
To begin, LaFreniere instructs you to “list the likings and feel the feelings.” Pay attention throughout your day: when something lights you up, dig a bit deeper. What do you like about it? What is prompting your positive emotions? And finally, stop analyzing so you can really feel those feelings. This, at its heart, is savoring.
So go ahead: soak up the goodness whenever you can. Pure enjoyment in the moment is a sign of life lived with intention.