Understanding savoring

Episode #8 of the course “The science of happiness” by Manuel Kraus

Today’s about savoring: Fully enjoying an experience or a memory. It is, as its name suggests, a sort of running the positive experience around in one’s mouth, really tasting, valuing and enjoying it. Savoring only requires us to pay attention and enjoy our experience. That can be the food we’re eating, the music we’re listening to, the comfortable feeling of lying in our bed on a Sunday morning or anything else that gives you pleasure. While mindfulness is about experiencing the present moment as it is, savoring is about the focus on the positive.

Think of a wine expert tasting an expensive glass of wine. She starts by looking at the wine, holding it against the light. She tries to notice its color and viscosity. The next step is to smell the wine; breathing the aromas in deeply. Only now she takes a sip. She rolls the wine around in her mouth in order to take in all the aromas, all the nuances of flavor. It is an indulgence and all her attention is focused on how the wine feels. After she finally swallows, she has focused intensely on the whole experience and enjoyed it thoroughly. What this wine expert just did, is what psychologists call savoring.

The key lesson is to ‘enjoy now’. We often imagine a happier future and tell ourselves things like, ‘Once I finish this project, then I can finally relax’. This causes us to focus on something that is going to make us happy in the future rather than the joy we can find in our lives right now. If we can enjoy the present, we don’t need to count on and live for the happiness that is in our future.

A decent amount of research confirms the positive impact of savoring on our happiness and satisfaction with life. People who savor frequently are also less depressed and more optimistic.

Today, take an experience and savor it for at least a few minutes. There is an infinite number of things you can choose to savor: going for a walk, reading a book, eating dinner, listen to your favorite song, playing a game… It doesn’t need to be anything unusual. Just remember that savoring is a process, not an outcome. Pay full attention, indulge with your senses. And if you want, follow this process:

1. Slow down
2. Pay attention to what you are doing
3. Use all your senses
4. Stretch out the experience
5. Reflect on your enjoyment.

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