Savor Holiday & Family Celebration
Positive Psychology Finds Ways to Enhance Savoring Benefits
Do you have a holiday feast that is particularly pleasant for you, something that you look forward to well in advance? In anticipation of the meal have you ever talked about it with friends or family? Perhaps you've written about your plans in a letter or journal, speculating on specific foods, aromas, and festive decorations. As you take your seat at the table, you bask in the rich aromas, the wide array of attractive foods beautifully arranged, and hungrily anticipate wonderful tastes of a satisfying meal with friends and family. Fully engaged in the feast as it transpires, perhaps you've mentally compared this meal with those of the past.
Savoring Skills
If you've ever done these things in conjunction with a holiday meal, a special event, or a celebration of personal or family accomplishment, you've practiced the art of savoring. Though commonly associated with food, savoring is an art that lends itself to virtually all aspects of daily living, an art that is well worth practicing regularly.
Researchers in the field of positive psychology, the study of well-being, find that savoring life's events has a strong positive correlation with happiness. Those who naturally practice savoring not only meals, but daily life events are happier and healthier than those who don't.
Positive Psychology Research
Dr. Fred Bryant, Professor of Psychology, Loyola University, Chicago has studied the impact of savoring for many years. His recent book, Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience, describes the many benefits of savoring along with ways we can each enhance our savoring abilities.
Bryant describes the three times frames of savoring, past, present, and future, recommending that we utilize all three to maximize savoring benefits.
Ways to Savor
Bryant further defines 10 ways we can savor, including these: sharing, memory building, self congratulations, and counting blessings.
Enhance Savoring
To gain the full benefit of savoring, Bryant recommends six enhancing practices. Several of these were described in the feast scenario above. The six ways to enhance savoring are:
- Sharing. Social support enhances the emotional content of an event, increasing enjoyment of it. Discussing an event before, during, and after, provides a savoring experience in all three time frames, compounding the enjoyment with social interaction.
- Journaling. Daily journaling is an excellent means for recalling the day's positive events, both ordinary and extraordinary, such as a celebration. Journaling can further enhance the savoring experience by writing about positive events in all three time frames, past, present and future. In addition to journaling for self, writing to others further enhances the experience by combining journaling and sharing enhancements.
- Comparing. Contrasting an event with similar past events can also enhance the experience. However, comparisons also run the risk of disappointing if today's event seems to pale in comparison to those of the past.
- Awareness. Intentionally sharpening your awareness for an event enhances the experience by focusing your senses on more detail. This enhances your memory of the event further benefiting subsequent savoring of the event.
- Humor. Injecting tasteful humor into a positive event enhances enjoyment and therefore may reinforce memory of the event.
- Spiritual. In "Pivot Points: Small choices with the power to change your life," (Evans Press, January, 2006) Carol Kauffman writes, "Choosing to savor is the difference between living an ordinary day and walking in paradise. Physical, emotional and spiritual savoring creates optimism." Bryant adds, "Savoring often leads people to search for special meaning in their experiences."
The Art of Savoring
Though some are naturally better than others at savoring, anyone can learn to savor using the techniques in this article along with more featured in Savor: A Crucial Happiness Skill.
Savor Celebrations
|
What do you think about this article?
Comments
Latest Articles