How To Maximize Your Joy & Savor The Holidays
Why Savoring Is Linked to Happiness?
Consciously savoring the good things in life is important because neuroscience research suggests that our brains have a negative bias. Negative things tend to stand out in our minds, while positive things tend to be easily dismissed or forgotten.
Considering this, it’s perhaps not surprising that savoring — or being good at taking in good things — is linked to increased well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, and decreased depression.
4 Ways to Savor Joy
1. Bask in happy moments.
Much like the practice of mindfulness, this type of savoring involves being present in the current moment and aware of sensory information. But unlike mindfulness, which emphasizes detached observation, in-the-moment savoring involves actively seeking out and soaking in positive emotions.
Try it out: Try selecting a few specific moments or events over the next week that you plan to savor.
2. Wear your joy on your sleeve.
Another way to elevate your positive experiences is through your non-verbal behaviors and expressions. We typically think of our physical reactions as simply the result of our emotions (for example, we smile because we feel happy).
However, science suggests the chain reaction goes both ways — smiling actually makes us feel happier while hunching our shoulders and crossing our arms can make us feel more upset.
Try it out: This holiday season, try intentionally laughing, smiling, hugging, exchanging high fives, jumping for joy, and doing the happy dance to amplify your happy moments.
3. Engage in positive mental time travel.
Let your mind wander. Even if you aren’t experiencing something positive in the present moment, you can still practice savoring. We all have the ability to “time travel” within our minds to a more positive moment — whether it’s sometime in the past or in our anticipated future. Studies show that vividly reminiscing over positive experiences in the past and eagerly anticipating future joyful occasions can boost your happiness levels, both in the moment and over time.
Try it out: Think about a time when you felt so happy, you thought you would burst. Remember how you felt in that moment (Giddy? Grateful? Excited?). Replay the event in your mind as if you were reliving it. Remember what you were thinking, seeing, doing. Recall who else was there and why that moment was so special.
Alternatively, you could take a moment to think about what aspect of the upcoming week you’re most excited about. Really immerse yourself in the vision of the positive things that could happen.
4. Share your gratitude with others.
Connect meaningfully. While the first 3 savoring strategies can be done solo, this last one requires connecting with other people. Research suggests that sharing positive events with others is a great way to further amplify and savor the good things in your life. This strategy works best when you share with someone you’re close to and when that someone is likely to mirror back your positive emotions.
This creates an upward spiral of positivity. In fact, some research suggests involving others in your savoring can not only increase the positive impact of events, but also boost your mental and physical resilience.
This is consistent with our findings about the importance of gratitude in the workplace, too.
Try it out: Do some savoring with others this holiday season by taking the time to connect with people who are important to you. Get hot chocolate with a valued colleague, or put aside work to spend quality time with a family member you don’t get to see often. Use the opportunity to share what’s going well in your world, reminisce over a memory or experience you both shared, or let them know how grateful you are to have them in your life.
Of course, all new habits take some practice, so don’t let yourself get frustrated if you forget to use these savoring strategies or if you don’t find joy and feel positive results right away. Just keep them in mind and try them again later. With time and practice, savoring can help you be a happier person and more effective leader, bringing more joy to the world — and to yourself.
Source: CCL
