
They’ll get the benefits of savoring and you’ll get the benefits of hearing others’ good news. When someone shares good news, encourage them to savor it by asking them to share as much detail as possible. Encourage others to share their good news Doing so will help you “lock” in the positive memories and appreciate the moment more deeply. Mirgain suggests telling someone when you have a positive moment and when you do, expand on it. Share the good with othersĪ great way to have the savoring experience last even longer is to share it with others.

It intensifies and lengthens positive emotion,” Mirgain said. Then it is possible to bring back the sights, the sounds, the tastes, the smell and the feeling and it is pleasurable. “To savor an experience, you need to engage fully in the experience and take in every detail and to appreciate it fully. Focus on the moment and try to do so for 12-15 seconds – what does it look like, what does the moment sound like, what is the feeling in your body? Use your senses to help your mind create a “snap shot” that you can store and recall later. When something good happens, try to press “pause” – stop and notice it. Notice how this feels in your body,” she said. Using all of your senses what do you see, what do you hear, what do you taste? Are there emotions you’re feeling? Focus on those feelings and as you sink into the memory, let your thoughts drive to anything connected with the memory that makes you feel good. “Think of it like a virtual reality experience. Mirgain suggests thinking back to a past pleasant experience and try to recreate it using all of your senses. Maybe you were that child in the snow once.
#SAVOR THE MOMENT HOW TO#
Learn how to savor the moment Savor the past The good news is that we can train ourselves to look for the positive. It may not sound like a lot, but it’s one reason when we reflect back on our lives it’s easier to recall small negative moments but often, it is only large positive ones that we recall,” she said.
#SAVOR THE MOMENT FULL#
“It can take a full 12 seconds of experiencing a positive moment for it to become stored into memory. When we don’t take the time to savor those simple joys, like playing in the snow, we can become less creative, less productive, less resilient and even less happy. In a sense, our brains are primed to go negative,” she said.Īs our brains scan our current environment for “threats” – slippery streets, or even a loved one’s tone of voice, angry body language from our boss, a rude stranger on the bus – those moments stay with us. We know negative experiences produce more brain activity than equally intense positive ones. Our nervous systems evolved to quickly scan and search for threats in the environment. “We are wired to look for the negative because it was often tied to survival. UW Health psychologist Shilagh Mirgain explains that’s because we are wired that way. All we tend to focus on is the negative – finding time to shovel, messy parking lots, slow commutes, slippery sidewalks.

And in reality, our own brains don’t help the situation. Snow may even be seen as a hassle rather than something to enjoy. In the midst of to-do lists, looming deadlines, throw in kids or grandkids, volunteer activities and more, it can be easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle. While it might cause some eye rolls – this old story, again – if we stop and consider a typical day, we may find we’re more like that adult character than we realize.
#SAVOR THE MOMENT MOVIE#
It sounds like the plot of a holiday movie – an adult swept up in the stress of a busy job, bills, chores and other demands is reminded by a young child about the simple joy that comes from playing in the snow.
