According to Fred Bryant and Joseph Veroff (2007), savoring involves noticing and appreciating the positive aspects of life – the positive counterpart to coping. Savoring is more than pleasure – it also involves mindfulness and “conscious attention to the experience of pleasure” (p. 5). You can savor vicariously, enjoying another person’s pleasure.
There are numerous savoring processes that regulate other positive experiences (p. 14): to name a few:
- Marveling regulates awe.
- Thanksgiving regulates gratitude.
- Basking regulates pride.
- Luxuriating regulates physical pleasure
Savoring occurs in various timeframes. We anticipate future pleasures, experience present pleasures, and reminisce about past pleasures. People are different in their preferences for future, present, and past savoring. If you particularly enjoy anticipating, start planning early so that you have lots of time to think about a future event. If you particularly enjoy reminiscing, keep pictures and reminders to revisit past pleasures. Mindfulness is important for experiencing present pleasures to keep attention focused.
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|Bryant, F. & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.|
Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The how of happiness. New York: Penguin Group.
Happiness activity 9 is Savoring Life’s Joys (pp. 190-204).
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Chris Peterson includes an exercise on savoring on pp. 70-72.
Rozin, P. (1999). Food is fundamental, fun, frightening, and far-reaching. Social Research, 66, 9-30. Available |
Rozin, P. (1999a). Preadaptation and the puzzles and properties of pleasure. In D. Kahneman & E. Diener & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology. (pp. 109-133). New York, NY, US: Russell Sage Foundation.
Seligman, M.E.P. (2002). Authentic happiness. New York: Free Press.
Chapter 7, Happiness in the present, describes a number of ways to amplify enjoyment of the present through savoring.
|Wrzesniewski, A., Rozin, P., & Bennett, G. (2003). Working, playing, and eating: Making the most of most moments. In C. L. Keyes & J. Haidt, Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived, pp. 205-224. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.|