BITESIZE HEALTH HACK #7

YOU ARE INVITED TO…

Savour the Good

There is no doubt that an attitude of gratitude has many positive benefits, making you happier5,6, better at relationships4, less depressed5,6 and anxious6,7, more resilient5 and even able to pay attention for longer8.

You’ve probably heard of the popular habit of gratitude journaling and I know many people who religiously carry out daily journaling because it has such a positive impact for them.


But for some of us burnout zombies, journaling is just another tedious chore to add to an already bulging to-do list of ‘things to fail at.’


So, when I discovered savouring (or savoring for some), I was delighted. I’m all for things that involve less (or no) work and more pleasure.

And savouring the good stuff does just that!

Savouring is simply about paying attention to the positive moments in life… noticing when you're having a good experience and then leaning into how you are feeling, so you start to rewire that positive sensation into your body and brain.


It's just like relishing every bite with all our senses in Bitesize Health Hack #6, but now we're expanding that same state of appreciative mindfulness to ALL the good stuff, not just food.

Savouring is an opportunity to stop and smell the roses.

THE HACK

SAVOUR THE GOOD IN YOUR LIFE

FOR AT LEAST 20-30 SECONDS, FIVE OR SIX TIMES PER DAY.

OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES

But what if it feels like nothing very good is happening in your life right now?

Us humans are notoriously bad at noticing the good. But with a little conscious intent, you can cultivate a sense of wonder and gratitude in just about any moment.

It doesn’t have to be a monumental action like climbing a mountain, but it can still be savoured as if you had just reached the summit of Mount Everest.

For example, you might be washing the dishes, grocery shopping or even paying bills, but you can appreciate just how good it is that you get to do these things, providing food and a warm, safe home.

Instead of seeing the bitesize health hacks as another chore you need to tick off your list, consider how wonderful it is to breathe life-giving air deeply into your lungs, drink water to hydrate your body and cool your throat, get Present from a beautiful guided meditation or treasure the inspiring world around you on your morning walk.

Apply the same mindset to all your tasks for the day.


And see what happens.

OK sure, even if you start to see more of the good, the next challenge you have is actually NOTICING when you're having a good experience and remembering to savour it!

You can use positive emotions or events as a 'positive trigger' to remind you to savour in the moment.

This might take a little practise, so you could at first reverse engineer things a little. First stop to notice (use a reminder alarm or mindfulness bell on your phone) and THEN find something good to experience in whatever is happening in that random moment.

You could attach savouring to another habit or task that you know feels good and happens regularly, for example your belly breathing practice or your daily walk.

Or perhaps when you finally snuggle into bed at night, you can wallow in the physical and emotional sensations of being bundled up into your safe, warm bed.

This is also a great way to avoid those insommnia-inducing night-time worries and in fact, whatever the time of day, savouring is another great way to short-circuit those negative emotions when they start to intrude or spiral out of control.

One easy way to slip into savouring as a habit is to imagine yourself a child again, excited and entranced by the simplest of life’s sensations and curiosities.

Just like we did with the raisin exercise in #6, if you approach the moments in your life with the same open-minded curiosity and wonderment as we do in mindful eating, it can really open up a true appreciation for how lucky you are to be living this life, despite any stresses and strains.

And it is in these moments that you are creating, stepping into and living the life of your dreams.

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MY TAKE ON THE

SCIENCEY SHIZZLE

(IF YOU’RE ALL ABOUT “BUT WHY…?”)

There are a number of good reasons to incorporate savouring into your daily life.

Neuropsychologist Rick Hanson, talks about ‘taking in the good’, where it becomes important to sit with good experiences in order to build a more positive narrative and experience of life.


He explains that our brains are hardwired to remember the bad instantly – after all, our very lives may depend on it in future.


However, the good things don’t embed into our brain quite as easily, so we need to give them a little more time and effort.

Spending 10 or 20 seconds immersing yourself in the experience, 5 or 6 times per day, not only starts to embed this more positive experience of life, but, when done consistently over time, also has a neuroplastic effect – it actually produces physical changes to our brain.


If you’re interested in this, then watch Dave Asprey interviewing neuropsychologist Rick Hanson, who talks more about this ‘taking in the good’1. Or you can watch Rick talk more about this in his Ted Talk9. Both can be found in the references section below.

Savouring experience in your life is also an opportunity for gratitude and there are many, many studies that support the hugely beneficial effect of gratitude and gratitude journaling on physical health and psychological well-being.


That is a whole other topic, for another hack, but if you do choose to try gratitude journaling, then there are studies to suggest that journaling once per week is, on average, more effective than every day or even three times per week (probably this little fact stuck with me as I love it when the science supports doing less work and I thought you might too).

And finally, savouring requires you to engage all the senses, to enlarge your awareness to everything that is happening around you.


That helps you to get Presence (yup that again), and from Presence, you are able to live with intent, making better choices and taking action that aligns with what you really want from life, not from subconscious habit or conditioned fear.


Just try it and experience the benefits for yourself!

Some extra good news… studies show that the less happy and satisfied with life you are, the better the effect of practising savouring5,7!

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REFERENCES

  1. Dave Asprey interviews Rick Hanson in a podcast well worth hearing
    https://blog.daveasprey.com/rick-hanson-forgetfulness-mindfulness-techniques-hardwiring-happiness-243/

  2. A super cool infographic on savouring from the Happify crew, with heaps of references at the end if you want to investigate more
    https://www.happify.com/hd/savoring-makes-us-happier-infographic/

  3. Atkinson, Mark. True Happiness: Your complete guide to emotional health (p. 213). Little, Brown Book Group. Kindle Edition

  4. Study that looked at the effect of savouring on couples’ relationships
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30696329/

  5. Study predicting better psychological wellbeing through savouring
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28380722/

  6. Study looking at the effect of gratitude, optimism and savouring on well-being
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29781723/

  7. Study looking at the effect of regulating negative emotions and savouring positive emotions on anxiety in college students
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30908167/

  8. Study looking at the effect of savour on attention span
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31739249/

  9. Great Ted Talk from Rick Hanson, delving into this concept of ‘taking in the good’
    https://ideas.ted.com/how-to-stand-up-to-your-inner-critic/

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