I walked out of the hospital after an exhausting morning of patients and procedures . It was the month of February and as I walked out I could feel the delicious warmth of the sun on my skin. The sky was unusually clear and sparkling blue that day and looked almost magical. Unlike other times when I would just walk past lost in my thoughts , something prompted me to sit down for a moment and just breathe in the weather and the feeling of joy and relaxation. What I had just done was to savour the lovely experience and feel it completely right in the middle of a hectic weekday

This is contrary to what we do normally . We usually pass by these beautiful small moments of the day without really absorbing it . We just take a whiff of the perfume rather than inhaling it fully unless we are on a vacation where our only agenda is relaxation . There is enough evidence that savouring the small good moments on a daily basis helps us not only feel great but has an impact on our overall well being and happiness.

Savouring is this process of lingering on a positive moment trying to prolong the feeling . As defined by Bryant and Veroff it is the ability of a person to attend, appreciate and enhance the positive experiences they feel .

There has been enough research to associate savouring with a feeling of enhanced well being , productivity and joy. It is closely related to but not the same as mindfulness . Savouring is specifically choosing positive moments and clinging to it while mindfulness is paying attention to whatever is arising in the present moment non judgementally . The more mindful we become the more things we start noticing worth savouring . It is imperative for us to practice savouring pleasant feelings and experiences whether it may be a delicious meal or even basking in the sense of achieving a small but important task . Rather than simply switching over to the next task or activity we can relish and relive it in our minds or even discuss it with a closed friend or partner . These are among the myriad ways to perpetuate and accentuate the pleasant feelings we come across our day .

Savouring is not only about our present experiences but incorporates reminiscing over a past wonderful memory ( Positive Reminiscence) or anticipation of a future event like a holiday or picnic. It is not to be confused with passive day dreaming or a way of escaping the now but it is a dynamic process of absorbing a positive experience and allowing it to linger on for some more time

Sonja Lyubomirsky who has written the book ‘ The how of happiness’ discusses about savouring as an important method to boost happiness and joy and also discusses many simple methods to create and cultivate it

Dr Rick Hanson , a neuropsychologist also waxes eloquent about how we can learn to ‘ take in the good experiences’ in our lives and how it can transform our way of living . His theory is that human brains have developed an evolutionary ‘ negativity bias’ being like Velcro for bad experiences and Teflon for good news. Whenever we come across something shocking or tragic it instantly grabs our attention and sticks to our minds like Velcro and we dissect and discuss the news at length . Yet we allow good news to just slide by us like teflon without really allowing it to move us deeply . This negativity bias may have been important tool from an evolutionary viewpoint for survival of our ancestors since there were many dangers all around, but in these modern times this strategy is actually quite detrimental for our mental health . As a result of this mindset we always pay rapt attention to anything that shocks and disturbs us and this is the reason why news channels are flourishing . However as Rick Hanson points out it is possible for us to change this attitude and we can consciously try to soak in the good which is happening all around us . The more we are able to completely feel and absorb the pleasant things we experience , the more we develop neurons which remember this and store it in our memory . This is the basis of neuroplasticity and it is never too late to develop new neurons

He discusses the ways we can transform fleeting positive experiences into lasting improvements in neural network. Rick outines the process in simple steps coining the acronym HEAL- Have a positive experience, Enrich it , Absorb it and Link positive and negative material ( the fourth step is optional) . These steps are practical and easy to follow and allows us to notice and create positive experience right in the middle of our normal mundane daily lives.

Rick Hanson elaborates that prolonged or repetitive neural activity done consciously leaves an enduring imprint on our neural structure which is termed as experience dependant neuroplasticity. Neurons that fire together wire together after all . In a nutshell our experiences matter, our experiences of happiness, anxiety joy or worry make real changes in our brain network and it is up to us what kind of an imprint we want our minds to weave.

So the next time you come across something beautiful or refreshing when you go about the day like a lovely flower or delicious snack or the soft breeze against your skin just pause for a second. Don’t be in a hurry to simply pass by, but allow yourself to absorb and take in the experience fully and then you can carry on with your work. It has only cost you an extra minute or so but you have taken the simple yet crucial step of making a positive neural deposit in your memory bank.😊