Be Here Now: Seek, Soak, Savor
The 16th-century poet Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585) once wrote, "And since what comes tomorrow who can say . . . live, pluck the roses of the world today."
From a sudden storm to a global pandemic, life is full of reminders that the world can change at any moment. Even though we live in an intensified environment of uncertainty, there are various emotional regulation and coping strategies that we can use to minimize the adverse side effects of living with varying levels of uncertainty. One such coping strategy is savoring.
Savoring is a form of emotional regulation that involves intentionally creating positive emotions. Simple acts of savoring ordinary moments can bring about positive emotions such as gratitude, joy, appreciation, and love. Numerous studies have documented the benefits of savoring on well-being and health outcomes (Smith and Bryant, 2017). The benefits from savoring are primarily associated with better health through multiple pathways, such as counteracting the harmful inflammatory effects of stress (Steller et al., 2015).
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The idea of savoring as a coping strategy comes from several areas of research. First, economic theory suggests that we prioritize immediate rewards when future rewards are uncertain (Maner et al., 2017). For example, you may be familiar with the classic research called the "marshmallow paradigm," where individuals face a choice between an immediate reward and a larger but delayed reward (Kidd et al., 2013). In these experiments, children in uncertain situations chose to eat the marshmallow earlier than children who had more definite information about what they would receive if they did not eat the marshmallow right away.
Another area of research suggests that when we perceive endings, we increase our savoring of the present. For example, when we realize that we only have two more days of vacation left, we value our experiences more. Or, when we are considering moving away from our hometown, we value our friends more.
The third area of research shows that when faced with uncertainty, we can manage uncertainty by focusing on secure and pleasant experiences (Gregory et al., 2021). For example, we can look for concrete positive experiences such as relying on loved ones or treasured friends (Keefer et al., 2012) to restore a sense of coherence and order.
According to emotional regulation theory, savoring involves this process:
Step One: Seek
Identify positive experiences in your everyday activities.
Make a conscious decision to change a negative view of a situation to a positive one.
When you look for the good in a situation, you rewire your brain to move towards positivity in the future.
Step Two: Soak
Once you have identified a positive experience and allowed yourself to take in that experience, really let it soak in.
Imagine or feel that positive experience sinking deep within you, like the sun's warmth enfolding you like a warm blanket.
Allow your body to relax as you absorb the emotions, sensations, and thoughts of a good experience.
Keep in mind that your experience matters beyond its momentary, subjective impact.
Your experiences and thoughts can create enduring changes in your brain's physical tissues (Davidson and McEwen, 2012).
Step Three: Savor
Hold it in your mind's eye.
Bring the memory of your positive experience into your awareness. Sharpen the focus of your mind's eye to let the memory affect you.
Make it last by staying with it for 5, 10, or 20 seconds. Notice where your attention is going. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to this experience.
The longer something is held in awareness, the more emotionally stimulating it is. As more neurons fire, the memory becomes stronger, and your tendency to move towards the positive is also enhanced.
Focus on your emotions and body sensations.
Let the experience fill your body and be as intense as possible. For example, if someone is kind to you, let the feeling of being cared about bring warmth to your heart.
You can intensify this experience by deliberately enriching it. If you are savoring a relationship experience, you could call up other feelings of being loved by others. This stimulates oxytocin, the bonding hormone, and deepens your sense of connection.
As COVID-19 cases wane and spike, people's lives feel upended. Savoring offers a simple way to manage this disruption in our lives. This scientifically proven strategy can be incorporated into almost any routine activity, such as walks, preparing and eating meals, or engaging in hobbies.
References
Gregory, A. L., Quoidbach, J., Haase, C. M., & Piff, P. K. (2021). Be here now: Perceptions of uncertainty enhance savoring. Emotion.
Keefer, L. A., Landau, M. J., Rothschild, Z. K., & Sullivan, D. (2012). Attachment to objects as compensation for close others' perceived unreliability. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(4), 912–917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.02.007
Kidd, C., Palmeri, H., & Aslin, R. N. (2013). Rational snacking: Young children's decision-making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability. Cognition, 126(1), 109–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.08.004
Maner, J. K., Dittmann, A., Meltzer, A. L., & McNulty, J. K. (2017). Implications of life-history strategies for obesity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(32), 8517–8522. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620482114
Smith, J. L., & Bryant, F. B. (2019). Enhancing positive perceptions of aging by savoring life lessons. Aging & Mental Health, 23(6), 762–770.
Stellar, J. E., John-Henderson, N., Anderson, C. L., Gordon, A. M., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D. (2015). Positive affect and markers of inflammation: Discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines. Emotion, 15(2), 129–133. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000033