How To Savor The Moment

Studies have found that savoring increases resilience, well-being, optimism, and the quality of one’s relationships.

Your attention is one of the most important factors for your overall happiness: what you pay attention to shapes your life and your well-being.

Think of your attention like a flashlight. You can move it around the room and focus it on specific things, but it can only illuminate a very narrow part of the world at once.

But our brains are not very good at staying in the present moment. They also have a negativity bias, constantly looking for threats and problems, anticipating where things can go wrong, and ruminating on the past. That’s why it is so helpful to learn how to take control of our flashlight and point it at the present moment, and then, to allow ourselves to see the good that exists there, and savor it.

Today, try taking control of your flashlight and pointing it at the moment that you’re already in — here’s how:

• At least once today, pause whatever you’re doing.

• Notice what your flashlight is illuminating at that moment.

• Consciously move your flashlight to something around that you that is positive, beautiful, or good.

• Keep the flashlight on it for at least 10-20 seconds. Allow yourself to really appreciate it, acknowledge how good it feels, and soak it in.

• What do you notice? How does it feel?