What is "Savouring?"
People have used the word "savour" for ages - usually to describe the slow consumption of an epic piece of pie/chocolate/filet mignon/what-have-you. Makes sense; the word literally means "to enjoy something to the fullest." When you savour something, you enjoy it so much that you want to make it last forever."
Savouring is to do something SLOWLY so as to make the experience last as long as possible, and enjoy it to the fullest.
It's not something that's limited to just consuming food, however. Savouring is a mental exercise (and emotional wellness strategy) that has been researched and understood from a psychological standpoint for years. Practicing it requires more intention and matters more than ever these days.
Our favourite entry in The Kindness Journal is without a doubt the "Favourite Moment of the Day."
It's pretty simple: You think back over the events of your day and pick out the most enjoyable one. It could be relishing an especially good meal... but usually it will be a particular experience you had that day. You write the experience into your journal, then sit back, close your eyes, and re-experience it in your head. This is very much a mindfulness exercise: When you savour anything, you'll want to think about utilizing all 5 of your senses to take note of what made the experience so special.
What were you actually doing? Who was there? What could you see? What did you hear? What was your body touching? What was the temperature like? If there was food involved, how did it taste? What were you thinking at the time? And most importantly, how did you feel?
Savouring is an extraordinary tool to boosting positivity and creating deeper, more lasting feelings of contentment.
Our lives are faster than ever, and it's hard to sink into the present moment. Or, an experience can be so joyful that it feels like it literally flew past us. And the positive emotions we felt quickly fade. But they don't have to.
Practicing savouring is a way to "slow the movie down" (one of my favourite expressions), recall and then capture those positive feelings... and make them last. Positive events come and go, but the feelings... your experience of them can be extended. The fact that you write the journal shortly before going to bed for the night further solidifies these positive emotions into your subconscious while you sleep.
Favourite moments do NOT have to be big moments, although those are fine too on days we have them. The entire point of The Kindness Journal is in fact to nudge us into better awareness of and gratitude for life's smaller joys. Though it can seem different after a 5 minute scroll through Instagram, everybody lives a life made mostly of highly ordinary - yet deeply meaningful - moments.
My own "Favourite Moment" entries typically involve my kids: Talking together, eating together, building forts and then tearing them apart together. My life has a lot of repetition in it with 2 boys under the age of 7, so I will consciously try to select a "Favourite Moment" that doesn't involve them once in awhile. Like aimlessly strumming my guitar (which I don't know how to play yet) on my porch in the sun; or taking a hot bath and reading something truly entertaining or inspiring.
All you need to do to develop a practice of savouring is to take a moment to reflect. You can do this through journaling, or you can simply take some time to centre your thoughts around a particularly pleasant event in your day.
Whatever way you choose, try to savour something every day. You'll soon notice the cumulative positive effect it will have on your state of mind and being.