Savoring: Training your brain to stay with what’s good
What savoring is (and why it matters)
Savoring is the skill of noticing, appreciating, and gently amplifying pleasant moments—before they happen, while they’re happening, and after they happen. It’s the “positive twin” of coping: instead of down-regulating distress, you up-regulate healthy pleasure and meaning.
Pleasant emotions don’t just feel nice; they broaden attention, creativity, and connection in the moment and, over time, help build durable resources like resilience, social bonds, and purpose (the “broaden-and-build” effect). When we practice savoring, we nudge the brain into these upward spirals.
This is extra important because of the brain’s “negativity bias”—we’re wired to register and remember threats more than positives. Savoring is a corrective practice that gently rebalances attention.
What do I savor?
Savoring is about slowing down enough to truly take in what’s pleasant in the present. It’s not about pretending everything’s fine or forcing yourself to be positive — it’s about letting your brain and body register moments of safety, connection, and meaning. By noticing and staying with what feels pleasant or peaceful, even for just a few seconds, you strengthen the pathways that help your nervous system rest, recover, and feel more balanced. Over time, this practice makes it easier to experience joy, calm, and gratitude in everyday life.
Everyday moments
Sensory pleasures: warmth of sunlight, taste of coffee, softness of a blanket, scent of clean air after rain.
Body ease: moments when the body feels grounded, comfortable, strong, or rested.
Micro-pauses: quiet before a meeting, the first deep breath after finishing a task.
Movement: the rhythm of walking, stretching, dancing, or exercising.
Why it matters: Sensory savoring strengthens interoceptive awareness and reinforces the brain’s association between safety and pleasure.
Connection and belonging
Shared laughter or mutual understanding.
Acts of kindness—given or received.
Moments of being seen or accepted.
Team flow or harmony in conversation or collaboration.
Research shows that relational savoring boosts oxytocin and attachment security, enhancing emotional regulation (Borelli et al., 2020).
Accomplishment and growth
Finishing something that matters.
Learning or insight—when something “clicks.”
Courageous moments: saying no, setting a boundary, trying again.
Personal alignment: doing something that reflects your values.
Savoring mastery helps counter perfectionism and fuels intrinsic motivation.
Awe and meaning
Beauty in nature or art.
Moments that connect you to something larger—spiritual, communal, or transcendent.
Gratitude for survival or resilience.
Simple wonder: seeing the moon, hearing a child’s laugh, watching snow fall.
Awe-savoring broadens perspective, reduces self-focus, and increases prosocial emotions (Stellar et al., 2018).
Memory and anticipation
Revisiting joyful memories—vacations, gatherings, milestones.
Looking forward to meaningful events—a dinner, project, or reunion.
Traditions or rituals that mark the passage of time.
Positive reminiscence and anticipation both light up the brain’s reward circuits and contribute to life satisfaction (Quoidbach et al., 2010).
The three time-frames of savoring
Savoring is something that can happen at several moments:
Anticipation (before): Let yourself look forward to something enjoyable—planning, picturing, and naming what you value about it.
Being present (during): Slow down and attend with your senses and values while it’s happening.
Reminiscence (after): Revisit the memory on purpose—alone or with others—to re-experience meaning and warmth.
How to savor
There are many different ways to practice savoring. Not all of them work for everyone, so it can help to try them out, see which ones work well-enough for you, and then start to practice those.
When something feels pleasant enough, pause for 10–20 seconds and name 1–2 sensations (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste). Let the body register “this is good enough, right now.”
Tell someone your good news and ask them to celebrate details with you; do the same for them. This “capitalizing” boosts closeness and well-being.
Briefly anticipate a coming joy or revisit a recent one with a sensory-rich replay; this is a named savoring strategy in the literature.
Dwell on a warm moment with someone you care about (a look, a laugh, a hand squeeze). This has emerging support and can be culturally adapted.
Silently name why this feels right (e.g., “connection,” “beauty,” “mastery”). Linking pleasure to values strengthens broaden-and-build effects.
Take a photo, write one sentence, or place a tiny memento where you’ll see it. Small “anchors” increase later reminiscence.
These moments don’t have to be grand—just genuine. With repetition, your nervous system learns that safety and joy are not fleeting; they are trainable states.
It can help to copy/paste this below and then create a reminder for you to reference it and practice during the day:
Spot it. “A good-enough moment is here.”
Stay with it (10–20 seconds). Breathe, soften shoulders, and use one savoring method above.
Name it. Label 1–2 sensations and 1 value (“warmth,” “belonging”).
Share it. Text a line or tell someone later.
Save it. One sentence in a “Savor Log” or a quick photo.
How often should I practice?
Think “little and often.” Two or three 10–20 second reps per day are enough to start shifting patterns; over weeks, repeated pleasant emotions contribute to broader, sturdier personal resources.
When savoring is hard
If you tend to downplay or “dampen” pleasant feelings (e.g., “Don’t get your hopes up”), it can make savoring feel awkward at first.
On one hand, that’s totally normal! This might be a new skill and will likely feel less awkward with practice.
On the other hand, your body and brain might have some good reasons to try and dampen pleasant feelings. This can be common when we’ve had traumatic or extremely distressing experiences. You might have thoughts like these:
“If I enjoy this, the other shoe will drop.”
Why you might have that thought: Your brain may be trying to protect you from disappointment or loss, especially if you’ve learned that good moments don’t last.
Consider this: Enjoyment doesn’t cause bad things to happen—it strengthens your ability to handle stress later. Try savoring something for 10 seconds and notice how your body feels when you let yourself enjoy it.
“It’s not a big deal.”
Why you might have that thought: Dismissing small joys can be a way to keep expectations low or avoid feeling vulnerable.
Consider this: Tiny moments of good are actually how the brain learns what to look for and remember. Paying attention to them helps your system notice safety and connection throughout the day.
“I’ll jinx it if I talk about it.”
Why you might have that thought: You might be trying to hold on tightly to something that feels good, fearing it will disappear if you name it.
Consider this: There’s no evidence that sharing joy makes it vanish—if anything, celebrating and talking about it increases your well-being and strengthens bonds with others.
And if that aren’t quite enough, and if it feels too difficult or scary to try, it might also help to understand and care for the thoughts, body sensations, and/or emotions your brain is activating about savoring.
Putting It All Together
Savoring invites you to slow down and be present to the pleasant in the here-and-now.
Each time you pause to feel a moment of ease, connection, or beauty, you’re giving your brain evidence that safety exists in the present.
With practice, those moments begin to compound so that over time, your system starts to trust that calm isn’t fleeting, that joy is possible alongside pain, and that life still offers small places to rest.
You don’t have to force gratitude or search for silver linings. Just notice what already feels steady, meaningful, or kind, and stay with it for a few breaths. Over time, this simple habit reshapes how your mind filters the world, making room for balance, resilience, and a deeper sense of peace.
