Our August focus is ‘Savor the Moment’, let’s work to hone this skill together!!!
Learning to appreciate all of the small moments in life is a convenient, free, and effective way to increase your happiness and overall quality of life. Dedicating time to savor every ounce of joy in little and large yet mundane pleasures in a day is also an extremely effective way to reduce stress. Enjoying what you have or where you are at each moment will no doubt help you heighten gratitude with respect to all of the gifts surrounding you versus amplifying the tendency to lament what you or your life seems to lack.
There are many simple ways to support you with this:
- Intentionally focus on the positive aspects of an experience. This gives you an opportunity to truly notice the sensations, perceptions, emotions and thoughts that are linked to the particular moment. This action, by design, makes whatever moment you are in a much richer and more fulfilling experience. Notice and memorize the details – especially the positive ones! Take note of the sensory detail, for instance, the music you’re listening to, or what the breeze FEELS like on your face, even how sharp or subtle the aromas are of the food you have in front of you. This helps cement a memory of what you’re experiencing and supports you in remaining fully in the moment.
- Be present. Sometimes we go through life and forget to stop and enjoy the little things. We spend our time ruminating about the past or spinning on our anxiety about the future. We can all relate how this process takes away our ability to notice the pleasant things that are happening in the Now. Noticing little, positive things, like the smile on your friend’s face, the kindness of a stranger or the beauty of a sunset helps you seize the moment so that you don’t miss out on important small or large experiences. It forces you to place significance upon showing up for a finite amount of minutes and even seconds in your life. I personally am impacted by the act of staying present with my loved ones. This is because being able to savor the moments with those around you instills a stronger sense of connection and deepens relationships. The benefits to all become a powerful and positive ripple effect.
- Focus on the positive. Positive thinking isn’t the same thing as pretending to be happy when you’re not. Even when things are hard in life there is still beauty, joy and support all around us. Intentionally deciding to place our focus on these things leads to greater happiness and reduced stress.
- Do what you enjoy. Find time every day to do something that makes you happy and that fills you up, even if it’s a little thing. There are many tasks we HAVE to do each day that we may not enjoy. This is why carving time out of each day to participate in something that you thoroughly love to do is an expression of self love that fills you up for the times when you have to do the other chores. It can be as simple as taking a walk in nature, playing with your dog or cooking your favorite meal. It doesn’t have to be time consuming, it just needs to make you feel good for the time you’re doing it.
- Express gratitude. When you can look around you and actively express gratitude for what you do have it has the power to make your life so much more positive. Gratitude journals are amazing tools to support you in the practice of taking inventory about what you are thankful for each day. Additionally it serves as a resource for you to look back to during the days when you find it more difficult to be in that mental space. Think simple! For instance, I am grateful for my ability to breathe, for these cozy sheets or for the fact that I can hear my kids’ laughter right at this moment.
- Mindful eating. One of the best ways to savor a moment is to enjoy the food you fuel your body with each day. Choose things with great flavor that make your body feel amazing. Prepare it. Sit down and appreciate it at a table versus in front of a television or computer. Savor the smell, the taste and then take the time to be present with your meal. This practice of mindful eating wakes up the part of your mind that helps you hone your ability to tune into the messages your body sends you about WHEN it has been adequately nourished. Afterwards comes the moment where you can truly savor the feeling of physical satisfaction and satiation around the food you consumed. Be present with those that you are eating with and make eating a positive experience versus just something you just have to do several times a day to keep going.
There are only a few weeks left of summer, so let’s encourage one another to savor the remaining days by practicing, together, some of these options. I would love to hear any tips or tricks you have.
Here’s to nurturing ourselves, mind, body and soul!
You inspire me!
Love,
Jill