18. Savoring: The Happiness of Looking Back

Episode 18: Savoring – How to Make Happiness Last Longer

Hi and welcome back to the blog version of the Redefining Happiness Podcast. I’m Karen Castillo, and today we’re wrapping up our three-part series on stretching happiness across time.

So far, we’ve talked about anticipation, how to enjoy something before it happens, and presence, how to be fully in the moment while it’s happening. Today, we’re talking about what comes after: reflective savoring.

Reflective savoring is how we keep good moments alive after they’re over. It’s a way of holding onto the feelings so they can lift us up again later.

What Savoring Really Means

Savoring is just noticing and appreciating the good in an experience. It’s not about clinging to the past or wishing it were still happening. It’s about remembering it in a way that brings some of those feelings back, so it becomes part of your ongoing story.

Psychologist Fred Bryant, who’s spent decades researching this topic, found that people who actively savor the good things in their lives report more happiness, stronger relationships, more gratitude, and greater optimism about the future. They also tend to feel more satisfied with life overall and show fewer signs of depression.

His research also shows that savoring isn’t limited to a certain type of experience. People can savor everything from major life events to something as small as a nice walk. It’s really the act of paying attention, appreciating, and even sharing the experience that makes it stick.

Why Savoring Matters

Bryant’s research also shows that when you savor, your brain reactivates some of the same neural pathways that lit up during the actual event. In other words, you’re not just remembering, you’re re-experiencing the enjoyment.

Savoring also balances our brain’s natural tendency to give more weight to negative experiences or what’s called our negativity bias. Without savoring, the good moments tend to fade quickly into the background, and you may end up remembering the not so great parts, like the trouble you had finding parking or the dumb thing you wish you hadn’t said. But with savoring, you’re essentially choosing the good parts and telling your brain, This is important. Hold onto this.

Savoring Before, During, and After

It’s savoring that connects the three parts of this series and it can happen at different points in time:

1. Anticipatory savoring – is imagining and looking forward to something, which builds excitement before the moment.
2. Present-moment savoring – is fully taking in the moment while it’s happening, helping you live it fully.
3. Reflective savoring – what we’re talking about today is revisiting a memory afterward so that you can enjoy it again.

How Savoring Works in Real Life

Let’s go back to our dinner with friends example.

With anticipation, you get to enjoy that dinner before it even happens, thinking about it days in advance, planning for it, talking about it, looking forward to the conversation and the food.

With presence, you make sure that when Friday night comes, you’re actually there for it. You’re not distracted by your phone or thinking about tomorrow. You’re enjoying the laughter, the flavors, the atmosphere.

And then comes savoring. Maybe the next day you smile thinking about something funny someone said. You share a story from the night with another friend. You look at a photo someone posted. You remember the fun you had at that table, and you feel it again. That’s savoring, stretching the happiness from one evening into the days after.

How to Build Savoring Into Your Life

And practicing savoring is as simple as that. It doesn’t take a lot of effort.

• Talk about it. Retell the story to someone else or rehash the good parts with someone that was there.
• Write it down. Keep a journal of good moments, no matter how small.
• Look at reminders. Like photos, mementos, or souvenirs can bring the feeling back.
• Add gratitude. Take a few moments to lean into how grateful you are for the experience, the people, the good food, whatever part feels the most important to you

Even taking ten extra seconds during a good moment to pause and notice how it feels can make a difference.

This Week’s Happiness Challenge: The Savoring Snapshot

Hopefully you put some time into being fully present last week. This week work on looking back and reflecting on some of the best moments. The fun ones, the cozy ones, the fulfilling ones, whatever moments made you feel like you were living a good life.

Try different ways of savoring them. Share them, write them down, replay the in your mind. See which ways feel right for you.

I hope that it leads to a new happiness habit in your life.

I’ve put together a simple workbook about this series to help keep the what, how, and why fresh in your mind and help you make the practice into a habit. You’ll find it in the FREE Resources Hub along with all of the other bonuses. Just click on the link below to sign up.

Bringing It All Together

When you combine savoring with anticipation, presence, and reflection, you stretch happiness across time. You get to enjoy a moment before it happens, while it’s happening, and long after it’s over.

That Friday night dinner with friends isn’t just a two-hour event anymore. It’s something you enjoy for days beforehand, fully live while it’s happening, and carry with you into the week that follows. One night turns into a week of happiness, all without changing anything except the way you engage with it.

That’s the power of stretching happiness across time. You don’t need more events, more stuff, or a different life. You just need to notice the good, be present for it, and give yourself permission to enjoy it again.

Thanks for joining me for this series. I hope it helps you to get more out of the beautiful moments you already have in your life.

I’ll see you next time.

😚🎶🪕