Intro
In this episode of the Hidden Brain Podcast, titled “You 2.0: Slow Down!”, host Shankar Vedantam explores the universal human struggle of slowing down and savoring life. He delves into how our fast-paced lifestyles and high expectations often hinder us from fully experiencing and appreciating the positive moments in our lives. Through interviews with experts and personal anecdotes, Vedantam uncovers the importance of savoring and provides strategies to combat the hedonic treadmill and find joy in the present moment.
Main Takeaways
The Importance of Savoring
- The enduring popularity of the song “Cats in the Cradle” reflects how we often take the most meaningful parts of our lives for granted.
- Philosophical and spiritual traditions counsel people to express gratitude for the good things in their lives and to engage fully with the present.
- Loyola University Chicago psychologist Fred Bryant studies this universal human conundrum and what we can do about it.
- Many of us struggle to slow down and savor life, even when we want to be present in the moment.
- Even when we set aside time to relax and enjoy life, we can still find ourselves unable to let go and immerse ourselves in the moment.
The Planner’s Dilemma
- The speaker is always the planner on mountain climbing expeditions with friends.
- Planning includes equipment, supplies, itinerary, hotel reservations, rental car, and weather concerns.
- The speaker prioritizes staying on schedule over spontaneous enjoyment of the moment, which causes tension with friends.
- The speaker realizes they missed out on truly appreciating the achievements due to their focus on the itinerary.
The Negativity Bias
- We tend to focus on negative aspects of life, even though we say we want to be happy.
- Evolution has wired us to prioritize avoiding danger and threats over seeking pleasure and happiness.
- Sorrows hunt for us, joys require us to hunt for them.
- Negative information is processed more rapidly than positive.
- We need to actively prioritize and manage positive feelings in our lives.
Savoring and the Hedonic Treadmill
- Coping with adversity and finding joy are separate sets of skills.
- Coping strategies that work for adversity can kill joy.
- Savoring involves being aware of one’s own mental and emotional states, and being mindful of positive experiences.
- The human system is wired to adapt to pleasurable stimuli, which can lead to a decrease in sensitivity over time.
- The hedonic treadmill is a universal phenomenon where we get used to things that bring us joy, and even get bored with them.
- Savoring can affect the hedonic treadmill by allowing us to appreciate and fully experience positive experiences.
- We can combat the hedonic treadmill by being mindful and attentive to positive experiences, and actively savoring them.
Strategies for Savoring
- We get used to anything when we’re surrounded by it, and only really appreciate it when it’s gone.
- Slowing down and savoring positive experiences is key to combatting the hedonic treadmill.
- Savoring strategies include slowing down, stretching out experiences, and being mindful and deliberate.
- Speed and impatience are the enemies of enjoyment, while lingering is the secret.
- Engaging in savoring results in stronger positive emotions and can uplift our trajectory over time.
- Savoring is crucial in finding joy in positive moments, especially when positive moments are scarce.
- Savoring interventions can help reduce symptoms of depression and improve overall mental health.
- Strong savoring skills can protect against depression and improve coping with chronic illnesses.
The Art of Savoring
- Rushed lifestyles and high expectations can hinder savoring and enjoyment of positive experiences.
- Focusing on what falls short rather than what is great can lead to killjoy thinking and dissatisfaction with positive experiences.
- Killjoy thoughts can short circuit enjoyment of positive experiences.
- Self-evaluation of positive feelings can lead to lower levels of enjoyment.
- Savoring requires being aware of positive feelings, but too much evaluation can take away from enjoyment.
- Savoring can bring happiness, shield from depression, and increase resilience.
- Becoming aware of the different shades of savoring can lead to a richer and more satisfying life.
- Savoring can involve mental time travel and both perspective and retrospective savoring.
- Anticipating, finding, celebrating, and remembering are all part of savoring.
- Savoring involves exploring and discovering new things.
- Sharing savoring experiences with others can magnify the joy.
- Savoring experiences can bring joy and happiness to life.
- Focusing on the positive aspects of an experience can help combat the mind’s tendency to focus on the negative.
- Looking back on experiences can often make them seem better than they were in the moment.
- Women tend to be better at savoring and building positive memories than men, who often suppress their feelings.
- Savoring is not just reliving the exact feelings of an experience, but also relishing the way it feels to remember it.
- Savoring can be outward-focused or inward-focused.
- World-focused savoring comes from outside and creates feelings inside.
- Self-focused savoring is about savoring the feelings inside us.
- Gratitude is an engine for savoring as it helps us recognize external gifts.
- Having many experiences of savoring is more important than intense experiences.
- Small and little things in life count more than one big celebration.
- Joe Verov’s strategy to extract the most pleasure from reading letters from his grown children involved writing chain letters.
- The chain letters involved sending his letter to one of his five children, who would then write their own letter and enclose it with Joe’s letter and send it to another sibling.
- This would continue until the last letter came back to Joe, giving him five letters in addition to his original one.
- Joe loved reading these letters slowly and deliberately, feeling like his family was gathered in the room around him.
- This creative way of savoring life together is more lasting than a phone call or email and something Joe cherished, possibly passing it along to his children after he died.
Summary
The Importance of Savoring
The enduring popularity of the song “Cats in the Cradle” serves as a reminder that we often take the most meaningful parts of our lives for granted. Philosophical and spiritual traditions encourage gratitude and full engagement with the present. Loyola University Chicago psychologist Fred Bryant explores this universal human struggle and offers insights on how we can slow down and savor life.
The Planner’s Dilemma
Personal anecdotes illustrate the tension between staying on schedule and spontaneous enjoyment of the moment. The speaker’s focus on planning and itinerary caused them to miss out on truly appreciating their achievements. This dilemma highlights the challenge of balancing structure and presence in our lives.
The Negativity Bias
Despite our desire for happiness, we tend to focus on negative aspects of life. Evolution has wired us to prioritize avoiding danger and threats over seeking pleasure and happiness. Recognizing this bias and actively managing positive feelings can help us shift our focus towards joy and gratitude.
Savoring and the Hedonic Treadmill
Coping with adversity and finding joy require separate sets of skills. Strategies that work for coping with adversity can unintentionally dampen our ability to savor positive experiences. Savoring involves being mindful and aware of our mental and emotional states, allowing us to fully appreciate and experience positive moments. By actively savoring, we can combat the hedonic treadmill and derive more long-lasting satisfaction from positive experiences.
Strategies for Savoring
Slowing down, stretching out experiences, and being mindful and deliberate are key strategies for savoring. Speed and impatience hinder enjoyment, while intentionally lingering in positive moments can amplify positive emotions. Savoring interventions have been shown to reduce symptoms of depression and improve overall mental health. Developing strong savoring skills can protect against depression and enhance coping with chronic illnesses.
The Art of Savoring
Rushed lifestyles and high expectations can hinder our ability to savor and enjoy positive experiences. Focusing on what falls short rather than what is great can lead to dissatisfaction and killjoy thinking. Self-evaluation of positive feelings can also diminish enjoyment. Savoring involves exploring different shades of savoring, such as perspective and retrospective savoring. Anticipating, finding, celebrating, and remembering are all part of the savoring process. Sharing savoring experiences with others can amplify joy and happiness.
Conclusion
In a world filled with distractions and fast-paced living, it is essential to slow down and savor the positive moments in life. By actively practicing savoring, we can combat the hedonic treadmill, find joy in the present moment, and enhance our overall well-being. Whether it’s appreciating the little things, relishing memories, or sharing experiences with loved ones, savoring can bring lasting happiness and fulfillment to our lives.
