WEEK 31- Savouring the moment

Equipment Required
N/A

PERMAH Element
Engagement and Positive emotion


Teachers to read and facilitate the following:

 

Rationale

If we savour an experience, we enjoy it as much as we can. It is like swishing the experience around… in your mind (Bryant, 2006). When we slow down to notice and appreciate the good things we are experiencing, we can increase our happiness and our wellbeing (Seligman, 2002). To savour something we need to pay attention and enjoy what we are experiencing. We allow ourselves to get totally immersed in it, using all of our senses. Savouring intensifies and extends the positive experience. If we eat something delicious and don’t savour it, we sometimes miss out on the enjoyment of it. We can savour things in the present moment, things that have happened in the past, or things we are looking forward to in the future. Being able to tune in and use our senses to savour things, allows us to fully experience and enjoy the good things that life has to offer. By deliberately prolonging the positive experiences in our lives with savouring (through reliving, enjoying the moment and looking forward to the future), we can enjoy the benefits of greater happiness and boosted wellbeing in the short and long term (Byrant, 2006).


Description of Personal Wellbeing Practice: Savouring the moment

  1. Find something to savour right now in the present moment. Use your senses to find something that you are experiencing now that is enjoyable. It might be the sound of a bird outside, an object in the room that you are interested in, the feeling of your hands resting in your lap, the sunshine or breeze coming in through a window or just relaxing and sitting quietly. Nothing else is required of you right now except to notice something and appreciate it.

  2. Your challenge is to notice something (which can be large or small) and transform it into something even better by becoming fully immersed in it. Notice, pay attention and appreciate what you are experiencing right now. We will be silent for one minute and savour.

  3. For further savouring delights commit to savouring one other experience today. It can be an enjoyable meal, a run or walk in nature, washing your hands, listening to your favourite music, or a conversation with one of your favourite people. All you need to do is slow down, notice, appreciate and enjoy.


Main message:

“Ultimately, time is all you have, and the idea isn’t to save it, but to savour it.” — Ellen Goodman


 

UPP’s Personal Wellbeing Practices

A Personal Wellbeing Practice (PWP) is an evidenced-based positive psychology intervention, applied in school communities or other educational settings. At UPP, we have tried to make these PWP’s simple, concise and relevant for students and their teachers. The six elements for the Personal Wellbeing Practices are: Positive emotion (P); Engagement (E); Relationships (R); Meaning (M); Accomplishment (A); and, Health (H).


We hope that these evidence-based tools of positive psychology will enhance help people to thrive and live their best life, both within and beyond the school gates.  

For more activities like this (and much more), check out THRIVE Online Lesson Modules for Pastoral Care and Wellbeing.

Unleashing Personal Potential