How To 'Savour' Happiness

I found my recipe for happiness, and here’s how you can too.

Happiness to me is a bright shade of yellow: think sunflowers, warm summer mornings and my mum’s homemade masoor dal with piyaj.

I often wonder, do I elude happiness or does happiness elude me?  If you ask for my two cents, I’d tell you that happiness is an evolving concept and a product of subjectivity, upbringing, parenting, lifestyle choices and so many more factors, often out of our control.

Growing up, I believed I was a happy kid. But the more I learned about what happiness means and how it is a skill rather than an innate emotion, I learned to introspect my life better, and curate the perfect recipe for my happiness!

I often begin my days with a simple question: How am I feeling today? I decipher my emotions with a range of colours. Happiness to me is a bright shade of yellow: think sunflowers, warm summer mornings, and my Bengali mum’s homemade masoor dal with piyaj. When I feel slightly heavier or plagued with negative emotions, my feelings turn colourless – dark and cloudy. It isn't easy to shake off these feelings for most parts. But I believe there must be a way out that I wasn’t able to discover by myself.

Something stirred within me when I attended a 60-minute session on the 'Pursuit of Happiness' in one of the Mental Wellness sessions by Nova Benefits. Psychologist extraordinaire and hardcore empath, Debasmita Sinha, explained, “As humans, we are designed to watch and learn. Hence, it becomes imperative to be surrounded by people who 'choose' happiness, even on a grey day. It is a myth that the natural state of humans is “happy”. Instead, happiness is a state of mind. Something you have to learn and practice, every day!” And THAT - blew my mind.

How to ‘savour’ happiness?

When you look for answers hard enough, they come to you in good time. During the session, we took ourselves through the process of 'savouring' happiness. We thought of our favourite moments till we could almost taste the joy we had felt at the time. While we sizzled in the glory of nostalgic moments, we reminded ourselves of how a 'sense' of happiness captivated us, and we thawed in it. As we relished the emotions collectively, I became a lot more mindful of how my thoughts and body began to genuinely savour the bright moments of my life. A sense of calm washed me over, and I knew I had found my recipe for happiness. I was grateful for my state of mind, with pleasant memories grounding me.

This short but intimate and impactful activity tugged at issues I have long overlooked, while equipping me with the armour I needed to keep my mind healthy and body happy.

To everyone reading: The 'Pursuit Of Happiness' offered me the ultimate science and art of happiness.

In Dr Laurie Santos words, we can relive the sense of happiness by:

• Savouring: Reliving and revelling in the memories and moments that bring a sense of happiness, and amplify the experience
• Mindfulness: Being in the present moment and indulging all your senses in a certain act
• Gratitude: Be thankful for the life you have, and it’s little wins and losses
• Altruism: Selfless act of kindness for someone else’s happiness

I have discovered the recipe for my happiness, and I think you can find yours too. Unveil the best of your being by taking your first steps in the right direction. Register here: Nova Wellness Sessions