Joy Snacking is a basic concept from the mindfulness tradition in buddhism. It asks people to focus on small moments that feel “ good” or “joyful.” These small moments of pausing and seeking joy through the day increase life satisfaction and bring people into more “present moment awareness” which means to be more aware and connected with ourselves and our lives bs tuned out or in our heads.

In this highly competitive world, we find ourselves constantly looking for more. In this search elsewhere, we might struggle to find joy in experiences that are present in front of us. We may become neglectful of the joys that are surrounding us. Joy snacking has been defined as the idea that finding and savouring everyday routine and mundane experiences is sustainable to cultivate a happy life. These experiences can be as simple as looking up at the clouds and smiling to yourself, playing with your puppies, finding the sun on a cold winter morning or smelling flowers as you walk through a garden. These little nuggets of joy may help people go beyond the expectations of grand gestures and bigger experiences. It is essential that we enjoy the little things in life, because one day, we’ll look back and realise that these were the big things.

Positive psychology has done extensive research on training focus. When we cultivate the capacity to be more aware and out of our heads our quality of live improves. Even in the toughest of depression, people still have tiny moments of feel good emotions. By training the brain to start focusing on it, we can retrain the nervous system to detect and respond to feel good emotions. A system that gets damaged by trauma.

Read the full story that first appeared in Deccan Chronicle dated June 8, 2023 here:

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