DO YOU WANT TO FEEL HAPPIER?

Research shows snacking on simple joy — the kind that comes in small bites — works wonders, Richard Sima writes.

Here's an antidote to an ever-stressful, busy and uncertain world. Try finding and savouring little bites of joy in your day. I call them “joy” snacks. By mindfully tuning into the pleasant, nice and sometimes routine experiences of every day, we can transform an otherwise mundane moment into something more meaningful and even joyful.

Lunch with a co-worker. Walking the dog. Texting with a friend. Watching a favourite show. Eating a favourite meal. Calling your mom. Just hanging out.

New research shows that finding and savouring these nuggets of joy can be a way of consistently cultivating a good, meaningful life. “It's not these big things that we sort of create in our heads, but these smaller day-to-day experiences that bring us meaning,” said Joshua Hicks, psychologist at Texas A&M University's Existential Psychology Collaboratory.

UNDERSTANDING

THE SCIENCE OF JOY

Recent research suggests joy is a distinct positive emotion for “when we feel connected, or reunited with something or someone that's really important to us,” said Philip Watkins, a psychologist who studies joy, gratitude and happiness at Eastern Washington University.

Watkins's research finds that feeling joy is strongly associated with subjective well-being, essential for human flourishing.

Big events like weddings or reunions are well-known smorgasbords for joy. But smaller bites of joy in everyday life matter, too, and are easier to attain if we don't overlook them.

We derive meaning in life from three key factors — feeling like our life makes sense, having a purpose driven by goals we care about and feeling like our lives matter.

A February study published in Nature Human Behavior involving more than 3,000 participants across several experiments reported that valuing one's life experiences, or experiential appreciation, is another potent way of making life feel more meaningful.

When asked by researchers to recount their most meaningful experience that occurred in the past week, for most people, it was something simpler and more mundane that stood out, such as having an enjoyable conversation or being surrounded by nature.

“It's not just about you creating meaning in your head,” said Hicks, who co-wrote the study. “It's about detecting meaning that's already out there.”

Snacking on joy can go beyond focusing on our own experiences. Sharing our joy snacks also helps foster even stronger bonds with those we care about. Couples who celebrate small things regularly — not just the anniversaries — have stronger and happier partnerships.

There is also joy to be had when you take the time to reconnect with yourself. Small acts of self-care and setting aside time for simple pleasures and celebrations can be emotional nourishment you gift to yourself.

FIND MORE JOY SNACKS

Joy is a mindset and something we can orient toward by being on the lookout for it.

“You can't produce joy, but you can prepare for it,” Watkins said.

Researchers are studying how people can become more receptive to joyful moments. Taking time each day to recount past episodes of joy may be one way to increase your predisposition for joy in the future, though more work is needed on how best to develop a “lifestyle of joy,” Watkins said. Cultivating gratitude is another way of cultivating joy. In one study, Watkins and colleagues found the more grateful a person is, the more likely they were to feel joy in the future. Also, the more predisposed to joy someone is, the more likely they would feel gratitude.

“Joy and gratitude kind of feed on each other,” Watkins said.

“We call it a cycle of virtue.”

Gratitude interventions, such as writing down the things we felt grateful for during the day, have been found to improve mood and may foster more gratitude.

Don't fall prey to what some psychologists have called “killjoy thinking,” which actively inhibits enjoyment by neutralizing positive moods — such as watching a beautiful sunset with a loved one but only focusing on how cold it's about to get.

“If you're not able to see the good in your life, you're always overwhelmed by the bad in your life, you're probably not going to prepare yourself for experiencing joy,” Watkins said.

One way to increase joy is to try savouring, which means mindfully paying attention, appreciating and accentuating positive experiences.

That cup of coffee. The cuddliness of your pet. A joke whose punchline hits just right.

Focusing on the sensations and emotions you feel in these moments can make the joy snack all the richer.

It can take practice, but “once you learn to slow down and pay attention to those things, put more weight on those things, your life feels more fulfilled and more meaningful,” Hicks said.

Nature is one powerful source of joy snacks, in part because of its power of inducing awe.

Hicks and his colleagues found that just having participants watch the two-minute opener to the nature documentary Planet Earth produced appreciation for the experience and, in turn, a greater sense of meaning.

“Nature is all around us, but it's very easy to ignore it and downplay it,” Hicks said.

Sometimes taking a walk in the park and smelling the roses — by yourself or with others — is simply all you need to do to find some everyday joy.

“No matter who you are, no matter where you are in life, there's something out there that can bring you joy and happiness,” Hicks said.

So, what is your joy snack this week?

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK PHOTOS When researchers asked people to recount the most meaningful experience they'd had in the last week, most recalled something seemingly simple, such as having ice cream with a child.