Amplifying Pleasure

Some say that the pursuit of happiness through pleasure is futile, that pleasures are too fleeting.  But, although pleasure alone is not enough to be happy, filling life with pleasure is an important part of increasing happiness, according to the happiness research described in Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment

In the chapter on pleasures, the author, Martin Seligman, describes a variety of ways to amplify your pleasures.  Now, first, let's get something over with:  this website is rated PG or, at worst, PG-13, but, reader, I know where your mind is going.  Yes, the author's recommendations apply to sex.  But he points out that they apply to enhancing any pleasure from high intensity sexual ecstasy to low intensity comfort of a warm blanket and a puppy in your lap.

Seligman's first suggestion is to avoid habituation.  Habituation occurs when you get too much of a good thing:  indulge in a pleasure, but allow some time to pass before indulging again so that it still feel fresh.  So sip that wine.  Pause.  Then sip again.

Second, learn to savor your pleasures.  Seligman quotes researchers Fred Bryant and Joseph Veroff of Loyola University who define savoring as "the awareness of pleasure and of the deliberate conscious attention to the experience of pleasure."  These researchers talk about four types of savoring:  basking (in praise or pride), thanksgiving, marveling, and luxuriating.  They suggest 5 techniques to enhance savoring:

1. Share with others
2. Build memories (photos, souvenirs, or just mental images you can go back to)
3. Self-congratulation if your pleasure involves an accomplishment
4. Sharpen your perception of the pleasure; slow down to fully experience the sensations
5. Absorption--focus totally on the experience, avoiding thoughts on anything else

Finally, Seligman talks about cultivating mindfulness.  Mindfulness involves being able to focus on the present moment.  This constant awareness sharpens the senses so that, when indulging in any pleasure, the pleasure will be that much deeper.  Cultivating mindfulness is especially key to me because it is one of the main goals of Buddhism.  When Buddhists sit down to meditate, it is largely so that they are more awake when they stand back up.