Spice Up Your Relationship with Fun and Savoring
Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
Hey lovebirds! Ready to kick boredom and dull routines to the curb? Let’s jazz up your relationship with two delightful psychological techniques: behavioral activation and savoring.
Think of these as the secret sauce to make your daily grind a whole lot tastier!
Picture this: instead of sinking into the sofa every evening, you and your partner dive into a pool of fun activities and then relive the joy like it's a favorite movie.
Sounds awesome, right? That’s what behavioral activation and savoring can do for you.
Activate and Savour: Your New Relationship Mantra
Behavioral activation is all about listing fun stuff to do and actually doing it. Savouring is the sweet cherry on top—remembering and relishing those good times together.
Let’s talk science! A study found that combining these two techniques helped students who were feeling blah (aka experiencing anhedonia) to feel happier. Half of the participants followed this dynamic duo of therapies, while the other half did some emotional navel-gazing (monitoring their moods). Spoiler alert: the fun-doers and joy-savorers came out way happier!
Professor Alicia E. Meuret, a study co-author, spills the beans: “Behavioral activation has been around for decades and used to treat depression. What’s new is the focus on improving positivity instead of reducing negative feelings. Adding savoring further pushes people to pay attention to what is in these enjoyable activities that make them feel better.”
Now, let’s get into 5 fun and quirky interventions to spice up your love life and banish the boredom!
1. The Daily Fun Hunt
Intervention: Each partner lists three fun activities to do together every day.
Purpose: To turn your everyday life into a mini-adventure!
Implementation: Pick from the list and dive into fun! Whether it's a goofy dance-off or cooking a new recipe together, make it count.
2. The Savoring Scrapbook
Intervention: Keep a scrapbook or journal of your fun times.
Purpose: To remember and giggle over those happy moments.
Implementation: After each fun activity, jot down what made it awesome. Add doodles, ticket stubs, or photos for extra pizzazz.
3. The Weekly Fun-Spective
Intervention: Have a weekly meeting to chat about your favorite fun moments.
Purpose: To keep those good vibes rolling and plan more fun!
Implementation: Sit down with a glass of wine or a cup of tea, and share what you loved most. Plan new activities based on what tickled your fancy.
4. Mood Swing Chronicles
Intervention: Track your moods together.
Purpose: To become mood detectives and see how fun activities brighten your days.
Implementation: Use a shared journal or an app to note down your moods. Discuss how those silly or sweet moments uplifted you.
5. Future Fun Blueprint
Intervention: Plan future adventures based on past fun.
Purpose: To always have something exciting to look forward to.
Implementation: Look back at your scrapbook and pick out the hits. Plan similar activities and keep the excitement alive!
Dr. Divya Kumar, the study’s first author, says, “[Behavioral activation plus savoring] could help students feel better as a stand-alone strategy or while they wait for traditional treatment. Because there are challenges in accessibility to mental health care, finding ways to provide brief and online therapy interventions continues to gain momentum, especially if those methods are targeting positive emotions as well as negative ones.”
So there you have it! With these fun and savoring techniques, you can turn your relationship from “meh” to “hell yeah!” Dive into the joy, savor the moments, and keep the love alive and kicking!
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
RESEARCH:
Kumar, D., Corner, S., Kim, R., & Meuret, A. (2024). A randomized controlled trial of brief behavioral activation plus savoring for positive affect dysregulation in university students. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 177, 104525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104525
