Urban life offers many pleasures. Whether it's good food, cultural experiences, or something as simple as rest after a busy day's work, it's easy to find small moments of pleasure in daily life. The difficulty with pleasure is that it quickly fades. It's highly enjoyable at first but, as we adapt to what we are doing, the pleasure we can extract from that same moment starts to diminish. In order to keep experiencing the pleasant feelings, we need more. More delicious food, more cultural events and more new experiences. This is something psychologists refer to as the hedonic treadmill; in order to keep feeling good we end up running on the treadmill of more.
In the context of wellbeing research, scientists have explored the idea of how to extend and enhance pleasure while avoiding the trap of the hedonic treadmill. Their discoveries are based on the adaptation of an ancient eastern philosophy.
Mindfulness is centred around the idea of being present in the moment without having to analyse or judge our experience, whether good or bad. It involves using our senses to root ourselves in the here and now, fully experiencing the moment we are in.
Psychologists have discovered that this same practice is also the best way to escape the trap of the hedonic treadmill. By devoting our complete attention to the experience, we can fully savour it gaining more pleasure out of the same moment for a longer period of time. By learning to fully enjoy the pleasurable moments of daily life we can break the cycle of continuously needing new experiences, of always needing more, in order to be happy.
ILDN collections are items we've paired in order to convey an idea or a thought. Our first collection was inspired by the scientific discovery that the practice of mindfulness is a viable way to increase happiness and wellbeing while attempting to break the traps of the hedonic treadmill.
We have carefully chosen an item for each of the senses. Each piece aimed at fostering a moment of mindful reflection on how we can use simple everyday objects to route ourselves in the here and now. Fully attending to the simple pleasures in life like sipping a cup of tea, listening to music, or snuggling up in freshly washed linens, can offer pleasurable moments of quiet contentment. If we learn how to savour these moments they can last, creating positive feelings for longer.
Of course, this idea can also be explored with the items you already have at home. Simply wash your existing bedding to make it feel new, brew your favourite cup of tea, play the ILDN Mindful Pleasures playlist and fill your room with the fragrance of a scented candle to create the same night of mindful pleasures with what you already have in your home.
This collection was designed with you in mind. We hope you enjoy.
Explore the ILDN Mindful Pleasures collection or learn more about mindfulness from the psychologist who introduced the practice to western psychology Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn
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“The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn