It is very difficult to maintain any kind of emotional well-being in the age of Trump. We are assaulted every day with bad news, atrocious policies, abuses of power, and increased human suffering. It is hard to not feel stressed out, anxious, and even depressed. And the stress hormones that flood into our bodies are terrible for our health.

Moreover, researchers have discovered that the way human brains work actually makes all of this worse. Over hundreds of thousands of years, evolution has favored brains that prioritized and remembered negative  experiences — especially threats — over positive ones. This helped keep people alive. Remembering where a predator attacked or which roots made you ill could save your life. Recalling a positive experience was less useful.

Negative experiences go directly to our amygdala — our brain’s threat detection center — and stimulate the production of flight-or-fight hormones. These experiences also go automatically into our long-term memory. In contrast, pleasant experiences need at least 12 seconds to go from temporary memory to lasting memory. So many of those drop by the wayside. That’s why people can vividly remember some cutting comment from a grade school teacher many decades later but have trouble recalling happier school day memories.

Neuroscientists call this the “negativity bias” of the brain. This built-in tendency to focus on and remember negative events more readily than positive ones may have helped us to survive in the early days of humanity; but in modern times, it can distort our perspective on life and greatly increase our stress and anxiety. Our brains can’t tell the difference between a stalking lion and someone’s criticism of our political views — both are seen as existential threats.

And all of this is made worse by the “negativity bias” in social media. Research has found that news-related media posts that use negative language are lingered on longer and reposted more often. The media companies make more money on this, so they create algorithms that emphasize content that shocks, frightens, or angers people. Bad news sells; good news doesn’t.

Fortunately, psychologists have identified practices that can combat our brain’s negativity bias and create more emotional well-being, i.e. more happiness. One technique is called “savoring.” This is the conscious effort to fully feel and enjoy the pleasurable experiences, sensations, and emotions that occur in our daily lives. This allows us to amplify and extend these experiences and ensure that we can “bank” these good events in our long-term memory.

It could be something as small as closing your eyes and really savoring a bite of good chocolate or that first sip of coffee in the morning. Or slowing down and acknowledging all the wonderful things you can see, hear, and smell on a good hike. Or getting lost in a vivid memory of a particularly happy experience in the past.

Not rushing past the good things in your life — but savoring them for at least 12 seconds — will help rewire your brain for more joy and emotional equilibrium.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that we ignore all the bad news coming from the Trump administration. But we need to balance that out with an effort to intentionally focus on and appreciate the good experiences in our lives — and there still are many of those.

We will be less able to fight what is happening politically if we are overly anxious, depressed, and feeling hopeless. We are better able to do that if we are coming from a position of emotional balance and resilience. And savoring the good elements of our lives can help do that. You can start today.

Douglas J. Amy is a professor emeritus of politics at Mount Holyoke College. He lives in Northampton.