Aesthetic experiences have been distinguished from other experiences based on an aesthetic mode of processing that often entails concentrating working memory resources on the aesthetic stimulus. Since working memory is a limited-capacity system, there should be a trade-off between available resources and the aesthetic experience. We report six studies that examined the relationship between aesthetic experiences and working memory resources in detail. In Study 1, participants rated the beauty and savoring they experienced from encounters with visual stimuli in a controlled laboratory setting after interruption of a writing task they were engaged in. We found that the participants' aesthetic experiences were hampered by the interruption. In three subsequent field investigations, we showed that work-related rumination (Study 2, N = 329), stress (Study 3, N = 368), and a state of chronic pain (Study 4, N = 322) were inversely related to the savoring that is experienced when exposed to opera, theater, or cabaret pieces. In Study 5, 115 undergraduate students participated in a two-week experience-sampling study and provided a total of 15,047 reports of their aesthetic experiences. Higher working memory loads were associated with fewer aesthetic experiences and reduced savoring of the aesthetic experiences. These findings highlight the importance of concentrating on aesthetic experiences in order to fully benefit from them. Finally, we report the preliminary results of a laboratory investigation where participants underwent a short mindfulness intervention before rating works of art.