Welcome.
Find a comfortable position for yourself for the next moments here.
You may lie down,
Take a nice seat with crossed legs or with your feet planted parallel,
Hips distance.
You may even stand,
You may choose to be in mountain pose with your arms up to the sky for as long as you want,
Feeling victorious and filled with energy,
Stretching toward the sky.
Whatever position you choose now,
Feel free to be still there and feel free to move when you need to,
To become even more comfortable as we go.
Today we get to explore the topic of joy,
And just hearing the word,
What comes up for you?
What do you feel?
Can you invite joy right here,
Right now by opening some space for it,
Resting,
Breathing,
Deepening into your body,
Into this moment,
Into this breath,
And then letting go.
When you let go,
You let things be as they are,
How they are.
As you let them be,
You see them for what they are,
You allow them,
You receive them,
And then you can let them in.
Let joy in right now,
The pure essence of it,
The beauty of a smile on your face,
A celebration of the preciousness of life,
And let it be expansive as you feel a glow maybe in your heart or in the middle of your forehead.
If your palms are on your body or closed or down,
See how it feels to flip them upward gently in a receptive posture that is open and available,
Both to receive and then to give.
For when we are joyful,
We are taking in what is beautiful about life,
And then we make that joy contagious with others,
To others,
To that around us by spreading our own feeling of appreciation for what is around.
Sometimes it feels vulnerable to be joyful.
When we get a little scared,
If I let myself be this happy in this moment,
When's the other shoe going to drop?
Or what if it doesn't last?
Or what if someone else isn't feeling joyful right now,
They're having a hard time,
And this will just be off kilter and insensitive.
Is this for real?
Can I let myself feel joy?
It's natural to feel tentative.
To feel tentative.
Sometimes we're so caught up in what we're doing so busy that we forget to take the time to let the joy hit us and awaken a spark in us.
But when we stop and see and appreciate joy is often a natural and organic side effect of noticing the beauty and tenderness of what is here.
For joy is closely related to grief.
Both grief and joy are an acknowledgement of the tenderness and preciousness of life,
Of how temporary everything is that sometimes we lose it,
And sometimes we gain things.
And it's all a beautiful flow,
A river of what we allow,
What we get to receive,
And what we ultimately also let go of in its time.
It's a dance.
And so when joy does visit,
When she does appear for you,
When you do even cultivate a solid ground,
A fertile bed of soil for her,
Can you choose to be a good host or hostess?
Can you open the door?
Let joy in.
Offer her a seat,
Maybe some tea.
Let her put her feet up.
Your joy can become contagious.
It feeds others.
It frees them.
They may be inspired to join you in your joy.
Joy is usually very genuine.
It's hard to fake.
It really spills out of us like laughter.
It's spread like a smile.
And it's just as valid as our tears or our fears or anger or stress.
It is a strength and a gift to enjoy and to be joyful.
When we recognize that nothing lasts,
That nothing is here forever,
That we are growing and changing,
That things are emerging and dying and shifting shapes,
Then joy says,
Sure,
It may not be something we can grab onto or grasp or hold and control.
But the freedom that I give things to be as they are is exactly why I feel that everything is amazing and a miracle,
That we can celebrate the beauty of what is and what is here.
And again,
If it's not time to celebrate,
It may be time to grieve.
And that is also appropriate.
That is also welcome.
But don't stop up your joy,
Just like you don't stop up your grief.
Don't stop up your true feelings.
Let them flow,
Unblock the river.
Let it cascade like a waterfall.
Let it flow like a stream.
Allow the trickle when it's trickle.
Allow the beautiful,
Big Niagara Falls sized outpouring when it's that big.
We are alive.
Joy and grief dancing contribute to our aliveness.
So what is coursing through your veins today?
How can you let it sing through you?
Take a nice deep breath here.
Call to mind something today that's just brimming with joy or something you're grateful for that lends itself to joy.
Something you can say thank you for.
Something you can be delighted by when you really see that its existence is a gift.
How beautiful.
And what about in the past?
Think of a moment or two that you've been most joyful in the past year or two years,
Even in your life.
Search for that thing that's just like,
Wow,
In that moment in time,
It just felt like everything was so right,
So in flow,
So aligned.
And I'm just,
No matter what happened before or after,
It was just beautiful that I got to feel that lightness of being.
What sparked your joy in that moment and in this today?
Were they circumstances,
Connection with other people,
Something you achieved,
Simple,
Simple blessings of everyday life,
All of the above?
Just revel in it now for the next several breaths.
And what about in the future?
What kind of joy awaits you?
How can you invite joy opening further to further to something that's blossoming,
To something you're excited by?
Anticipatory joy.
What's in the way of joy and how can you clear that out to make more opportunity to feel and then express and share your joy?
Can you commit to finding,
Discovering,
Allowing,
And making space for joy in the journey today,
Tomorrow,
And all these beautiful days that are yours to live out and yours to live into?
Enjoy today.
Namaste.
