Hey family.
Today we're training the fourth factor of awakening.
Joy.
Not fake happy.
Not hype.
Joy has uplift.
One of the seven inner superpowers in your own nervous system.
Take a second to relax.
If you're sitting,
Fill your seat.
If you're lying down,
Feel the weight of your body.
Let your shoulders drop one notch.
Let the breath do its thing.
Most of us were trained for survival,
Not for joy.
So when something good shows up,
The mind is already scanning for what's wrong with it,
Or how long before it disappears.
Joy as a factor is different.
Joy is the medicine that says,
For this breath,
In this body,
Something is okay.
I feel this most as a dad.
I've got three girls and a boy.
My joy doesn't hit when they're perfect,
Or when they win something big.
It hits in small moments.
One kid standing by the door,
Tying their shoes before running onto the field.
Another in the kitchen,
Proud because they finally cooked an egg without burning it.
Or that second when I look over and realize they're taller,
Older,
Becoming their own person.
And some quiet part of me whispers,
Damn,
We made it this far.
It's not loud happiness.
It's that soft yes in the chest.
That's joy as a factor.
And like any superpower,
It can be trained.
Joy needs two skills.
Mindfulness,
Just knowing you're here.
And simplicity,
Letting small good things be enough for a moment.
We'll practice three tiny moves.
Don't worry about the names.
Just feel how they work in your body.
First move is a gratitude doorway.
Not a whole speech.
Just one honest sentence.
Let your attention drop down into the body.
Feel the chest,
The ribs,
The face.
Then quietly finish this line in your own words.
I'm grateful for.
Maybe it's the fact you woke up today.
Maybe it's a kid's laugh you still remember.
Maybe it's a small pocket of time to practice.
One sentence is enough.
Let the body have it.
Second move is simple joy noticing.
Right now,
Look for one small good thing you can verify.
Maybe the way the light hits the wall.
The feel of fabric on your skin.
The quiet for these few minutes.
Once you find it,
Let your jaw soften.
Take one slow breath in through the nose.
Easy breath out through the mouth.
You don't have to tell a story about it.
No,
I don't deserve this.
No,
It won't last.
Just let that little bit of good sit in your nervous system for one more breath.
Third move is receive and release.
This is how we keep joy from turning into craving.
When something pleasant appears,
Mentally mark it.
Pleasant.
Receive it with one full breath.
Then on the exhale,
Let it go.
No chasing the sequel.
No hunting for the perfect replay.
Just training the body to know I can feel good for a moment and I don't have to cling.
We'll go quiet for a bit now.
Let yourself cycle through these three moves in your own way.
One sentence of gratitude.
One small good thing.
Receive and release.
If the mind wanders,
That's normal.
The moment you notice you are gone,
That's already mindfulness.
Gently come back to whatever bit of joy is here right now.
Even if it's tiny.
As we start to close,
Feel your body again.
Feet.
Legs.
Seat.
Shoulders.
Jaw.
Eyes.
Notice if anything softened.
Even two percent.
Maybe the breath is a little wider.
Maybe your heart feels a little less armored.
Joy doesn't erase the hard parts of your story.
It just refuses to let them be the only chapter.
Every time you let one simple moment land in your chest,
You're proving to yourself there is still something here worth feeling.
Before we finish,
Let one small joy from your own life come to the surface.
A face.
A memory.
A tiny wind.
Or just the quiet fact that you're still here.
Breathing.
Hold it gently for one breath in.
Let that joy spill out a little wider.
Into your chest.
Your shoulders.
Your face.
You can come back to this anytime.
One honest I'm grateful for.
One small good thing you actually feel.
One breath to receive.
And enough courage to let it go.
That's how this factor grows.
One soft yes at a time.
Thank you for sitting with me.
