Museum Of Joy

This guided exploration helps you create a Museum of Joy built from memories of moments that you experienced a sense of joy, fulfillment, and connection. As humans, we often derive our sense of who we are in the world by bonding with and creating meaning through hardship, challenge, or pain. As a result, we often let moments of joy slip by unrecognized. The idea behind this exploration is that we can also bond with and create meaning through our lived experiences of joy.

Transcript

Hey everybody and welcome to this guided exploration that is all about creating a museum of joy that you can add on to and return to anytime you want.

So to get started just sit in a way that feels comfortable to you with your weight evenly distributed.

You can close your eyes if that feels interesting to you,

You can also just soft focus down towards the ground.

And we'll begin just by bringing some gentle attention to the breath.

Being very aware as you inhale that this is you inhaling and very aware as you exhale that this is you exhaling in this moment.

And as you breathe you can allow the breath to elongate so those inhales go on a little bit longer,

Maybe a count of four or five and those exhales also take up a bit more time and space.

And as you breathe you can really enjoy the sense of inflation and expansion on the inhale and the sense of release and surrender on the exhale.

Just take a nice deep breath in and release it.

With that exhale you can just allow your body to get a little bit heavier,

Your hips can soften,

Your legs soften and we can continue to let the breath slow down as the body settles.

And now I'll invite you to connect with a moment from any time in your life where you experienced joy,

A deep joy that permeated every cell of your being.

It may have just been a small moment or inviting in a connection with a moment of joy.

And as this moment surfaces for you see how curious you can get about it.

What colors were present in this moment?

What other physical sensations,

Smells,

Touch,

Sounds?

And as you connect with this moment allowing it to envelop you,

Notice how your body responds to the memory of this moment.

And we can go perhaps one level deeper and see if you can connect with what it was about this moment of joy that made it so powerful for you.

What was the crux of this joy?

And as you breathe with this moment of joy,

See if you can really allow the energy of it to reignite in your body.

And so with each breath that energy gets more powerful until it's filling every cell of your body.

And as it reaches that point you can hold your hands in front of you cupped like a bowl and imagine that in your hands you are holding a beautiful glass sphere that's empty.

And on the count of three what we're going to do is take a deep breath in together and on the exhale just imagine filling that glass sphere with the energy and the memory of this moment of joy.

And here we go.

One breathing in.

Two holding the breath letting the energy build and three exhaling it gently into that glass sphere.

And you may want to do that a couple more times until this sphere is full with this moment of joy.

And when you're ready you can take that sphere and place it gently on a shelf that has appeared right next to you.

And that shelf is the beginning of your museum of joy.

Release that moment.

Take a nice deep breath in.

Place it.

And we'll do this two more times so again allow the breath to elongate and we'll invite in a connection with another moment of joy from any time in your life it could have just been another small moment where you experienced that expansive beautiful sense of joy flooding your body.

And again as this moment starts to appear see how curious you can get.

What images come up?

What was the felt sense of this moment in your body?

Any colors?

Any sounds?

Noticing how your body responds to this second moment of joy.

And again going that one level deeper to connect with what it was in this moment that made it so joyful for you.

What was the kernel at the center of this moment?

And again elongating the breaths with each breath allowing the memory of this moment and the experience of this moment to fill your body.

Filling the cells,

Filling the blood and the organs.

Making it to become as intense as feels comfortable to you and again taking your hands cupping them like a bowl in front of you.

And on the count of three we'll blow this second moment into this sphere that has appeared in your hands.

And here we go.

One breathing in,

Connecting with this energy of joy,

Two holding it allowing the breath to fill with joy and three exhaling all the energy of the second moment of joy into the sphere held delicately in your hands.

And when it feels like this second sphere is full you can gently place it gently next to that first sphere on your shelf building the museum of joy.

And return to your breath as breathing letting go of that second moment of joy and we'll do this one more time together.

Letting the breath elongate creating a little more space in the body.

Letting the muscles relax as we invite in a connection with a third moment of joy from any time in your life a moment where you experienced that sense of abandon and openness and connection that often comes with joy.

And as this moment this third moment appears allowing yourself to really connect deeply with it any images,

Sounds,

Smells,

The felt sense of this moment in your body.

Noticing perhaps how your ability to connect with these moments has shifted even over these few minutes.

And again getting curious about this moment what was it about this third moment of joy that made it so joyful for you.

And as we connect with that allowing the remembrance of this moment to fill your body see how deeply you can re-experience this third moment of joy breathing it in with every inhale.

And for the third and final time holding your hands in front of you cupped and that beautiful glass sphere appears in your hands.

And one more time just take a nice deep breath in allowing that connection with joy to intensify.

One,

Holding the breath for a moment and allowing that sense of joy to fill the breath.

Two and three exhaling gently into the sphere allowing joy to fill it with images and memory and beauty.

And when it feels like that sphere is full again you can just take it really gently and put it next to that first moment of joy and the second moment of joy on your shelf.

And take a moment before we close just to regard the beginnings of your museum of joy.

A simple shelf with three memories that you can return to anytime and you can always come back and add to it.

Adding to your museum and returning to build it out over as much time as you'd like.

And just take a nice deep breath in and release acknowledging as we do that no matter what is happening in our lives or happening in the world it is always possible to connect with these moments of joy and to view the world through the lens of joy to make meaning through joy.

Thank you so much for exploring the museum of joy today and you can visit anytime.

Have a beautiful day.

Reviews

A beautiful practice. This one is important and a keeper for me. Thanks for sharing it.

THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!! My first crystal globe contains this one: I remembered being filled with the joy of being a good mother, as I took my daughter in full Lilo costume to that Disney Lilo & Stitch movie before she started school. She was SO HAPPY, and my heart just Overflowed. She really liked the Elvis music! :) Thank you for this WONDERFUL practice. I will Definitely be back!

Wow. This was so beautiful. I remembered the joy of a friendship that used to be a central pillar in my life, but now we no longer speak. I remembered the excitement and sense of connection of the first kiss with my partner. And I remembered my family telling stories that made them laugh so hard they could hardly speak.

It makes me want to create a whole museum of memories covering even more emotions - love, connection, awe, inspiration, playfulness, satisfaction... imagine the possibilities!

Thanks for helping me reconnect with my joy and fill me with so much inspiration this morning. Namaste, Michael! 🙏🏻💓💕

That was absolutely fabulous... what a concept. I’ve begun to build my museum of joy and it’s wonderful! Three precious moments, on my shelf, to return to again and a again, and to be added to whenever I want. Pure joy moments included my simple gratitude moment for being alive as I was preparing to water my garden, a special moment shared with a pet who is long passed, and a childlike memory of dancing with a waterfall in Niagara Falls.... just perfect. Thank you for this meditation. It was beautifully crafted and guided. 🙏🌹

Wow, what a beautiful practice. Simple but profound. I will return to this often, thank you!