joy

I am so excited to share with you my latest discovery … DELICIOUS LOVE. The kind of love that makes you shout with glee. You know, that love that makes your heart pump and every moment is filled with great expectancy? The love that makes you want to dress up and look your best, keeps a smile on your face and invites you to write incredible poetry. Think about a moment when everything in you felt radiant and excited to be alive … a moment when you were so sure that you were desirable and desired. Recall that moment and let it fill your body. Notice how you tingle and joy forms in your mind.

As we move toward Valentine’s Day, we oftentimes think about how love is manifesting in our lives or not showing up at all.  Many of us fixate on having someone to remind us that we are important or valuable.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could all remember that we are valuable because we exist? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be in such a state of love within ourselves that we radiated light in every situation?

I had the wonderful opportunity to be a guest speaker at “Tea Talks,” a monthly tea for women at the Mile Hi Church in Denver. There, I invited the women present to “CALL IT IN….IN 2010.” I encouraged the women to acknowledge that the destiny that awaits us is not “out there.” There is nothing to “get,” as everything we need is birthed from within. There is no destination. We are all called to allow “IT” to be revealed through our thoughts, our words, our actions and our reactions. “IT” is the innate beauty that thrives in a field of positive expression and harmonic living.

For some, the holiday season is a time of joy, family and celebration. For others, this is a time of profound sadness — wrought with pain and suffering from failed relationships, financial challenges, job dissatisfaction and self-worth issues. Today I want to share a tool to help you or someone you love transform feelings of depression by looking at circumstances as gifts.

As I move into the ending of this year, I am filled with such a sense of wonder and expectancy. I stand in perfect gratitude for all that has transpired and give thanks for my willingness to grow.

I went to an annual “High Tea” with some ladies who I love, and we shared our gratitude for the year and what we were opening to in the new year. We came up with three things that we wanted to carry forward.

This is the time of year people are in the throes of preparing for the upcoming holidays. Travel plans, family gatherings and food preparations fill many conversations.

It is also a time for some that brings up anxiety. The thought of being with family creates an inner dialogue that is focused on challenge, past chaotic experiences and dysfunctional interaction. It is so interesting to see how the past begins to color the future. Historic events and conditions create mind chatter that can’t even entertain the possibility of harmony.

If you want to increase the amount of joy in your life, it has to begin with the way you love, treat and honor yourself. If you are reaching outside of yourself for people, things, food, drugs, alcohol or jobs to be your source of joy, you will be at the mercy of circumstance. Real power comes when you realize you can feel joy for no reason at all.

In the past few weeks, many people have come to me requesting information on accessing their joy. They have spoken about the challenges in their lives including divorce, lay offs, financial challenges and abuse from the past. As I have contemplated their questions, I kept coming back to one thing: Joy and happiness are states of consciousness. To experience joy, we must choose to activate that state. That is not always easy, especially when it appears that we are bombarded by so much information or in the midst of a life challenge.

The busier we become, the more we steal from our “joy” time. If work demands more time and effort, chances are our gym time will suffer. When the teenager has yet another hormone tantrum, watching a movie or painting our toenails goes out the window.

When I started jazz ballet and folk dance at a very young age, it brought me so much joy! It was the catalyst that led me to study many forms of movement including Pilates, kickboxing, body sculpting, yoga, and functional training (training for movements that are part of everyday life and your core sports or favorite physical activities).