joy

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).

There is a light white blanket on the earth this morning. Colleen was laughing at the excitement of the California kids. It is beautiful, and quite a dramatic change. All of a sudden so many different activities are possible… sledding, snowball fights, building snowmen, skiing and snowboarding. A new perspective cloaks the gray from our minds and bodies.