How To Feel More Joy Every Day
joy
n. a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.
Source: APA Dictionary of Psychology
Joy is such a wonderful feeling! To feel more or it you need to anchor into it; to cultivate the experience of joy again and again until it becomes your new normal!
When something unexpected or challenging arises do you notice the same habitual responses being triggered in you?
Our experiences are the result of habitual thinking patterns that influence our perspective, and trigger our feelings and emotions. We can change these patterns with practice and repetition. If we repeatedly choose how we want to feel and then create that feeling within the body we will create and strengthen neural pathways in the brain, making what is initially a conscious choice become a subconscious habit.
Anchoring into the feeling of joy in the body and creating more experiences of joy will rewire your brain to a more joyful perspective.
How to anchor into joy…
1. Get clear on what brings you joy.
Spend some time exploring what brings you joy. Think of the little things that are accessible to you every day that bring you joy. Join The Joy Project and get clarity around what brings you joy.
2. Schedule it!
If you have an important appointment, do you add it to your calendar? I see joy as an important appointment! I choose at least one joyful moment each week (or day!) from my Sparks of Joy Pinterest board, and then schedule it in.
3. Prioritise it!
Most of the time we prioritise the ‘shoulds’ instead of joy. And sometimes we don’t even realise we’re doing it. We’re on autopilot… acting on behalf of our conditioning that tells us what our lives should look like and what we must do in order to maintain them. When I made the decision to choose joy more often, I was struck by how many layers there were to my shoulds. Gradually as I peeled them away I discovered more and more opportunities for joy. Yay!
4. Minimise what drains your joy
Bring some awareness to the things that deplete your energy and diminish your joy and consider making changes in favour of more joy. Perhaps it’s time to let go of the friendship that doesn’t nourish you, or to stop filling your schedule with a million and one things that leave you no space to just be. Or maybe you could approach the dull-as-dishwater chores with a new perspective (my new favourite is to see hoovering as an opportunity to dance my socks off to DJ Fresh’s Golddust). Small changes can have a big impact.
5. Be present with joyful feelings.
Without presence we’re in danger of missing joy when it pops up to say hello. Look around you and notice the many wonders… colours, sunshine, feelings, human connection, animals, babies, design, love, cake… just a few of the things I noticed when I looked up from writing this sentence. So many things to marvel at, to ponder, to find joy and take delight in. Cultivate presence so that you can anchor into joy and remember how it feels in your body.
