How To Discover and Say “YES” to Your Joy
Have you ever felt disconnected from your joy but unsure how you could possibly change things?
Perhaps at the same time you were telling yourself “I have a good life so I shouldn’t desire more”?
Whether it’s in intimate relationships, career, finances, loving your body or anywhere in life......
Discovering what is truly joyful for you and expressing that can sometimes be a challenge.
Saying “YES!” to your joy is not always easy.
Below are 3 key factors to discover and say “yes” to your joy so you can step into the most abundant and joyful version of your life with more ease......
1. Become sensitive to the unique way your joy is signaling and speaking to you
When it comes to saying “yes” to your joy the first big challenge is insensitivity to your body.
Your body is constantly speaking to you through subtle internal sensations..... but most of us have the dial turned way down on these sensations.
This insensitivity is common and happens for a variety of reasons.....
Stress, anxiety, overwhelm or trauma all contribute to insensitivity in the body.
In my life, for example, there have been times I’ve placed a lot of importance on productivity, achievement and making a good impression.
My life was full of “doing” and “striving” and I turned down my body sensitivity for the sake of these things.
I contorted myself into who I thought I “should” be to the point that the volume on my inner joy and truth couldn’t be heard any more.
It’s through the practices and principles of embodiment I was able to build the skill of sensitivity and begin listening to the deeper messages and signals that my body was giving me.
2. Gain awareness of when you are operating in your “default setting”
In the absence of being able to fully feel and say “yes” to your inner joy, it’s likely a “default setting” will take over.....
When you don’t truly know what you want or what is aligned with your joy or you don’t feel safe claiming or asking for it, it’s common to default to things like.......
People-pleasing
Perfectionism
Shut-down or containing your expression
Doing what is socially expected or polite
For me, my default setting was perfectionism and I often worried about how I would be judged, if what I was doing was “right” and how I could be “better”.
Then I stumbled upon this quote:
“There is nothing benign about believing we have to earn our value on the planet. The opposite of joy is not sadness; it's perfectionism.” ~Susie Rinehart
My default setting was quietly robbing me of my true joy.
But by building awareness, becoming sensitive to my body and my essence, I was able to reclaim my joy by taking action in alignment with my truth.
3. Honor the signals from your body and build trust in saying “yes” to your joy
Sometimes without even realizing it we say “yes” to the very things that do not bring us joy.
When operating primarily from the rational mind, with the volume on your body sensitivity turned way down, you may not realize what you are consenting to until much later.
It’s easy to become frustrated and resentful in these situations and you can easily become disconnected from your joy.
Listening to AND honoring the signals and messages from your body that are aligned with your true joy is a critical step.
When you find the courage and self-respect to begin saying “yes” to your joy you begin to build trust in yourself and in choosing that joy.
As you build trust in saying “yes” to the relatively small joys you begin to build the capacity to take big leaps into joys and desires you haven’t even dreamed of yet.
So, ask yourself.....
Where am I saying “yes” to the things that are not aligned with my joy?
And where am I saying “no” to the things that ARE actually aligned with my joy?
Taking action informed by your answers to these questions will help you to build trust in saying “yes” to your joy more often.
The more often you can listen to the signals that your body is sending you, release your “default” mode of operating and honor your body by saying “yes” to that which will bring you true joy, you build trust in yourself and gain confidence.
Eventually saying “yes” to the right things for YOU becomes second nature.
You no longer choose based on “shoulds”, convention or social requirements, OR only from your head.
Instead you are choosing your true joy from an empowered position using your whole system - body, mind, heart and spirit - in an embodied way.
If you are ready to develop more capacity to feel your body and start saying “yes” to your joy, your first step is to develop sensitivity. This is exactly what we will learn in the J.O.Y.F.U.L Movement Method Masterclass.