“I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” 

― Anne Frank

Being happier and more joyful takes practice. In this busy world full of media and news telling us that the world is a bad place and at the time of this blog we are all going through COVID related ‘stuff’, it can be hard to feel happy and joyful.

For this very reason, I stopped watching the news years ago and my time on social media is very limited, but this is a whole other blog if you are interested?

Every month in the Virtual Yoga Studio we have a theme. This month we are focussing on Asteya, the practice of non-stealing. I’m not talking about nicking something from the shelves in Tesco, it’s more subtle than that. We steal from ourselves in so many ways.

Our main work is to realise that the past is gone, the future is anyone’s guess and we sometimes steal our precious time on this wonderful planet lost in thoughts and fears about what happened in the past, what could have been and what might happen and the dreaded to-do list (monster). I know this as an ex-party animal turned worryaholic and workaholic, now yogi (with a residue of the former).

What I am saying is that joy is beyond the thinking mind, outside gains, achievements, goals, successes and (it took me a long time to realise this) joy isn’t reliant on other people. I can hear Darren breathing a sigh of relief. Imagine how much pressure it is to make people feel that our joy is their job?

It’s not all doom and gloom but it can take a bit of practice to shift out of the funk but with practice, we can begin to see the many things around us now that bring us joy. Actually, if I/m honest we don’t need anything outside of ourself to experience happiness BUT using the JOY HUNT (looking for things that make us happy) and the meditation I have recorded for you in this blog on a daily basis if needs be, can help us evoke the feelings and once we are well-rehearsed we can just switch to the feeling.

Joy and happiness is an inside game.
Despite all the hurt and pain we may have gone/going through it can be accessed if we are willing to put the work in….

If you like the sound of this then I have created you a little visual gallery, recorded a 10-minuted guided meditation (this is where the magic happens and left you some questions to reflect on after your practice.

Please don’t force anything, let all feelings have space. People do sometimes report all sorts of other feelings at first but this is the natural process of awakening to the true-self.

Have an open mind and see where it takes you.

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“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” 

― Thich Nhat Hanh

Journal Reflection Questions

Did you enter the meditation with expectations and judgments? If so what were they?

Were you able to relax into the practice?

Did you connect to joy? What came to the surface?

If it wasn’t joy, what was it?

Note any aha moments?

Please comment below or send me an email with your experiences?

If you feel you would like to develop this further I’d love for you to join me either in the  Virtual Studio or book a private session.

Lynz xoxo