A key way to reverse the aging process is to cultivate joy! Joy resides in your heart. It has more power than any other feeling – and is the source of ageless vitality!
Think about the last time you felt joy, or as one of my clients said, a sense of being happy for no reason. How did you feel in your body? Was there a sense of lightness or effortlessness? Was there a glow in your face and a feeling you can do anything? Did you notice that people, even strangers, smiled at you? Was it as if your joy was contagious?
The word cultivate is chosen deliberately. Cultivating joy isn’t about putting on a smile, finding someone or something that makes you feel happy, or saying affirmations. Any of those external fixes may give you a momentary sense of happiness, but they are not sustainable. You were born with the capacity to experience joy; it’s your birthright. What you need to do is REMOVE the obstacles that block access to your joy. This requires patient and steady excavation – not for the faint of heart!
My experience guiding hundreds of clients has shown that there are three major obstacles to accessing joy:
- Conscious thoughts
- Unconscious beliefs about ourselves and our world
- Repetitive behavior
Here are some examples:
Say you’re having a massage. Just as you’ve dropped into that melted state of deep relaxation, you think about a meeting you have later in the day. You start to worry about whether you’ll be prepared, if your face will have ‘face cradle lines’ etched on it, and so on. That melting sensation has now been replaced by a band of tension that wraps around your forehead. The more you worry, the more the band tightens. Though you want to relax, your mind wins, and you end the session feeling frustrated.
Perhaps you had a mother who believed that getting older meant losing her ‘looks.’ Children unconsciously merge with their parents’ beliefs. So even though she did her best to look attractive, you bonded with her unspoken fear. Now at 60 when you look in the mirror, you criticize the lines in your face, and make yourself unhappy.
Having a daily routine can feel good and help cultivate your joy – especially if it’s a routine that’s nourishes you (like regular exercise, eating well, getting enough sleep, doing the Wellness Sexuality Practice.) However even a good routine can turn into a repetitive pattern that stagnates your energy. For instance, perhaps you eat organic steamed vegetables and protein. But if you eat the same food, day in and day out, your body literally gets bored. Your metabolism slows down, and you can gain weight! Routine can engender a feeling of safety and comfort. But… too much routine can get boring, stunt your growth, stagnate your soul, and age you!
So how do you remove these obstacles, so you can cultivate the joy in your heart and reverse the aging process?!
I invite you to do some exploration on your own: Next time you feel happy for no reason, pause and take a moment to trace back in time. Ask yourself: “What did I do differently today?” Then, notice how long that feeling of happiness lasts. If it continues all day, fantastic. If it stops, get curious again and this time ask: “What did I just think, say or do that just blocked my happiness?”
In future blog posts, I will share some answers – and you can compare what I say with your experience!
Want to undo those obstacles now?
Schedule a complementary consultation to experience Ignite Your Joy Mentoring.
In the meantime, remember this: Joy resides in your heart. It wants to come out and express itself. The more it comes out, the more you can dance, and play, and be ageless, vibrant and turned on!
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