Unconditional Joy

Opening the door to magic.

For the overachiever, joy can feel like something you have to earn after you’ve checked all the boxes and overdelivered on every task. It’s easy to fall into the trap of striving to be deserving, thinking that joy is what you get when all the jobs are done, everything is “perfect” and everyone else is taken care of.

But joy isn’t a reward. Or even a life goal.

Unconditional joy is a frequency.

It’s ever abundant, always available, built-in to the free-flowing energies of life itself. Tuning-in to that flow can be a struggle if we’re always ‘on’, primed to tackle the next thing. The noise of over-thinking and self-doubt can easily drown-out the less insistent invitation joy offers to pause, open, and bask in the beauty of any given moment.

Aligning with joy is an inside job. It calls for acceptance, presence and play.

ACCEPTANCE

Let’s begin with self-acceptance because: the joy equation starts with you. Softening the inner critic, intercepting your inner judge, relaxing the rigidity of perfectionism, frees you up to be in that infinite joy stream. Feeling joy isn’t complicated, but letting go of how you think it should look can be tough sometimes.

Simple Joy Tip:

Nurture self-acceptance by first noticing whenever your inner judge shows up to criticize you or your choices. Then congratulate yourself on catching the judginess rather than judging yourself for it. Release the expectation, celebrate your awareness.

PRESENCE

For many of us, joy can seem like a luxury we don’t have time for. Even the word can sound silly when we’re busy putting out fires and taking care of all the things. And yet, joy is actually essential to our well-being, just like sunshine and fresh air. It reduces stress, fortifies relationships and helps fuel the creative imagination. Taking time for joy means prioritizing it, giving yourself permission to step away from the grind of doing, to more fully embrace the possibilities of the present moment.

Simple Joy Tip:

When life gets intense, just stop. And take a minute to breathe:

Exhale fully. Now inhale slowly through the nose for a count of 4; exhale through pursed lips as though blowing on a feather for a count of 6. Pause. Repeat at least 3 times. Notice how your body feels.

PLAY

As the structures of our outer world crumble, and everything external seems increasingly unreliable, the only place to go is ‘in’. Rather than reacting in the old way by doubling down on our need to control, we can use our new awareness to get curious instead. Our body is a powerful tool for reconnecting with joy – through sight, sound, taste, touch and movement. Without adding to your To Do list, you can set the intention to surrender to spontaneous opportunities for joy by injecting micro-moments of playfulness into your day.

Simple Joy Tip:

These sweet little activities bypass the overthinking mind and invite you into a state of flow, where joy becomes effortless.

• Allow your eyes to rest on something beautiful for 10 seconds
• Sing along to your favorite song, softly, and then loudly
• Close your eyes and savour your first sip of morning tea or coffee
• Rub your cheek against something smooth, soft or cold
• Notice your toes on the ground and wiggle them
• Do a little silly dance to celebrate…anything

By fostering acceptance, practicing presence and opening up to more play, we naturally become more receptive to that unconstrained joy vibration. Just like with magic, joy cannot enter without an invitation. Cultivating habitual joy is an act of surrender, allowing yourself to experience the messy imperfection of life in potentially awkward ways, all the while trusting that you are already enough, deeply worthy of unconditional joy.