Unlocking Joy Through Writing
The practice of automatic writing can connect clients with their subconscious inclinations toward joy that might be harder to access when thinking critically. Sit down with a pen and a piece of paper, and ask yourself — what brings me joy? Just start writing. It doesn’t have to make sense. See what comes up. Maybe images fill your mind, maybe memories. You might surprise yourself. Circumventing your judgmental mind by writing anything that surfaces in your thoughts opens a different perspective and self-insight.
To experiment though a different avenue, consider what brought you joy as a child. When we are younger than 10 years old, we are thought to be our freest, truest selves, unburdened by our cultural and societal expectations. Was there something you loved to do as a child? Could you incorporate that into your life again?
You might also try keeping a log (or a joy journal) of when you notice yourself feeling joy each day. Taking note of your experiences of joy will flag them in the brain and allow you to focus more on joy in the future, therefore cultivating more in your life as a byproduct. The brain creates more of where it places its focus.
Inner Child Playdate
Though this is a trendy term, this practice invites joy in through play. Spend some time with your inner child by doing an activity your child-self loved to do. Maybe once a week you draw and color for an hour. Or you go on a bike ride, or dance around your room in a fancy outfit. People have found that spending time with their child-self has led to significant emotional healing, as well as spurred creativity.
Moving Your Body
Studies have shown that joy can be cultivated through somatic movement. Spending a moment bringing ourselves out of our heads and back into our bodies eases tension and stress, promotes health, and unlocks joy. A simple way to do this is to play an upbeat song you love and dance (like no one’s watching).
Similarly, the act of smiling—even if you don’t feel happy—is scientifically proven to release endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. We can ‘trick’ ourselves into feeling happier by simply smiling.
Witnessing Joy
Though childhood can be a doorway to joy, one doesn’t need to have had a particularly happy or joyful childhood to claim joy in their life now. For some, recalling a time of joy can be difficult. Instead, we can connect to the idea of joy, or to someone else’s expression of joy, to imagine it for ourselves. Clients may identify the image of another person, whether in the media or known personally, that they consider to express joy and emulate them. Spending time around people that one considers to be joyful can also have an infectious effect in spurring one’s own joy.
We say that we cultivate joy because it is a practice that we must tend and nurture should we wish it to grow and remain in our lives in a permanent way. We can teach ourselves to experience joy using these exercises, and teach our brains how to recognize it in our everyday life. With practice, noticing things that bring us joy and our somatic experience of joy becomes a habit.
It is helpful to remember that joy is something that you already have and you already are. It is an experience only you can define and cultivate for yourself. Joy is a practice and a responsibility you owe to yourself. Because a life without joy is not what we signed up for.
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