Joy: a Morning Ritual

Imagine what it would feel like to begin your day by embracing your inner joy. What a great way to jump start a day. And it’s quite simple… you’ve just awakened, eyes may not yet be ready to open, and you focus your thoughts on something or someone that brings you joy, lights you up, and makes you feel expansive.

It could be anything… a thought of spending time with someone who makes you smile, a trip you have planned or a joy-filled memory, an activity you enjoy or an idea for a project you would love to tackle, or maybe something new you’ve been wanting to learn or experience. No matter what you choose for your focus, it’s a method of switching on that sense of delight.

Once you have your point of focus, experience the joy associated with it and let the feeling fill you up. Then imagine in your mind’s eye, doing a little inner dance and maybe you just can’t help physically moving to your inner rhythm.

This is exactly what I began doing, first thing in the morning, this summer. And I can’t help but think that in doing so, every cell in my being became lit up and infused with a smile. There’s an effervescence that comes with it and a feeling of expansion, as if I am filled with light bubbles. I’m finding this a great way to launch a day!

Have you ever danced for the pure joy of it in a given moment… just you, expressing your delight right then and there? If not, I highly recommend it. Your whole body gets into the act of feeling that joy and it becomes an active exuberance.

Don’t wait for someone or something to light up your life… do it for yourself.

You may also be interested in Love: a Morning Practice.

Love: A Morning Practice

With all that is going on in the world right now, and with a majority of people staying in place, this seemed like an ideal time to share a piece of my morning practice. For the past several years, I have been starting each day with love, then I carry the experience with me into my day. As you may suspect, it leaves me feeling wonderful.

The practice has evolved over the years as part of a larger morning routine. It began as statements within an I Am exercise… reciting to myself, “I am love, I am filled with love, I am surrounded by love, I am radiating love.” Meanwhile, I would visualize each statement as it crossed my mind. More and more, I began to experience the expansiveness carried with those words and this daily ritual grew over time.

The Love Practice: I start with a smile and bring to mind a memory or visual image that fills me with love and warmth. For example: I have often chosen to visualize the moment just after my daughter, Melissa, was born. Or I might imagine holding Melissa’s hand while I have the hand of a beloved aunt in my other hand. (She died many years ago before Melissa was born.) Then I let the strength of the love I feel for them fill me up, expanding beyond my physical being. I bask in the presence of love for a time, allowing it to strengthen. (It’s as if I’m being held within a protective, caring, and powerful bubble.) Then I send that love energy out to surround the planet and maybe also shared with specific people or locations. I am radiant!

In the past month, I have been visualizing love surrounding the corona virus, which I see as a mist hovering above the earth and when touched by the energy of love, the particles of the virus become pink. That’s just what I happen to have seen. You are likely to see something totally different.

In the past week, I have found myself combining my love practice with my gratitude practice and it has become more powerful, leaving me in tears. (tears of love and appreciation). Each morning, I choose one incident, experience, or person that I love, and then review the reasons I feel grateful for them. The heartfelt gratitude seems to empower the feelings of love, allowing me to fill a greater receptacle of love to send out into the world.

There are other parts of my morning practice, but they will have to wait to be shared in one or more posts in the future.

You may also be interested in, Joy: a Morning Practice