Expressive Joy Practice
If one takes a circle and splits it into four sections, this creates a basis for our emotions - fear, sadness, anger and joy, with all nuances fitting under those.
Learning to express emotions can be intense...many have been taught to just shut up, suck it up, make money and no one cares about you. This is damaging.
And this can be difficult as one can see there are three 'bad' emotion sections and only one 'good' emotion section. Joy is powerful though! It can all be healing
A positive emotion is the equivalent of three negative ones, and is nourishing and enervating. SO let's practice positive emotions in our everyday life.
Things to percolate:
What is one way to add more positivity into my day?
examples: Cheer aloud, smile at self when passing a mirror, smile at someone when passing them, send loving kindness to someone who is bothersome, practice laughter yoga, read or listen to a book on joy, write a poem or lyrics on joy, listen to music about joy, meditate on joy, do a guided meditation on joy, write the word 'joy' in big bubble letters and colour it in, take a class in or study joy, talk to others about joy, explore how your mind works and if it's working for you, etc..
How can I make joy a daily part of my life?
@Dallady
Well said. Sometimes it's a bit hard to manage emotions. Your examples are such good ideas as well. Since I like to read, I think it would be great to ready a positive self-help book. :) Thanks for sharing Dallady💜
I feel like relief also fits into joy, and sometimes sitting down with the "bad" emotions for a moment and just letting them be in a way that doesn't hurt anyone, including yourself, is a big relief. It can feel good later, yknow? Always being happy is like when it's too bright outside, it's important to have the night for various reasons, and then you appreciate the daytime more too!
@LonleyCheese
Yes I was talking about this today, and many other times in the three decades I've been in healing work - honoring the day AND night, the recovery AND the trauma and all emotions are of course important...the point of the post being though to ensure that joy isn't left out or forgotten in the wake of the rest of the emotions which can feel more urgent and intense.
