Close your eyes and imagine you are at your favorite sporting game, with thousands of people cheering a chant in unison. Arms flailing through the air; a goal is made. A smile beaming from ear to ear, hands clapping as loud as possible, feet stomping on the bleachers. What may be happening inside your body as you experience this wonder? 

Your cells bouncing at supersonic speeds, blood flowing ever so quickly, hands tingling, mind clear, with a very warm heart. 

If that’s not something you can relate to, imagine you’re at your favorite concert, one you’ve been waiting to see for a full year; or maybe it’s an artist you’ve been wishing to see your whole life. Everyone is singing the lyrics together in tune, swaying side to side. You look around as thousands are emanating love like no other. A smile beaming from ear to ear. What does that feel like within your body? 

Your cells bouncing at supersonic speeds, blood flowing ever so quickly, electricity circulating all around the subtle body, hands tingling, mind clear, with a very warm heart.  

You feel so alive, more alive than you’ve ever felt. 

This somatic experience is what I would describe as joy. 

Now, there are many other ways to describe this feeling, a first kiss in marriage, puppy breath, a baby born into this world, lying in savasana, a backstroke in the middle of the ocean, or slow dancing on the beach. All have one thing in common, and that is the alignment of joy within the brain, heart, mind and soul. Evoking Joy invites a flow state within that vibrates at the highest frequency. The frequency of joy has the ability to heal the self on every single level, as research has proven joy can actually repair DNA.

So what if we could access DNA repairing joy on a regular basis, without an adrenaline rush, or without a monumental life change? What if we can experience true joy every single day just by existing? 

I believe that by Evoking Joy, you can heal generations of trauma, lifetimes of pain, years of fears and phobias, and live a life you only dared to dream of.

In the self-help community, our “healing” is so focused on going into the darkest of depths. Whether through the shadow, the psyche, or somatically, we are actively confronting our most painful wounds, which can sometimes result in hopelessness and despair if not paired with joy, pleasure and ease. We spend so much time in the pain, in the acknowledgement, and the resurfacing of the suffering. This is necessary in many schools of healing, but what if we permitted ourselves to feel joy during our healing process, or better yet- welcome joy into the healing process as a faithful companion and friend?

A question to ask yourself, what if you invited in more joy? Could healing be less painful and more gentle in the places most tender?

How often after therapy do you feel like the best prescription could very much be joy?

So why don’t we encourage it more? 

Joy can be foreign… illegal even. So many are ridden with guilt for feeling joy, whether conscious of it or not, many even sabotage joy to continue feeling negative emotions just to feel familiar and comfortable, perhaps because their identities are wrapped in difficult emotional realities, or thought loops. Some feel as though that they don't deserve to be in joy or that because people are suffering, joy shouldn't be accessible, or permitted, as if joy is a privilege. 

If joy and pleasure are not experienced on a regular basis, it may be hard to trust when they do arise, as somewhere along the way, you’ve been told they’re not real or that they won’t last. 

A few years back, I traveled to Southeast Asia. Upon visiting a small village in Myramar, my heart could hardly bear to witness this level of poverty. Tears flooded down my face, leaving me in complete dismay. I asked the universe, “why?” over and over again, not understanding how it all works, and why I had chosen the life I have. After being in the village for a short while, I noticed the people smiled brighter than I had in months, with money, no luxury, no cars, no stable roofing even, and definitely no podcasts. These people had the bare minimum, and yet felt more in joy than I could possibly imagine. Why?

Because joy is a state of being.

So how do you call in joy, bottle it up and bring it out everyday? 

Practice.

Much like any muscle or habit, treating joy as such, will train your brain to visit this place more frequently. your heart and body already know how to get there. They both feel at home in this state, but your minds need convincing again and again.

By understanding your brain is going with whatever flow you are in, you have the power to change your thoughts. If there’s a thought pattern of negativity, perhaps victimization or catastrophization, you will continue to think in this way until the pattern is interrupted. That’s where I come in, with the support of microdosing psilocybin, Evoking Joy can be a great tool to support you to invite pleasure and play into your life.