As a result, I am a big believer in the healing power of joy and play.
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“ If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment.”
– CARLOS SANTANA
Over time if we don’ t settle our nervous systems, we end up operating from crisis management mode, stuck in our amygdala, scanning for danger, and feeling more stressed and overwhelmed as a result. When we are in our fight / flight / freeze reaction, it is difficult to give ourselves permission to play and reclaim joy.
I lived that way for years caring for a daughter with chronic health challenges and know how overwhelming and exhausting it can be. In truth, my biggest self-nurturing lessons came from living in crisis management mode and feeling unable to carry on with the weight of grief and hopelessness. I asked the universe what the antidote to this profound despair was and surprisingly I heard the word“ joy.”
Shortly after I found this JM Nouwen’ s quote,“ Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day,” and my self-nurturing journey began. Desperate to change how I was feeling, I committed to choosing joy every day. I created a joy list, and regularly practiced joy.
Over time my overwhelm and exhaustion transformed into peace and joy and from this healing and transformation, my business Cultivating Peace and Joy was born.
As a result, I am a big believer in the healing power of joy and play.
In my decades of facilitating workshops and counseling clients, I have witnessed how transformative it is when people give themselves permission to be playful. Play opens a portal to access joy and invites people into the present moment. It allows people to not take themselves so seriously and provides a reprieve from the heaviness of life.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
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