3 Simple Ways To Experience Joy, And Make It Stay

Written by: Silvana Avram, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

Do you sometimes wonder why we take life so seriously? Watching people passing by…in a hurry, I can’t help but ask myself…have we got this all wrong?

Being able to find joy should be so easy! Yet, in our hyperactive society we seem to have lost touch with our ability to laugh often, and full-heartedly. In our fascination with complexity, we tend to overlook…simplicity.

There is a simple way to make our world better! Replace worry, stress, and any form of negativity…with joy!

Let me ask you this: When have you last contemplated the simple Joy of Being?

I know. You’re not alone! We are so busy doing things, that we forget to be!

And that is why today, I want to remind you that finding joy is simple, and easy. And that you can make joy your primary emotion. Now and forever. Really!

Why is this important?

Because no matter who you are, and what you do, it is those moments of pure joy that stay forever in your memory.

And because, by reconnecting with joy, you will help shift our common negative paradigm as humanity.

If you want to feel better about your life and about the world – there is one simple thing that you can do instantly: open your heart to joy!

It is easier than you think. You can do it if you decide to.

In this article, I will show you how.

But let me start with the why.

As a Life Coach, it is my privilege to work with many wonderful people. And I know that everyone wants to do their best, to contribute to society. Yet in our natural and noble drive to do more, to achieve more, we seem to have less and less time to stop and take it all in, to allow space for contemplation, to simply be. Around us things are changing fast. New possibilities are opening at a frightening speed. There are so many things to learn, experiences to test, ideas to react to…that we seem to be forever in a hurry.

We go from one excitement to the next, our emotions surfing the ups and downs of so many external stimuli, that at the end of the day we are left tired and empty.

No matter how honest our will to succeed, how great our ambitions, how noble our goals, if joy is missing from our life, we will never be truly happy.

When you learn to bring joy into your life consistently, everything changes.

You open up to new perspectives, you embrace new possibilities. You rediscover a sense of wonder, of trust, and serenity.

After years of study, personal transformation, and Coaching experience I have come to the conclusion that the first thing we need to address in order to shift energy and unleash our potential is to develop our ability to find, and consistently experience joy.

To me, joy is the sign of true and genuine success.

If you achieve something but you don’t experience joy – it is quite probable that your achievement is not fully aligned with who you are.

It’s one of those things you do. It does not really make you happy.

To be happy, you must relearn to be.

Joy is the number one ingredient for a life lived fully.

I am here to tell you that bringing back joy into your life and making it stay is easier than you think! No matter who you are, no matter what your wounds and experiences, you can live joyfully.

Of course, I am not talking about superficial joy or cheerfulness, the type you can fake easily. I am talking about deep and lasting joy, joy that fills you and radiates from you and becomes the essence of who you are.

Too often in my initial coaching discussions I notice a certain resistance to the concept of joy. People are suspicious. Our culture doesn’t seem to take joy seriously. It’s normally seen as fluff, shallow enthusiasm, or simply a by-product of more consistent achievements. It’s all down to the same confusion between doing /having and being.

I’m not sure why we are so afraid to slow down and allow ourselves to simply be. It may have something to do with our reptilian brain, which prompts us to either fight, flight, or freeze – and sees relaxing into being as dangerous. It is also, undoubtedly, one of the consequences of our educational systems and the predominant values in our society.

Yet, it is those moments of being that stay longer with us, those moments of pure joy and oneness that we always remember fondly.

And the good news is that being human comes with one priceless privilege: a higher level of consciousness and free will.

We can choose to live joyfully.

To bring back joy into your life and make it stay, you must relearn to be.

When you look back at your life, you don’t tend to remember the busy morning when you didn’t even have time for coffee, or the endless hours spent at work, or doing chores around the house. Instead, you remember a beautiful sunrise, the smell of a good, warm cup of tea, an inspiring conversation, a loving hug…You remember those special moments of laughter and shared celebration, or the feeling of peace and oneness you experienced whilst sitting quietly. And you remember the wonderful discoveries you’ve made during your travels, the time spent in nature, or the visit to an art gallery…You remember those moments of joy and serenity, of communion, of freedom and lightness…those moments when you had time… to be.

This does not mean that other experiences are not valuable. All those moments of doubt, of pain, of grief, of tiredness and worry, that we all encounter in our life…shape us into who we are. They offer powerful lessons of expansion and transformation and push us to become better, stronger, more forgiving, more patient – wiser. Without them, we would not be the complex persons that we are. Every experience that we have, as humans, is an opportunity to connect deeper with our humanity.

And yet, there is something very special about the experience of joy. It makes our heart sing. It feels like a blessing – a moment of grace. If feels like an opening to something larger than us. When we feel joy, we are in communion with all there is. We expand into infinity. We get a taste of Eternity.

With a bit of training, you can learn to transform any experience into a precious gift, open your mind and heart completely, and never ever lose your connection with joy.

I am not saying it is easy. But I want you to know that it is possible. I’ve seen it happen, I’ve experienced it.

In fact, I am so passionate about empowering my clients, my students, my readers, and everyone I get to meet…to reconnect to the profound and lasting source of joy available to all of us, that I have made living joyfully the overarching theme of all my coaching and teaching.

I believe that we must all make living joyfully our priority.

My experience as a Life Coach, Teacher, and human being…has taught me that ultimately nothing is more important in life than to be able to consciously create, savour and store as many moments of pure joy as possible, in our memory.

When we are joyful, our heart opens – we are kind and generous. We feel inspired, and free. We feel like we belong. We respect our past and trust our future. We embrace life fearlessly. That is how powerful joy is!

And right now, humanity needs a good dose of joy, I am sure you agree.

Let’s do our best – together, to shift the stifling dominant negative paradigms in our society!

We are not alone. Once you start to open to joy, you will feel inspired – and able to inspire – everyone around you.

Since you are taking the time to read this article, I am assuming that at some level, your heart is longing for more joy.

It is with great …joy that I would like to welcome you and assure you that you are on the right path.

Without further ado, let me share with you 3 simple, yet powerful ways to experience joy – to take time to simply be and reconnect with the Joy of Being.

I’m going to show you how to invite joy in, as often as you can, until joy settles in your heart permanently.

All you need to do is commit to open to joy and start paying attention. Rather than being at the mercy of external circumstances, you will learn to connect with the Joy of Being, purposefully, deliberately.

Promise yourself that from now on, you will make sure, every day, to save at least one moment of pure joy, for eternity.

Ready?

3 Simple (yet Powerful) Ways to Experience Joy, and Make it Stay.

I put together the suggestions below knowing that you are busy.

Commit to implement them every day. Five minutes or so should be enough – you want to make it easy. Commitment, though, is key. If you consistently implement these techniques daily, they will naturally become part of your routine and before you know it, expand into a way of being.

Trust the process. Once you allow joy in, it will start to transform you.

1. Smile. Do it regularly and consciously.

Hold your smile for a while and allow it to expand until you feel your heart smiling too.

Please, don’t dismiss this suggestion as too obvious – give it a try and you will see, it is very powerful.

The simplest way to instantly connect with joy, at a physical and psychological level, is to smile. If smiling does not come easily to you, say this, mentally: “I allow myself to smile”… and notice what happens.

Throughout the day, there are many opportunities to smile. We normally respond when other people smile to us, or find ourselves smiling when we remember something nice, or simply enjoy what we are doing.

But what I would like you to do is train yourself to smile more often, more deeply and more sincerely.

Smile for the Joy of Being.

Smile to allow joy in the moment. Smile to think of something that makes you feel good.

Can you hold your smile for thirty seconds, or more? Be brave! See what happens! There is much talk in the fitness world about holding the plank for a minute or more. Surely, holding a smile has to be easier? Try it! By smiling regularly and purposely, you are training your mind and sending a strong signal to your brain, telling it that you intend to be happy.

You could even set a reminder on your phone, several times a day, to prompt you to smile. After all, smiling is as important as all those other things you have reminders for… Take a smile break several times a day. Stop what you are doing and allow yourself to be. Look around and smile…Look around as if you were discovering everything anew. Acknowledge your feelings. Relax into a moment of peace. A moment you would like to revisit again and again. A precious moment in Eternity.

If you want to go deeper into this practice you can imagine that your smile is like the sun, shining radiantly, melting away all resistance, all residues of fear or anger or worry, taking over your body, your emotions, and your mind, gently expanding to your surroundings…until it envelops everything around you, and starts touching other people too.

See how far you are willing to go.

You can hold the world in your smile when you decide to.

If you feel ready, let your smile synchronise with the opening of your heart, to embrace all there is.

Soon, your urge to smile will be stronger than you! It may well make those around you smile more often too! Smiling is contagious. You will see!

2. Notice the beauty around you. Take every opportunity to look for beauty. Acknowledge your own beauty.

Noticing the beauty around you is perhaps the easiest way to reconnect with being. Even when you are not able to find time to simply be, you can at least look around and notice beauty. Wherever you are on this planet, you can look at the sky or feel the ground beneath your feet, admire the resilience of a majestic tree, marvel at the thirst for life of a tiny insect, or take in the exquisite perfection of a flower.

And yet…are you doing it often enough? Are you allowing beauty to speak to you, to heal you, to uplift you?

Promise yourself, today, to really open your eyes and your heart to the beauty that surrounds you.

Retrain to look at life with fresh eyes. It isn’t just nature carrying infinite beauty.

When you look at the objects around you, acknowledge the wonderful ideas that brought them into being. The creativity, the craft, the hard work.

Every object you touch has a story. Stop to honour it and receive its gift.

Listen. There is music in everything – from the birds in the sky, the wind, the water falling…to the food cooking on the stove and the clinking of the glasses, to the subtle rhythm of your breathing.

Retrain yourself to look for the magic in everything – and you will be overwhelmed by the abundance of beauty that is bestowed on us.

By doing this, you reconnect with the essence of all life forms – you reconnect with being.

What a privilege to be alive! To be able to take in all the beauty!

And what a beautiful creature you are! An intelligent, sensitive human being, able to reflect the beauty of the world, able to hold infinity in your thoughts, able to love and connect, able to dream and create!

Acknowledge your thoughts, your feelings, your reactions…Acknowledge your own beauty!

Relearn to pay attention.

Even when you are in a hurry, you can allow yourself to be inspired by beauty.

There is so much abundance all around us – open your mind to see it, open your heart to receive it.

Every time you do it, you will feel recharged and rewarded!

And, without knowing, you will allow joy in!

3. Put your hand on your heart and say this to yourself, quietly: Wow, I am me!! I am alive! I am Life!

I guess at first you won’t find this easy. Such a direct connection to being is not, sadly, part of the curriculum we follow in schools, or the prevalent “wisdom” in our society. And yet, when you stop for a second to notice the rhythm of your breathing or listen to the beat of your heart, you can’t escape an overwhelming sense of wonder.

To be is a miracle.

Let me say this again:

To be is a miracle! The most extraordinary, mind-blowing, and beautiful mystery.

To be is a miracle. But to be you – is even more incredible! You – the one, unrepeatable, unique you, in all infinity!

I know you may not want to believe me, but it’s true. There has never been, and there will never be another being just like you.

What a privilege – to be you! And what responsibility!

Take a break, every day, to listen to the beat of your heart. Acknowledge the miracle of being.

Do it first thing in the morning, when you wake up. Do it as often as you can throughout the day. Do it just before you fall asleep.

It only takes one minute to reconnect with being you.

Know that just by being you, you have a place in the endless story of Life.

Just by being you, you have a place in Eternity.

We all do.

By celebrating yourself, you learn to celebrate everyone else. You learn to celebrate humanity. You learn to celebrate Life.

Allow this sense of wonder in your life and you will see how it lights up your day, how it opens your heart to joy and gratitude.

Take a moment, every now and then, throughout the day, to acknowledge being.

Every time you do it you allow peace and trust to settle in.

Every time you do it, you deepen your connection with yourself, with everyone around you and with Life.

Make a commitment to invite more joy into your life. Start today!

These simple, yet powerful ways to experience Joy are always available to you. They will help you shift your focus from doing to being. They will help you get going.

Practice them, go deeper, make them yours, make them part of your daily ritual for allowing more joy into your life.

Consciously, lovingly, create precious moments of being – beautiful and lasting memories.

Take a moment every day to step out of time and just be. Anchor these moments in Eternity.

Smile. Let your smile shine like a radiant sun.

Look at the world with fresh eyes. Acknowledge and honour the beauty inside you and around you.

Take time every day to celebrate being you.

Celebrate life! Let life celebrate itself through you!

With time, you will develop your own preferred way of living joyfully.

Eventually, if you allow it to, joy will become your predominant emotion, your way of being.

And a life lived in joy is the most wonderful gift you can give to yourself, to those you love, to your community, and to humanity.

Make Joy your Legacy, in Eternity.

If you feel inspired and committed to follow your heart’s call and bring more joy into your life, join me in the Living Joyfully workshop I run regularly, where we go deep into reconnecting with the simple – and sacred joy of being. This workshop is profoundly transformational. It is for you if you are committed to leaving your fears and blockages behind and choosing joy – no matter what. We learn to understand joy as the essence of who we are, and the only legacy we take with us in Eternity.

Honestly, what can be more important than Living Joyfully?

I hope you agree.

Thank you for being here and for being open. You now know how to access joy in every moment. You know that, with care and practice, you can make joy your primary experience.

You don’t have to be at the mercy of external circumstances. You don’t have to wait for joy to come to you. Instead, you open to it, you invite it in – and make joy your most loyal companion.

You can consciously create, and cherish, moments of pure joy.

Commit to look for joy, and it will find you!

As mentioned in my introduction, for this article I picked the three aspects that I find most transformational, yet easy to implement immediately.

If you would like to read about other simple ways to tap into joy, I warmly recommend you check these two articles, each offering insights into how to cultivate joy from a different perspective.

In this article from Oprah Daily, for example, you will find a series of very practical suggestions that you can apply instantly, like making a joy list, being kind and generous, spending time outdoors, cultivating gratitude or avoiding negative news.

Equally, in this article from Tony Robbins’ team, you will learn that to allow more joy into your life you must let go of the past, change your physiology, and find your purpose.

Joy is a topic so close to my heart. I never tire of writing and talking about it. You can read my latest blogs and share your thoughts with me here.

I’d be delighted to hear from you or meet you in one of my workshops.

For now, make a commitment to bring more joy into your life. Believe that you can live joyfully!

Start today.

Start with a smile. Look out for beauty. Listen to your heartbeat.

Stay open.

Stay inspired.

Joy is calling!

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info!

Read more from Silvana!

Silvana Avram, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Silvana Avram is a successful, Inspirational Life Coach, philosopher, author, teacher, and founder of Life Coaching with Silvana – whose mission is to empower us to embrace our uniqueness, fall in love with life, fulfill our potential and create a beautiful legacy.

Fascinated from a young age by the mystery of life and our place in the universe, Silvana has been on a quest to find her own answers to the big existential questions facing humanity. Now an acclaimed Coach and Author, she draws on her extensive study of Philosophy, Psychology, Meditation, Holistic Healing, and Spirituality to create a uniquely inspirational and empowering style of Coaching – also reflected in her Book “Being You and Loving You” in which she guides us through an unforgettable, transformative journey of self-discovery and self-love.

Convinced that we can overcome the prevalent paradigms of fear and division, Silvana has recently focussed her attention on developing a radically innovative approach, outlined in her upcoming book, “Living in Eternity” – and which has earned her an unexpected nickname: “Miss Eternity”! She argues passionately that, rather than chasing goal after goal and living for tomorrow, we should, instead, live every day, every moment, with the joy, awe, and serenity we experience when we see our lives from the perspective of Eternity. When we choose to live in Eternity, everything falls into place, everything we do takes on a different meaning, and we become aware that, as humanity, we are, in fact, constantly creating our common legacy.

Silvana’s ambition: is to inspire us to write a better story for ourselves – and for humanity – in Eternity!