Summer became a lot for me and so I rested, I'm back now with a fall appreciation episode, well, a seasonal appreciation episode, and a check-in.

Speaking about the gifts each season brings with it, and some ways we can flow with the seasons and understand our own experience as we live within them on this earth, particularly Turtle Island, anywhere it snows really. 

Let me know how this episode lands with you, sweet human.

- Joy ♡ 

Music, art, healing work, business, or a book, what is it that you wish you could experience more of or experience at all.

Is there a particular sound you'd love to hear, or a story like yours that you want to read about?

The thing is, everyone who ever created something wished this same thing, so they did it. These people are doing one particular thing differently than those around them, they did the things they needed to create what they wanted to be available. You have this option as well in your own way, so what is that thing?

What do you want to experience, listen to, watch, or read, and with your current skillset, where can you start to create these things that you desire?

You've got this love, trust the process.

- Joy ♡

I'm in the bathtub in this one. Yes really.

What to do when you mess up and let YOURSELF down. 

The answer may be more straightforward than you have thought before.

The emotional rollercoaster of the realization can be hard to escape, and so can patterns of shame or apathy.

It's also not just about getting the laundry done or not reacting when that person you don't like says something rude.

Keeping your word with others is important, but even more so is that process within yourself.

Your self-trust is priceless.

- Joy ♡  

Why is it so important to be yourself authentically and out loud? What's the point of it and what does it do for you?

Why else is it important, aside from all the obvious benefits?

Because you deserve to live out loud in the fullest expression of yourself, you deserve to be loved for ALL that you are, always. 

You will find those who love all of you even more quickly when you align yourself with and embody your authentic self!

I love you endlessly,

- Joy ♡  

You are amazing, worthy of praise and appreciation, and self-love. 

Take some time with me today to lean into the feeling of looking back and seeing how far you have come.

I see you, doing hard things, pushing through days, weeks, months, and years of HARD shit. 

You deserve to love on yourself as fiercely or as gently as you fight your battles every day ♡

Wishing you a warm hug-like sensation,

- Joy ♡

What can we use anger for? and is it good or bad?

What does being angry feel like to you? Do you feel anger often? Is it something you avoid or embrace when it comes up?

Questions to ponder and be gently curious about as you explore your emotions, boundaries, and in doing Trauma healing work. 

Connecting to ALL of our emotions is crucial to being fully ourselves, and it is deeply important to have healthy relationships with others and with ourselves.

I wish you curiosity and self kindness on your journey.

 - Joy ♡

If you are reading this, you've found the right episode for you right now, slow down for 20 minutes and take some time for yourself and breathe while you do. Notice what arises within you and what messages you receive, thank you for arriving at this episode exactly when you need it most ♡

You deserve peace, and to have your needs and desires heard and fulfilled, period.

I wish you the courage to sit with yourself deeply, bravery in making requests, and trust in the guidance you receive.

- Joy ♡

You get to decide how you do your life, and by whose rules and ideals you live. You can choose to live hedonistically, or not, to live for happiness, or for whatever reason or purpose you want to. This is your permission to do what feels right to you, what feels good. 

If you don't already know what feels good, and you desire to be guided this way, spend some time being curious about what you know in your heart and soul to be what you desire. Visualize what It would feel like to have it already. What if the passion project were fulfilled, the peace embodied, or the relationship built, whatever it is. Then run headlong with bravery in the direction of any action that takes you closer to that.

Special thanks to Adrienne from Yoga with Adrienne for introducing me to the concept of "finding what feels good." ♡

- Joy

This one goes out to everyone who feels tired, exhausted, burnt out, and otherwise being told by your body that you need to rest.

Circumstances don't always make it easy to give yourself the rest you need, recognizing that, and taking the power back to give yourself what you need is so important. 

Retail workers, healthcare professionals, students, and more, I see you, it's not easy to work so hard & so much and not have your needs met by your employer or the nature of the work you do, be kind to yourself, please.

Also, a special shoutout to moms for having a Ph.D. in Tired and pushing through it, you deserve to rest much more than you are often afforded by motherhood, I see you.

Take a nap y'all,

- Joy ♡

Having the capacity to allow our own feelings to exist and be expressed is such an important piece of emotional intelligence. 

What does it mean to lean in? What are some ways to "lean in" and feel what we feel and express It healthily? How can we expand our capacity for emotion and lessen discomfort? 

My own thoughts on this go without saying that there is so much more to this puzzle, I'm just providing a few of the pieces and asking you to decide where they might go and what to do with them. If these concepts feel foreign or overwhelming to you, be curious and gentle with yourself in wondering why, or ask for support to figure that out.

- Joy <3