SEIZING JOY WITHIN THE SUFFERING WORLD
A FREE WORKSHOP FOR YOU TODAY
JOY WITHIN THE SUFFERING
A One-Hour Workshop for FREE
Please pass this on and spread joy.
Central Intention
Joy does not require us to deny suffering.
We are not being asked to look away from the anguish of the world, minimize another person’s pain, or paste a smile over our own heartbreak. We are practicing the capacity to hold more than one truth:
Life is devastating.
Life is astonishing.
Both are here.
Joy is not an escape from reality. It is one of the ways we remain strong enough to meet reality with love.
0–5 MINUTES: ARRIVAL
Invite everyone to sit comfortably, place both feet on the ground, and gently close or soften their eyes.
Opening Breath
Take three slow breaths together.
On the inhale, silently say:
I am willing to receive this life.
On the exhale:
I do not have to carry all of it at once.
Place one hand on the heart and one hand on the belly.
Notice what is difficult today.
Do not fix it.
Do not dramatize it.
Simply acknowledge it.
Now notice one thing that is good.
Perhaps it is the breath entering your body, the presence of another person, the light in the room, or the fact that you made it here.
Allow the difficult thing and the good thing to coexist.
5–10 MINUTES: OPENING WORDS
Read these quotations slowly:
“God, today both the beautiful and the terrible are so intensely present.”
—Kate Bowler“You can’t always be happy. But you can be joyful, anyway.”
—Kate Bowler“To lead a passionate, full, and delightful life, we must realize we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure.”
—Pema Chödrön
Teaching
Joy and suffering are not opposites.
The opposite of joy may be numbness—the refusal or inability to feel the full magnitude of being alive.
Real joy has room for grief. It does not ask grief to leave the room before it enters. It sits beside sorrow and says:
I am here too.
Joy is not a reward for finishing our healing. It is nourishment for continuing it.
10–15 MINUTES: THE LEO INVITATION
The Sun and Jupiter in Leo ask us to remember that the world is a stage—and that our most important stage is the small, precious orb of our own life.
We may not be able to control what is happening across the entire world. But we can become responsible for the quality of attention, generosity, creativity, and play we bring to our particular corner of it.
Leo asks:
Where has the light gone out in you?
What makes you feel unmistakably alive?
Where are you waiting for permission to play?
What would it mean to participate wholeheartedly in your own life?
With full effort, how can you focus your attention upon what sparks aliveness, joy, creativity, warmth, and play?
Turn to a partner and complete this sentence:
“When I am most alive, I am…”
Each person shares for one uninterrupted minute.
15–22 MINUTES: FIVE FREE DOORWAYS TO JOY
In your journal, name five free ways you can deliberately bring your attention toward joy.
These must cost nothing and require no one else’s permission.
Examples might include:
Looking at the sky
Dancing to one song
Calling someone you love
Walking without your phone
Singing
Playing with an animal
Stretching in the sunlight
Reading a poem aloud
Making someone laugh
Savoring your morning drink
Gardening
Remembering someone who loved you well
Complimenting a stranger
Lying on the floor and breathing
Listening closely to birdsong
Now circle the one you can practice today.
Reflection
Joy often arrives through attention rather than acquisition.
Ask yourself:
How much joy is already available that I have been too distracted, hurried, worried, or self-conscious to receive?
22–29 MINUTES: HOW I LEECH MY OWN JOY
Joy is sometimes taken from us by circumstances. But we also need the courage to notice the ways we drain it from ourselves.
Name five ways you leech your own joy.
Possible joy leeches include:
Doomscrolling
Comparing yourself with others
Complaining without taking action
Rehearsing old injuries
Rushing
Perfectionism
Waiting for everyone else to be happy
Feeling guilty whenever you feel good
Overscheduling
Remaining in draining conversations
Catastrophizing
Refusing help
Believing rest must be earned
Taking yourself too seriously
Treating pleasure as frivolous
Looking for what is wrong when something is going well
Place a star beside the joy leech that costs you the most.
Complete these sentences:
This habit promises to protect me from…
But it actually costs me…
One way I will interrupt it is…
29–36 MINUTES: THE MICRO-JOY INVENTORY
Make a list of the smallest things you do during an ordinary day that could raise your joy if you gave them your full attention.
Do not search for spectacular experiences. Look for the nearly invisible moments.
Consider:
Waking beneath warm covers
Feeling water on your face
Brushing your hair
Drinking the first sip of coffee or tea
Hearing someone you love moving through the house
Opening a curtain
Watching steam rise
Applying lotion
Choosing what to wear
Smelling soap
Taking the first bite of food
Receiving a text
Hearing a familiar voice
Laughing unexpectedly
Walking from one room to another
Stepping outside
Feeling air on your skin
Seeing a plant growing
Washing a dish
Folding something warm
Turning off a light
Getting into bed
Write for three uninterrupted minutes:
The tiny moments I am no longer willing to miss are…
Then choose one routine activity that will become your joy bell this week.
Each time you do it, stop for ten seconds and receive the experience completely.
36–44 MINUTES: THE CONDITIONS PLACED UPON JOY
Reflect privately:
What were your earliest messages about joy?
Were you taught that joy had to be earned through good behavior, hard work, beauty, achievement, obedience, usefulness, sacrifice, or pleasing others?
Were you taught:
Do not get too excited.
Something bad will happen.
Other people have it worse.
Stop showing off.
Be serious.
Work comes before play.
Do not be selfish.
Happiness never lasts.
You can celebrate when everything is finished.
Your joy makes other people uncomfortable.
Write down the messages you received.
Now ask:
Whose voice do I hear when I begin to feel “too” happy?
What did joy threaten in my family or culture?
What might become possible if joy no longer had to be deserved?
Complete this sentence:
“I was taught that joy was conditional upon…”
Then write:
“What I choose to believe now is…”
44–50 MINUTES: YOUR JOY CEILING
Rate your current capacity for joy from 1 to 10.
1
It is not okay for me to be joyful when the world is suffering.
5
I permit moments of joy, but I often become anxious, guilty, or suspicious when they last.
10
Full, unbridled joy is my birthright, and my joy strengthens my capacity to serve life.
Write down your number without judging it.
Now reflect:
What happens inside me when life becomes very good?
Do I relax into it?
Or do I brace for loss, search for a problem, pick a fight, minimize the moment, or become busy?
Joy-Ceiling Experiment
What would moving up by one point look like?
Not from 4 to 10.
From 4 to 5.
Name one behavior that represents your next level:
Letting a compliment land
Celebrating before the next task
Sharing good news without apologizing
Taking an afternoon off
Laughing loudly
Wearing something playful
Accepting help
Dancing without performing
Saying yes to pleasure
Allowing a good moment to remain uncomplicated
Complete:
“I can safely allow this much more joy…”
50–55 MINUTES: THE JOY BOOSTERS
Name three people in your life who raise your joy meter.
These are people whose presence helps you become lighter, freer, more playful, more courageous, or more fully yourself.
Beside each name, write exactly what that person does that nourishes your joy.
Do they:
Laugh easily?
Delight in you?
Encourage your creativity?
Help you take yourself less seriously?
Notice beauty?
Make room for your feelings?
Invite adventure?
Celebrate your successes?
Remind you of your goodness?
Make a commitment to thank all three people today.
Your message can be simple:
“I was thinking today about the people who increase my joy. You are one of them. Thank you for the particular light you bring into my life.”
Do not wait until people are gone to tell them how much life they gave you.
55–60 MINUTES: CLOSING JOY PRACTICE
Place both feet on the floor.
Bring to mind something that is genuinely difficult in your life or in the world.
Silently say:
This suffering is real.
Take a breath.
Now bring to mind something beautiful, funny, tender, or alive.
Silently say:
This joy is also real.
Take another breath.
Imagine making room in your heart for both realities.
Neither cancels the other.
Repeat together:
I do not betray suffering by experiencing joy.
I do not need a perfect world to love this world.
My joy is not denial.
My joy is a source of strength.
I will notice what is beautiful.
I will protect what is alive.
I will bring more play to the small orb of my life.
Please share with me when you use this workshop with friends or family
We all can use more JOY love jen