Joy Can Be Difficult to Attain...

Sitting on my meditation cushion this morning, I observed and felt all of the different emotions I was experiencing, and witnessed how complex this blooming time of year is!

It's so beautiful, hopeful, and exciting... and can also bring up anxiety. This blooming time of year reminds me of right before we do anything big; no matter how awesome and exciting it can be, it brings up a lot of nerves and can feel manic.

Welcome to the fire season of the heart! It's joyful and anxiety-producing all at once.

The heart's energy (Qi), when balanced, feels naturally joyful and peaceful. These words, joy or peace, especially when knowing that it's our true nature, can make us feel pressure that we should be feeling this, but so often, many of us don't.

Meditation teacher and author Tara Brach gave a wonderful talk on this and shared a poem called Tripping Over Joy by Hafiz, which sums this up:

What is the difference

Between your experience of Existence

And that of a saint?

The saint knows

That the spiritual path

Is a sublime chess game with God

And that the Beloved

Has just made such a Fantastic Move

That the saint is now continually

Tripping over Joy

And bursting out in Laughter

And saying, "I Surrender!"

Whereas, my dear, I am afraid you still think

You have a thousand serious moves.

It's like we're living a life as a problem to be solved rather than a mystery to be lived,

So what if we knew that something good was about to happen? What a different mindset that would be - so freeing! Rather than constantly scanning for what needs to be fixed or changed, what if we were to notice what's beautiful, or what went well, or who did things right?

But too often we are in a trance that life should be different. And it takes on two forms: that life should be different because I want something more, or it needs to be different because something is wrong.

When we notice we're trapped in this mindset, we can unhook from it and just be with what is right now.

But it takes noticing the habit pattern.

Often, the 'if only' mind has us fixated on "if only our partner would do things differently," or "if only I were healthy..." and these things can be true, but we get fixated on them and start comparing our lives to others; and comparison is the ultimate killer of joy.

When we're in the 'something's wrong' mode, we're pushing away and tensing for what's around the corner... we're doing our '1000 serious moves'.

So what changes that set point? Being grounded in presence. Now is OK.

Now I'm breathing in, and now I'm breathing out.

The heart space that says 'everything that is, is welcome'.

Dropping resistance to what is, regardless of how difficult it can feel, brings us into a peaceful state. Peace and joy can be attained at any moment by releasing resistance. It's really that simple, but it takes self-observation.

A practice called 'Gladdening the Mind' directs us towards joy because we tend to go in the opposite direction; we lean towards what blocks it. Gratitude immediately brings joy to the mind. It changes the body-mind chemistry. And this is a habit that we can cultivate.

May you have a peaceful weekend, being with whatever is, without resistance!

Hope to breathe with you soon.

From my heart to yours~

Namaste,

Maggie