PHOTO: PEOPLEIMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM32
february/march 2019yogajournal.com.auPractice: Welcome
Joy’s Opposite
Every sensation, emotion, and
cognition, whether positive or negative,
is half of a whole. This is true for joy,
too. When you welcome joy into your
life, its opposite may come forward in
the form of a negative feeling. For
example, when you try to experience joy
in the face of an illness, accident, or
dissolution of a relationship, you can
end up with unresolved feelings like
sadness, grief, and shame. Instead of
falling into despair, use an exercise
called Welcoming the Opposite of Joy,
which allows you to invite these feelings
in as messengers that help you
experience healing and resolution. Try
this practice next time you’re
experiencing a negative sensation,
emotion, thought, or life event, or even
during a thought or experience that is
overall positive but doesn’t necessarily
evoke joy—like fi nding a good parking
spot. You’ll be surprised by how this
simple exercise can have such a
life-changing effect.
With your eyes open or closed,
welcome the environment and sounds
around you: the touch of air on your
skin, sensations where your body
touches the surface that’s supporting it,
your body breathing, and sensations
present throughout your body.
Now, locate a feeling of joy in your
body. This could be a feeling of
connection, well-being, peace,
happiness, or any sensation that feels
like joy to you. If it’s helpful, bring to
mind a memory of a person, animal,
place, or object that evokes joy. Noticewhere and how you experience that joy in
your body—perhaps it’s a warm feeling in
your heart or a glow in your belly.
Welcome and allow the feeling of joy to
grow and spread throughout your body.
Now, pair your joy with an opposite,
stressful sensation, emotion, or
cognition, or with a particular stressor
in your life. Feel how this stressful
thought, emotion, or situation affects
your body and mind.
Now, alternate between experiencing
the feeling of joy and the stressor. Go
back and forth, fi rst feeling joy in your
body, then the stressor. Then, feel both
at the same time, letting joy spread
throughout your body even as you feel
the stressor. When it feels right,
relinquish the stressor and just feel joy
radiating throughout your body. Rest
here for as long as you feel comfortable.
When you’re ready, let your eyes open
and close several times as you encourage
the feeling of joy to accompany you into
your daily life.Practice: Welcome
Gratitude & Joy
Another practice for welcoming joy is to
spend time experiencing gratitude
moments—welcoming feelings of
gratitude and joy into body and mind.
You do this by taking time to recall that
which you’re thankful for. Research
shows that people who regularly
practice gratitude moments are more
joyful and experience less depression
than those who don’t.
The following is good to do at night,
before falling asleep. With your eyes
open or closed, welcome the environ-ment and sounds around you: the touch
of air on your skin, sensations where
your body touches the surface that’s
supporting it, your body breathing,
and sensations present throughout your
body.
Welcome into your body feelings of
gratitude and joy: perhaps for a friend
or animal in your life; for where you
live; for something someone has done
for you; for having food, shelter, and
clothing; or for simply being alive.
Allow feelings of gratitude and joy to
spread throughout your body. Feel an
inner smile or your heart growing
warm. Allow feelings of gratitude to
expand and radiate throughout your
body, and into the space all around you.
Notice opposite feelings that may
arise, such as disappointment, grief,
and unhappiness. As opposites arise,
welcome them. Then, in turn, welcome
feelings of gratitude and joy. Allow grat-
itude to saturate every part of your body
that feels, or has felt, unhappy. When it
feels right, let go of all opposites, allow-
ing yourself to feel only gratitude and
joy, for no reason at all.
When you’re ready, open and close
your eyes several times while affi rming
your intention to feel gratitude and joy
throughout your day. When you awake,
go about your activities knowing that
gratitude and joy are always with you,
wherever you are, whatever you’re
doing, whomever you’re with, helping
you feel connected to yourself and the
world around you.
Practice resting in feelings of gratitude
and joy during meditation, whenever
you’re falling asleep and waking up, and
as you go about your day. Taking in
small, regular daily doses of gratitude
and joy goes a long way toward enhancing
your overall health and well-being.Moving forward
Yogic meditation invites you to treat
every life event you encounter as an
opportunity to remember, experience,
and strengthen your realisation of joy as
innate and ever-present, no matter what
your circumstances. Accessing joy will
help you explore your interconnected
wholeness with all of life, which in turn
enhances your ability to experience
unchanging well-being, gain insight,
and take the actions you need to
experience harmony within yourself,
across your lifetime.