WellBEing Wins w/ Debbey Woodruff – Rebooting Your Inner Spark – Part 3

Finding Your Joy

Do you want more joy – happiness that goes beyond circumstances, but don’t know exactly where to start? 

In this article, we’ll:

1. Identify Common Characteristics of Joyful People
2. Design a Self-Date
   1. Provide Prompts for Insightful Discoveries
3. Provide Resources to Delve Deeper

Some Characteristics of Joyful People:

• Life is aligned with personal values
• Regularly engaged in activities that bring positive energy
• Attends to self-care – pays attention to personal physical, mental, and emotional needs and honors them (i.e., puts on own oxygen mask first before helping others)
• Lives with a sense of purpose or reason for being
• Gives to others and notices when others are giving
• Worries less about pleasing others and what others think
• Builds Joy habits – like surrounding environment with pleasing aesthetics, pausing to identify and appreciate the blessings in a moment, finding humor, seeking opportunities in all circumstances

Self-Reflection:

How many of the characteristics above describe you? 

Which ones don’t resonate? Those may be opportunities to unlock joy by finding greater alignment.

Design a Date with Yourself:

1. Preparation:
   • Set aside uninterrupted time to connect with yourself, even if it’s in multiple sittings.

1. Put a date on the calendar and honor it. If something comes up, reschedule.
2. Choose a location that rejuvenates you—maybe nature, a favorite room, or a building you love.
   • Be creative. If you love the ocean, but can’t get there, visit a local body of water or play ocean sounds in the background.
   • Light a candle with a comforting scent to help set the mood.
3. Bring a journal, pens, markers, or a voice recorder to capture your reflections.
   • Be creative, if music is your thing, work out your answers in song. If you like to carve, bring carving implements, etc. 
4. Bring your list of focus areas from the previous article.
5. Note any characteristics from the list above that don’t reflect you.
6. Grab a healthy drink and sustenance. Stay hydrated. 
7. Wear comfortable clothing.
8. Let loved ones know you’re unavailable except for true emergencies. Silence all notifications.
9. What not to bring: Alcohol or street drugs. Keep your mind clear to fully connect with yourself.

1. The Date: Connect with yourself. 

Setup:

1. Silence your phone. Avoid news, social media, texts, etc.
2. If stillness is hard, use a timer: 10 minutes of focus, then 2–5 minutes of movement or fun—dance, draw, sing, knit, etc.
3. Go back focusing on discovering solutions for a more joy-filled life.

The Activity: 

• Imagine what your life would look like if you felt joyful.
• Use the prompts to explore what joy means for you. 
• Record your answers as you see fit – journal, record, draw, create music, etc.

1. What are you doing? 
2. With whom are you? 
3. How do you spend your days? 
4. What does your environment look like? 
5. What does exercise look like? 
6. Imagine what a good sleep routine looks like? 
7. What are ideal temperatures, weather, sounds, tastes, smells, sights, physical sensations (e.g., relaxed shoulders, etc.)?

 Self-Reflection:

Once you’ve defined your joyful life, review it. For each detail, compare it to your current reality. Fill in a bar to show how closely they align. The gaps reveal opportunities for growth and change.

1. I feel energized when I am around…
2. I feel energized when I am doing…
3. I feel drained when I am around…
4. I feel drained when I am doing…

Self-Reflection:

Using the 24 hour wheel, shade in the sections to represent how much of your day is spent in energizing and draining activities. 

Review the draining lists – What can you drop, delegate, or put time parameters around?

Review your list of energizing activities—how can you spend more time each day doing what energizes you?

 Self-Reflection:

For each value, measure it against your current reality. 

What percentage of your time is spent living those values? 

Self-Reflection:

Which do you do well?

Are there areas where you fall short? For example, maybe you give to others at work but don’t notice when others give to you, or you feel purpose at home but not at work.

How can you strengthen or expand the practices that align with joy?

What’s one area you can improve to better align your mindset or actions with that list?

When I was a child, I loved the following people…

1. When I was a child, I loved doing…

Self-Reflection:

As you contemplate each of the prompts, do you notice any themes? 

How can you adjust your life to better connect with joyful living? 

What is one thing you will commit to changing as a result of this self-reflection? 

Who can you ask to hold you accountable?

Resources: 

Below is a suggested list of resources to support you in your JOY journey. 

Books: 

• The Purpose Driven Life – Rick Warren
• Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness –  Ingrid Fetell Lee
• Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
• The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living – Meik Wiking
• The Fun Habit: How The Pursuit Of Joy And Wonder Can Change Your Life – Mike Rucker, PhD
• The Power of Wonder – Monica Parker

Podcasts: Find podcasts on Spotify, Apple, Podbean, or any other major podcast platform.

1. Happier – Gretchen Rubin
2. 10% Happier – Dan Harris
3. The Happiness Lab – Dr. Laurie Santos
4. The Joy Factor – Julie Hanson
5. The Positive Psychology Podcast

Meditations: Help clear the mind, reset and rebalance the nervous system, and provide visioning guidance.

1. Insight Timeris the #1 meditation app with extensive resources on a wide range of wellness topics.

Meetup Groups: Search under Joyful Living

Religious Organizations: Studies show that regular attenders are more likely the be happy than those who don’t.

Volunteer Match: It is truly more blessed to give than receive. This non-profit organization helps you find volunteer opportunities that align with your values.

Final Thought

Enjoy the process of finding your Joy! Learning to hear yourself and your true needs may take time. Be patient. Be curious how it affects you when you honor your [healthy] instincts. Find a trusted individual who will provide you with the grace and the accountability you need to grow. Joy IS possible.

Want To Dig Deeper? 

The information in this column only scratches the surface of root causes and solutions. The tips are not intended to be comprehensive, but to provide quick tidbits that help identify:

1. A starting place to find your W.OW. (Whole-body Optimized WellBEing) and 
2. In what areas to seek more complete answers. 

Working with a yoga therapist, psychologist, or coach can give you the tools—and the accountability—to keep the spark alive and glowing.

 The Yoga Therapy Approach – In yoga therapy, it is believed that you innately know root cause and the next step toward resolving it. You will create the life you want when you learn to hear and trust your inner wisdom – and live in alignment with what matters most to you. A yoga therapist helps you reconnect with that part of you that’s hidden or misplaced to enjoy the life you yearn to live.

Debbey Woodruff – Your WellBEing Guide – is a certified yoga teacher and mindfulness practitioner. Through yoga therapy, mindful movement, breathwork, and guided self-reflection, Debbey helps you reconnect with your body, calm your mind, and nurture lasting emotional well-being. Experience a compassionate, personalized path to healing and renewal and find your W.O.W. – Whole-body Optimized WellBEing ©. Debbey is the owner of Breakthrough! WellBEing Phone: 704-881-4912 and email:[email protected]