Awakening Joy: 10 Steps That Will Put You on the Road to Real Happiness

life. As meditation teacher and psychologist Jack Kornfield likes to point out, the signs in Las Vegas casinos have it right: “You must be present to win.”

It’s one thing to not beat yourself up; it’s quite another to truly delight in who you are, and I still had a ways to go. The door to self-love had opened a crack, and eventually I would find the way to throw it open wide.

Similar descriptions have occurred in cultures around the world and through millennia. Modern physics corroborates the fact that on the level of energy there are no boundaries. While science might not recognize the glue as “love,” it’s the word mystics most often use. Kate talks about her experience as “a feeling of coming home,” and it has had a p

else. What we call the pain of love arises from mistaking unhealthy attachment for love. It looks like love but it’s very different. Love is a movement of the heart that opens and radiates out. Attachment is contraction of the heart as it closes in fear. “Love is not painful,” Ram Dass said with a wise smile, “and now that you know the experience o

When I first learned lovingkindness practice, I was taught that, in addition to repeating the phrases, it’s helpful to engage the imagination in relevant ways. As you say a phrase such as May I be happy, you might visualize an image of yourself with a glowing heart. With May I be peaceful, you might imagine yourself on a hike in nature or relaxing

When you feel overwhelmed by an intense emotion: Look around you for something in the moment to appreciate.

When I ask participants in the Awakening Joy course what it feels like to be kind to themselves, their answers include: Relaxed and contented. Spacious and light. Grounded. A welling up of joy in my chest, sometimes tears of joy. Like I’m in the key of C. Like I’m holding a baby in my arms—me!

As Dipa Ma taught, the capacity to love that is inherent in every one of us can be awakened and developed through the practice of lovingkindness or metta, which refers to a state of mind that radiates kindness, wishing well without wanting anything in return. It helps you awaken love when you’re not feeling it, and deepen and amplify it when you ar

He answered: “My sincere motivation is my protection.” Later when I asked him how it is possible to remain calm and balanced in threatening situations, he gave the same answer: “My sincere motivation is my protection.”