As with all emotions and feelings, we literally feel them in our bodies. When we harbour feelings of sadness, loneliness or despair our bodies feel a lowering of vitality. If these types of feelings are prolonged we become what is termed depressed, simply a low energy state in our body.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the feeling of joy. It is different to pleasure, which tends to be very short lived. It surpasses contentment, because it is invigorating and enlivening. It outlives happiness because we can feel it even when we are experiencing difficult times, even grief.
Why? because joy is our natural state, we see it most often in babies. It is firmly rooted in being present, accepting every event as a gift to be treasured, a reverence for life. It is a deep trust in ones self to be spontaneous, a calmness in the sense of not knowing, a pulse of excitement of the unknown, a profound connection with each journey as an adventure, an enthusiasm for the newness of every moment. Joy literally fuels our body with energy, it is the radiance of life itself.
Fear is the great constrictor of our bodies, it strangles the flow of life. Anger, sadness, loneliness etc are all off shoots of fear. Our inability to accept each moment for the truth it is, our struggle against reality. These emotions were designed to deal with specific circumstances within the framework of joy, not to become chronic states of living.
The practice of gratitude is an active seeking of joy, for gratitude firmly anchors us in each experience, putting us in not only acceptance of what IS, but grateful for this moment. Literally a heartfelt connection with each moment. But the trick is to FEEL gratitude, it is not just a mental exercise of writing out a list. To get into a JOY state we must open our heart up to our experience so that it floods our body with a connectivity to something much bigger. In joy there is no separation, no lamenting over the past, worry of the future, no judgements, it is the simplicity of a direct experience with all our senses, 100% engaged. That is the magic of joy.....a pulsating current of energy throughout our body!