Unlock Your Joy

By Margaret Johnson

My husband and I have had much more free time on the weekends recently. So, we decided to take a break from Netflix and do some cleaning out.  Although we had purged when we moved three years ago, we still had to rent a storage locker for overflow.

The time had come to unlock the door and take inventory of what we had stored.  As we opened boxes, we tried to remember exactly why we packed these items up and moved them to sit in storage for three years.

There were family serving platters that had gone unused, traveling with us from home to home for decades. There were knickknacks from my husband’s grandmother carefully boxed to pass on to our children.  We sat on the ground laughing at the prospect of any of our four kids ever displaying these eclectic and outdated items in their homes.

There were boxes and boxes filled with the past.

We sorted, donated, tossed and recycled.  And, then we did it all again.  We supported each other when we got stuck on a particular item.  Asking that all important Marie Kondo question, “Does it spark joy?” And, at the end, we felt lighter and freer, and definitely more in present time.

Much like we can stockpile physical items, we can unknowingly accumulate energies as well.  We can hold on to old ideas about ourselves, past experiences, and family belief systems that don’t actually fit with who we are at present.  Unknowingly, our inner landscape can become congested and heavy, making it more difficult to connect to our spiritual essence and inner joy.

The thoughts and beliefs we hold within, are expressed in the reality we experience.  So, when we accumulate, we limit our ability to engage our life force and create anew.  By clearing out the internal “storage boxes,” we lighten our load and expand life possibilities versus repeating the same unconscious patterns again and again.

Do you have an internal storage locker of unhelpful and/or outdated beliefs that is waiting to be cleaned out?  What are you holding on to from three years ago?  Seven years ago?  Twenty years ago?

If you do, meditation can help.  Meditation provides a way to become aware of what we are storing internally.   We can notice and then ask, “Does this spark joy?”

Once we become aware of what we are holding, we can inventory and release what doesn’t serve us.  The practice of grounding can clear our personal storage lockers.  We can let go of past experiences, wounds, and patterning.

Meditation also allows us to come more into present time.  The past is no longer happening and the future isn’t here yet.  The present is the sweet spot; and the more we spend time there, the more we can exercise our power to create and increase our range of possibilities.

Finally, meditation allows us to connect to a larger perspective.  We can remember we are a soul in a body having an adventure in this physical paradigm.  We can recognize we all have messy parts, shiny parts, unconscious parts, and beautiful parts.  We can embrace our humanity and know we are works in progress.

We learn through the messes and the stumbles; they are a part of the human journey.  Every challenge offers an opportunity to grow, even though it might not feel like that at the time.  When we engage in this larger perspective, it is easier to release our stories and histories.

Meditation is a powerful tool in clearing, becoming present and connecting to the bigger picture.  Take some time, even 5 or 10 minutes a day, to invest in the relationship you have with yourself.  Meditate and clear out your storage locker of the past, false beliefs, and stories.  Let yourself be lighter, freer and be in present time.  Unlock your joy!

If you are interested in hearing more about how you can connect through meditation practices, check out our free, online, on-demand introductory meditation program.