How to Reclaim Joy

When your health feels hard—when you’re burnt out, hormonal, anxious, in pain or disconnected from your body—the last thing you want to hear is, “Just relax.”

But what if joy isn’t a luxury?
What if it’s part of your prescription?

Many of us are taught to take life seriously: work hard, push through, fix what’s broken. When things go wrong with our bodies, we search for the perfect supplement, treatment, or diagnosis. But in that hyper-focus on fixing, we often lose the very things that make life worth healing for.

Things like joy. Pleasure. Play. Fun.

Reclaiming joy doesn’t mean ignoring your health issues. It means remembering that your nervous system needs pleasure to regulate. That laughter can be medicine. That music can be a lifeline. That dancing in your bedroom or skating along a riverbank can be the moment your body exhales for the first time in days.

But here’s the truth: when you’ve been stuck in stress, burnout, or depression, fun can feel foreign. You might not even remember what brings you joy.

Start small:

• Build a music playlist that makes you feel something—rage, joy, nostalgia.
  
• Go outside and feel the sun. Let your bare feet touch the earth.
  
• Doodle. Sing. Watch a movie that makes you belly laugh.
  

This isn’t fluff. It’s nervous system nourishment.

And when you remember how to feel joy again, even in small moments, healing starts to feel possible.

To hear more about how one woman reconnected with her body—and her roller skates—as part of her healing, tune into episode #16 What Happens When You Finally Listen to Your Body? Kylie’s Journey of Misdiagnosis & Healing of What’s My Body Telling Me?.