Juicy Joy – A Personal Development Book of Authenticity and Self-Love

I wasn’t pleased with Hurricane Isaac when he caused the cancellation of my Juicy Joy gig for 500+ joy-seekers in Naples today. I was totally psyched for a weekend on the other coast and it killed me to think of those 500+ people going another second without the benefit of my sage Juicy Joyful tutelage! Time to do some joyifying on me.

Of course, I started by recognizing that in the grand scheme of unwanted circumstances caused by hurricanes, my complaint was utterly picayune. Downright itty bitty. Besides, the change of plans meant I could spend the weekend with my two favorite people in the universe – the ones I happened to have given birth to. And to be honest, we’ve always totally loved hurricanes. I say this with the utmost compassion for anyone who’s been less fortunate, but for us, hurricane memories are nothing but fun.

We snuggled up at the window with warm bagels to watch nature have her way with our backyard. We’re off to the right of Isaac’s direct path, which basically means just lots of heavy rain and dramatic, exciting wind. When my kids were young, we had a rainy-day habit of throwing on bathing suits and running out to dance wildly in the elements – especially on warm days and especially when it was a real soaker. Tuck and Kate are 14 and 10 now, so it’s been quite a few years since we’ve indulged that tradition.

Kate was the first to say it. “Mom, can we rain-dance?”

Within seconds we were spinning, giggling, howling, and crazy-leaping through raindrops so dense they kinda hurt and wind that actually made it impossible to stand up straight. It was freakin’ amazing. Goosebump-inducing! Free, free, free! How indescribably juicy to wholly surrender . . . to playfully merge with such a wild, exhilarating, rare expression of nature’s power!

After a while Tuck noticed that Isaac had transformed our pool into a wave-pool worthy of water-park status. Irresistible! We splashed and surfed until the regrettable first boom of thunder coaxed us back inside to our toasty-warm huddle by the window.

I was looking forward to my Juicy Joy workshop in Naples today. But I wouldn’t have traded these rain-soaked, memory-making hours for anything. The workshop will be rescheduled. And those lucky joy-seekers will now get an even more practiced re-framer and a more genuinely joy-fortified me.

Once again, dear Universe — thank you, thank you for my “unwanted circumstance.”

In this week of thankfulness, one thing I’m particularly thankful for is my somewhat recently-acquired ability to feel the full spectrum of my emotions. I never realized how routinely I suppressed my naturally-occurring feelings until – through developing my Juicy Joy program – I began consciously increasing my awareness of each emotion as it surfaced, learning to embrace every feeling fully and surrender to it deeply. I discovered that in the absence of the resistance we routinely apply to “undesirable” emotions, every emotion has within it the potential for some increment of joy. It’s the joy of authenticity, the joy of our humanness. If you’d like to experience your emotions in this way, watch this little clip from a Juicy Joy workshop for a few starter tips.

Do you follow your intuition? I used to think I did. But intuition has taken on a whole new meaning for me in recent years. To hear the promptings of your soul and confidently distinguish those messages from your ego-based thoughts and feelings takes practice. But like anything else, it gets easier and more fulfilling the more you do it.

If you’re interested in building your intuitive muscles, one simple step you can take is to carry a small notebook with you everywhere you go. Set an intention to be aware of any intuitive hits you get throughout the day, and make a point of writing them all down in your notebook. It’s weird but true that simply setting this intention and capturing your intuitve feelings will automatically increase your intuitive abilities. It’s like you’re showing your subconscious mind that you’re open and ready to value what you receive from it. Hindsight is the best tool for proving to yourself how intuitive you are — look back at what you’ve written down when you have the time to truly reflect on the messages and predictions you’ve recorded.

Tuning in to — and trusting — your intuition is a significant piece of your Juicy Joy practice, so lots of specific techniques are described in Juicy Joy – 7 Simple Steps to Your Glorious, Gutsy Self. Here’s another easy one: When you want an answer to a question, or a creative solution to some problem you’re having, meditate and set the intention that the highest and best possible solution is right at your fingertips. Go to your bookshelf and pull down whichever book you’re most compelled to touch. Don’t think about the titles or what you know the content of the books to be. Just let your feelings guide you. Open the book to a random page. Let your eyes fall on a word, a phrase, or a sentence — whatever feels right. Read that bit of text by itself, out of context from whatever surrounds it, and force-associate that text with the subject of your original inquiry. Even if no connection is immediately apparent, tell yourself you must come up with some way to link the two, and see what arises. This technique will usually lead you to some sort of epiphany. I call it “taroh for the woo-woo-impaired.”

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I will be the guest on Empower Hour at Blog Talk Radio, hosted by my psychic friend, Halley Elise and Ben Winkler. I’d love for you to listen from 3:00 – 4:00 EST, and call in with questions! Click here to be connected to listen online.
For a fun exercise you can do with friends to impress yourself with your psychic abilities, click here.

How will the relationships in your life rate on this Juicy Joy Relationships Test? There are many, many exercises like this one in Juicy Joy – 7 Simple Steps to Your Glorious, Gutsy Self. Watch this bit of a Juicy Joy Workshop and be ready to pause the video to write down your answers! Watch here:

I want to forever be “baking.” It’s the baking that makes life rich, exciting, and juicy joyful! Even though I make my living helping people release their limiting beliefs so they can step into their glorious, gutsy selves and claim their Juicy Joy, I spent all of today working on myself in deep Theta Healing meditation. I went straight from there to give a Juicy Joy presentation at a Rebirthing Breakwork seminar. After speaking, I joined in the breathwork and experienced an amazing release on an issue I hadn’t even realized was there. As much as I love teaching and guiding people on their Juicy Joy paths, I’m nowhere close to relinquishing my role as a student. Being able to switch back and forth is so juicy joyful for me! Thank you, Universe!
Here are links to these two fascinating modalities:
Theta Healing
Rebirthing Breathwork