I have been spending a fair bit of time reflecting on feelings and emotions connected to myself and other people recently and I have really thought about what lights up my soul and puts the good old fire in my belly. I thought I would share what brings my amazing team Joy too. (Sarah and I got a little carried away with our creative writing!)
As we move into spring and things seem more manageable, it’s a good time to think about what we might need to do to keep that fire stoked and soul dancing away for the year ahead!
Yaz
What brings me Joy is my family and friends. I am such a people person, the energy I get off being around people is electric. I love making other people smile, laughing until it hurts, hugging my friends and family, crying with my friends and family and sharing the beautiful ups and downs of life. However, I also get a lot of Joy from being on my own. I love to take time out and really appreciate the small things and a slower pace. Watching the light change in Scotland, listening to the birds sing in spring, the jaw dropping silence of a still winter day. In general I love seasonal change and if I can move in harmony with the seasons I feel very content. I feel completely routed and powerful when I am moving through land. A long trail -run over my heathery hills at home in the golden summer light is my form of ecstasy.
Music and Dancing brings me so much Joy. I love to groove and be silly but also to sit still and be transported back to a moment in time and a feeling through music. I love to be naked and run around outside naked or into the sea- surprise, surprise!
Mountains and skiing bring me incredible Joy. It’s so hard to explain to others how much skiing means to me and it’s a big part of my life that many of my friends don’t see. The sport can take you to so many places and can be tackled it so many ways. I love fast and hard laps, technical terrain, the ecstatic and floaty feeling of deep, fresh powder. The nerves before you ski a big, steep line or push yourself in tricky terrain. The adventure of walking into the hills with your skis and a back-pack- not to be seen for days. Camping in the hills with your friends as you live and breathe skiing and mountain life for a few days. The sport allows the opportunity to express yourself it’s an art in itself, you can never complete the sport there’s always room for progression and flow.
Scotland brings me so much Joy. I feel so lucky to call a place home that I feel is part of who I am. The landscape, beauty, culture, wildness, unpredictable weather, rugged nature, music- all of it brings me so much Joy and when I am away from home I hold on to those feelings so much and get so excited for my return.
Finally, my work brings me so much Joy. At one point I really had no idea what my path was or where I would end up and nothing really got me going as a career. I feel so fortunate to have a mother that showed me other ways of living and that with hard-work and drive you can make anything you like a career. I finally feel I am exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to be doing and more. I love meeting new people through my retreats and making new connections in life. We are all here to share emotions and moments at the end of the day and a big one of those is Joy!
Sarah
So many things bring me joy! And for me, joy seems to exist on a spectrum, ranging from the sadness-tinged sweetness of witnessing love, like when I see an old couple holding hands, to the uplifting joy I get from silliness and belly laughter with friends, to the blissful feeling of falling in love. All of them joy in slightly different flavours.
A lot of the daily things that bring me joy are the slow, simple pleasures in life that I find, often in nature – bird song, dappled sunlight, wild swimming, trees, the sound of water or rain, the changes in the seasons – I’m loving seeing the bulbs and buds arrive this month, bringing colour back after a long winter. Sitting in the sun with a cup of tea and book feels to me like the most wonderful and wholesome kind of luxury. Cuddly, old dogs (Yaz’s family dog Hooch is a fave of mine), anything slow, cute and round will always warm my heart and bring a smile to my face.
Music, friendship, love, romance, dancing, drumming, gardening, creating, painting, hiking, travelling, exploring, learning, connecting to myself and others, are all things that bring me so much joy and a sense of aliveness. I also feel so very fortunate that my work brings me joy too. To hold space for people to feel and gain compassion for themselves & deepen their is such a joy. And the Wilderness Fit retreats with Yaz and Hannah have completely exceeded any ideas I had just how fun, supportive, hilarious and inspiring work could be!
It’s a lovely thing to reflect on all the things that bring me joy, because it feels so abundant in my life and the more I open to it and notice it, the more joy I find. Perhaps, for me, that’s what joy is – engagement in something that connects me to my soul and reminds me how totally delightful existence can be!
Hannah
There are a lot of things that bring me joy in life, to be totally honest. As a foodie, I adore when I am able to take the time to experiment with new recipe ideas and the pleasure of getting folk round to enjoy the food together. I am finding increasing amounts of joy from getting out hiking and climbing in the hills with friends, the mental headspace that comes when you are exerting physically in beautiful environments is something I crave. But, what tops all of this is being in the company of close friends who make me belly giggle – an unmatched feeling of joy and contentment!