Hi,
I'm Laura Stuckel from Team SAGE.
As a teacher,
My goal is always to help students understand the wisdom within.
It's possible to tap this wisdom through the practice of journal writing.
In this session,
I wanted to share one of the self-care hacks that's getting me through the uncertainties of this pandemic.
November is the season of gratitude here in the U.
S.
Where I live,
And I wanted to offer a tool for rethinking gratitude in this moment.
In this session,
I'll guide you to create a joy jot practice for yourself in just moments a day.
We'll guide you to give yourself permission right now to connect with joy just a little bit every day.
To get started,
You just need to have a blank sheet available in your favorite journal or notebook,
Or have your laptop handy.
You could also use a blank loose sheet.
Let's talk for a moment about joy.
In stressful,
Difficult,
Or uncertain times like we're in right now,
We can get to a point where we convince ourselves we need permission to feel joy.
When we are struggling in big or small ways,
We can get to a point where we forget to look for joy,
Convince ourselves it's not out there,
Or we tell ourselves things are so difficult,
It's not right to feel joy.
The Thanksgiving holiday makes me think about gratitude in this moment as well.
Many people,
Myself included,
Who have made a gratitude journal part of their regular routine have struggled to keep up with it in the past year.
Joy and gratitude are intertwined.
First,
You need to be capable of recognizing,
Looking for joy.
From there,
An associated sense of appreciation can come,
Gratitude.
If you find yourself wondering how joy or gratitude seem to be missing from your life right now,
You're not alone.
And finding small ways to see joy and gratitude,
Even on the hardest of days,
Can plant tiny but powerful seeds for resilience within you.
So let's talk about a very,
Very simple,
Very,
Very quick practice you can use daily to give yourself permission to seek joy.
Let's plant tiny seeds of joy for ourselves each day.
Create a joy jot and try it for one month.
Simply write the name of the current month in the middle of your page and circle it.
Daily,
Make a commitment to review your sheet.
Just close your eyes and take three deep,
Slow breaths.
Exhale through your mouth as you release and relax.
Then sit for just a moment and allow yourself to recall the day,
Allowing a moment of joy to come forward.
Something small,
Something simple,
Something joyful.
Allow yourself to pause and be present to this little moment of joy.
When you are ready,
Draw a line extending out from your center circle and list the number of today's date.
In this space,
Jot the day's moment of joy.
Repeat this activity each day.
Over the course of a full month,
You'll capture 29 to 31 joy jots and create a sunburst around your page.
At the end of each month,
You can review the moments that stood out to you and enjoy them one more time.
Give yourself permission.
See the joy.
Create tiny ripples of joy.
Thanks for joining me.
