smile

Joy relies on the connection between body, mind and spirit (heart). One simple practice is to smile. Develop the habit just as you learn how to breathe more deeply or train for athletic pursuits.
            When we use our facial muscles, our brains cue the body with the chemistry of the emotion we’re expressing. Smile. It helps your body relax and experience joy.
            And while joy may begin inside us, we also share it. It affects other people. From behind our masks, a smile crinkles the eyes. From the other end of a phone or video chat, a smile changes the tone of voice. It alters body language. It eases tension and lightens a stressful environment.
            Your smile shines a light inside you. It also lights up your corner of the world.
            In fact, you don’t need another person around to smile. Smiling is beneficial in all times. Exercising those smile muscles is an excellent form of self-care, as well as a wonderful gift for others. — Rev Gail

You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. — Psalm 16:11

While this practice helps me appreciate the power of smiling for diffusing stress … smiling when things get tough can be a challenge. Doing so, however, helps me move beyond the labeling of events as good or bad to a spiritual reality that enriches my experience of life. — Ruth Wilson

House of Joy — Rumi

If you knew yourself for even one moment,
if you could just glimpse
your most beautiful face,
maybe you wouldn’t slumber so deeply
in that house of clay.
Why not move into your house of joy
and shine into every crevice!
For you are the secret
Treasure-bearer, and always have been.
Didn’t you know?