Joy
Edited excerpt from: Resilient Living 2022
Joy. When was the last time you felt delight, thrilled, radiant, or lighthearted? What brought you there? If nothing’s coming to mind, use a photo, scent, or object that’s connected to positive moment to help jog your memory. If it’s been a while, consider setting an intention to have some joy TODAY. Be patient, it may take your brain some time to find the spark. Know that this is about experiencing enjoyment (the making of joy) — however that feels for you.
We can use joy to strategically stay afloat in life’s rough waters. It doesn’t have to be something that just randomly occurs; we can intentionally cultivate it. Think of it as a life preserver for lifting us up when we feel like we’re sinking, to keep from drowning in stress. A little laugh or smile can go a long way, so drawing on joy as a intentional resource is an important resilience skill to hone.
Positive moments, of course, can create joy but sometimes it emerges from what we let go off. Freedom from an overplayed thought in our mind, for example, can feel joyful, too. So, for this month, I’m sharing findings that reveal how music sparks joy in the brain AND how JOMO (the Joy of Missing Out) can bring us greater peace of mind. I also have some activities to try, to explore how joy fits into your life.
Brain & Body Wellness
Did you know that joy, wonder, & power share space in the brain? In a fascinating study, researchers mapped how different areas in the brain respond to music (Troust et al, 2012).
Basically, 15 adults (20 -40 years old) listened to 45 seconds of music from a variety of instrumental songs from the last 400 years. None of them were professional musicians, and roughly 50% were female/male. As they listened, their brains were scanned using fMRI and patterns of brain activation were analyzed.
The researchers found:
Four basic emotional dimensions emerged, which they described as =>
- Joy, wonder, & power
- Tenderness, peacefulness, transcendence, & nostalgia
- Tension
- Sadness
Not only did each emotional dimension “light up” different brain circuits, but joyous emotions significantly activated the brain’s motor circuits—the pathways we use to move! At the time, this was a big finding because only limbic circuits (that process emotion) were known to be responsible for music’s effect on us.
This means that when we hear joyous music that unconsciously compels us to sway, clap, or shake our groove thing, it’s because the brain has recruited movement circuits to help us process the rhythm. Music that generated feelings of tension also activated these motor circuits in the study, but to a lesser degree.
AND even though joy was combined with wonder and power, when the three were compared, joy more strongly activated the hippocampus (the brain area associated with feelings of love and connection). So, there’s a strong physical & emotional brainwiring reason behind why songs of joy uplift and unite us!
The big idea:
We can leverage our brain circuitry to ignite joy through music! The results from this study also suggest that in takes less than 1 minute when we listen to music with a strong upbeat rhythm.
What’s on your playlist? If you’re unsure about the kind of music that might work, check out the joy these families found with Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “Let’s Groove”. It’s a good example of how a strong upbeat rhythm can prime the brain to get us moving!
In Our World
Have you heard of JOMO (the Joy Of Missing Out)? These days, because we’re constantly bombarded with information, we can easily become burdened by the “everything, all the time” connection that shackles us to devices — whether tv or radio news, cell phone texting and notifications, or social media. The brain chemistry that initially attracts our attention can also make us afraid of missing out on something important if we don’t. This constant nagging drains our energy, the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) keeps us tethered, and we can become mentally stuck in a bad habit that impacts all areas of life.
So, two researchers studied how “healthy disconnection” from smartphones can enable JOMO and a sense of freedom from this burden (Aranda & Baig, 2018). Using in-depth interviews, focus groups, and phone-behavior observations of 19 adults (between the ages of 18 – 65), they studied what happens when adults step away from their typical smartphone use.
The researchers found:
Disconnection was initially hard. A common thread came up for the study’s participants: Smartphones have become indispensable, and expectations about how we “should” spend our time have changed. This increased anxiety and perceived pressures to respond quickly when text messages and social-media posts are sent and received.
They also identified 2 kinds of negative behavior patterns that underlie excessive use:
(1) impulse + action + uncertain reward (like what keeps gamblers coming back for more) that combined with a Fear Of Missing Out
(2) feeling obligated to immediately respond to others
BUT they also uncovered 4 conditions that helped adults disconnect from excessive phone use:
(1) Inconsistent access (e.g., in countries with spotty access, their lack of control became a blessing in disguise)
(2) short-term loss (dead battery, lost phone, no cell service … the temporary loss helped them shift perspective)
(3) short-term voluntary break (boundaries implemented for vacations, weekends, or work policies)
(4) lifestyle choice (they opted to substantially change their ways).
In conditions (2) and (3), after initial feelings of concern or guilt subsided, these adults reported feeling JOMO (or a Joy Of Missing Out). They felt unexpectedly “freer” than they had before they were separated from their phones!
The big idea:
Social obligation and FOMO’s addictive tendencies maintain excessive smartphone use and keeps brains on high alert — waiting for the next thing — all the time. This is not only exhausting, but it also diminishes engagement with our immediate surroundings. Because our attention is focused on what’s happening in the device, we may not notice, but others do. JOMO arises when this chronic hyper-alertness is stopped. Once some initial withdrawal-related reluctance & concern faded, the adults in this study felt freer. They no longer felt like they had to be “on” all the time.
The most potent JOMO came after inconsistent access and short-term loss of their smartphone use. Why? Because the relief they experienced was unexpected — the release from their anxious burden felt like joy! Their shift in perspective was likely more impactful than those who made a voluntary break or lifestyle choice because their brain was surprised by the result, which opened the opportunity for a different mindset.
Try This!
Consider This!
Have you heard of laughter yoga? My yoga teacher is funny, but THIS is an intervention that social workers use to enhance clients’ mental health & reduce stress by prompting momentary joy (Cheung & Leung, 2020).
Try these 3 basic principles from this approach to add some joy to your day:
- Start with a repeated, rhythmic “hee-hee-ha-ha” to help the body relax.
- Use simulated laughs, if needed, to get things rolling (canned laughter can be catchy!).
- Keep the exercise playful, not forced.
Games, humor, and movement can also be used, if needed, to support the brain’s release of endorphins. Watch this Mayo Clinic video to learn more!
Reflect on these quotes about joy:
“The walls we build around us
to keep sadness out
also
keeps out the joy. ”
(Jim Rohn)
*****
“Focus on the journey, not the destination.
Joy is found not in finishing an activity
but in doing it.”
(Greg Anderson)
So, for this month, how can you use joy to boost your resilience? Explore which tools (maybe add or release something?) work best for you. I’d love to hear what you discover!
References
Trost, W., Ethofer, T., Zentner, M., & Vuilleumier, P. (2012). Mapping aesthetic musical emotions in the brain. Cerebral Cortex, 22(12), 2769-2783.
Aranda, J. H., & Baig, S. (2018, September). Toward” JOMO” the joy of missing out and the freedom of disconnecting. In Proceedings of the 20th international conference on human-computer interaction with mobile devices and services (pp. 1-8).
Cheung, M., & Leung, C. A. (2020). Laughter yoga as a social work intervention. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 90(4), 288-301.
Earth, Wind, & Fire YouTube video, courtesy of Phil Wright Choreography.
Consider This! quotes found @ https://www.brainyquote.com