Ep. 47 (Part 2 of 3) | “Don’t miss it!” says James Baraz, author of Awakening Joy and creator of the very intriguing 5-month Awakening Joy course. “Don't miss it'' refers to the present moment—the gladness, the beauty, the uniqueness. James explains that in order to awaken our joy, we need to savor the wholesome moments and not turn away distracted, slipping back into our habitual mental ruts. James’ teachings take us deeply into states like gratitude and compassionate presence, to where we can focus our attention on how it feels to feel good somatically, thereby creating new neural pathways that strengthen awareness and aliveness. James has witnessed a lot of people learn to love themselves and turn their lives around as a result of this teaching. Why are we the last ones to see the goodness inside ourselves? he wonders. How can we so radically underestimate ourselves? Rest in the landscape of gratitude when James guides a short meditation in part 2, and be inspired that transformational change is indeed possible for all of us—to where we can know the joy of loving ourselves, of connecting with others, the joy of letting go, of service, and the joy of simply being—as we undertake the fundamental experiment of discovering who we really are. Recorded September 14, 2022.“A simple shift of perspective is transformative.”(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)Topics & Time Stamps - Part 2Train your mind to be on the lookout for the good and notice how it feels to feel good somatically; this will deepen the neural pathways (00:59)James guides a short experiential gratitude practice, where we deepen into feeling how gratitude itself actually feels (05:14)When James lost his joy: how unwholesome states lead to more suffering (11:27)Cultivating wholesome states: maintain and increase wholesome states, but don’t hold onto them (16:06)Awakening Joy’s 10 steps to happiness relate to the 10 states we want to cultivate (18:52) Intention is the beginning; choosing how to process what’s happening (19:49)Mindfulness: presence deepens the healthy states (21:44)Gratitude “opens our satellite dish to all the blessings in life”(23:00)Opening to the hard stuff, all the suffering in life (23:13) Integrity, the foundation of well-being (23:31)The joy of letting go: of stuff, of busyness, of our stories (24:52)The joy of loving ourselves and learning to see who we really are (26:47)The difference between narcissism and loving yourself, and the Judeo-Christian myth of needing redemption (27:41) The joy of connection with others, includes forgiveness (31:07)Compassion, the caring heart that wants to relieve suffering (31:34)The joy of simply being and the underlying nature of reality (32:13)States of contraction vs states of expansion: Sat Chit Ananda (34:39)Resources & References - Part 2C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life*Rick Hanson,