When Life Slows You Down: Purpose, Joy and Listening to the Body
Reconnect with Joy – Episode 1 | Yoga with Joy

What happens when life slows you down — not by choice, but by necessity?

In this first episode of the Reconnect with Joy podcast, Joy shares a deeply personal, honest and gentle reflection on illness, burnout, identity, and what it truly means to listen to the body when the pace of life becomes unsustainable.

This episode is an invitation to pause. To breathe. To come home to yourself — breath by breath — and to remember that you are not broken, behind, or failing at life.

Joy speaks openly about her own health journey, including years of chronic illness, migraines, mould toxicity, and the profound sense of grief that can arise when the life you thought you were living suddenly falls away. She explores the loss of identity that often comes with long-term illness or burnout — and the quiet, unexpected wisdom that can emerge when striving stops.

This conversation is for you if:

• You’ve experienced burnout, chronic illness, or a major life slowdown

• You feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or disconnected from your sense of purpose

• You worry that you’ll “never feel like yourself again”

• You feel behind in life, or afraid that you’ve wasted time

• You’re craving gentler ways to heal, regulate your nervous system, and reconnect with meaning

• You’re drawn to yoga, mindfulness, spirituality, or embodied self-inquiry

Throughout the episode, Joy reflects on:

• How modern life has become faster, louder, and more demanding

• Why the body often forces us to slow down when we don’t listen

• The idea of life as a soul journey, not just a human one

• Losing joy — and slowly learning how to reconnect with it

• Letting go of old identities and allowing yourself to evolve

• Finding stillness instead of coping through over-doing, distraction, or numbing

• Using the body and breath as honest guides

• Gentle practices for grounding, self-soothing, and self-acceptance

• Why slowing down doesn’t mean your life purpose has disappeared

This episode also includes a simple, accessible body and breath check-in you can return to at any point in your day — a moment of mindfulness to help regulate your nervous system, soften anxiety, and reconnect with a sense of ease and aliveness.

Above all, this episode is a reminder that:
✨ You are not behind
✨ Nothing is wrong with you
✨ Your life is unfolding exactly as it needs to
✨ Joy doesn’t disappear — it waits patiently to be remembered

Reconnect with Joy is a podcast about life purpose, healing, spirituality, embodiment, and the quiet, profound joy of being alive. Some episodes will include gentle practices, others will be reflective conversations, and many will explore how yoga, mindfulness, and nervous system awareness can support us through life’s most challenging transitions.

If you found this episode supportive, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

🌿 Stay connectedYou can subscribe to me here or my Yoga with Joy YouTube channel for gentle yoga, breathwork, and mindfulness practices.
You can also join my mailing list to hear about retreats, yoga holidays, online programmes, and upcoming offerings — including a new chakra-based journey into purpose and joy.

Thank you for being here.
Sending you so much love.

In this present moment.Coming home, breath by breath.Reconnecting with joy.