Recipes for Joy

Joy doesn’t just happen. It’s cultivated, like a recipe.

A cake doesn’t bake itself. You mix the right ingredients, set the right temperature, and wait patiently as it rises. Joy works the same way. Manifestation isn’t wishing, it’s creating the conditions for your dreams to materialize.

In yoga, a down dog will teach you how to handstand. It’s part of the recipe. If you want one thing, you have to do all the other things that create the environment for it.

A recipe for joy might look like this:

• Surround yourself with good people (you choose who)

• Connect with nature (you choose where)

• Develop faith (you choose in what)

• Repeat good practices (again, your choice)

And the final, essential ingredient: YOU.

This past week was a recipe for joy. I had the privilege of photographing my friends’ Katonah Yoga retreat in Mexico. The yoga was deep, the ocean was warm, the people were kind, and the lightning storms were unforgettable.

Somewhere in the mix, I realized how much pressure I’d been putting on myself - and how shallow I was breathing. The monkey is off my back. My biggest insight: I don’t *have* to do anything. I’m already free (so are you). Feelings are information, not truth.

This is the power of retreats: strip away distractions, practice with intention, and connect with likeminded humans - and insight becomes inevitable.