You're Allowed to Feel Good Right Now

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Have you ever caught yourself whispering about a moment of joy, as if it were a guilty confession during these challenging times? "I had a good day. I went dancing. I laughed till my stomach hurt." And then that familiar shame creeps in—how dare you feel light when the world feels so heavy?

This episode confronts a profound truth many of us struggle with: feeling good is not betrayal—it's a revolutionary act.

We've been conditioned to believe that suffering demonstrates virtue, that burnout proves commitment, that sacrifice equals care. But what if joy isn't a distraction from meaningful engagement with the world's pain? What if it's actually a declaration that you refuse to be devoured by systems never designed for your wholeness?

What You'll Discover:

• How to hold both grief and joy simultaneously
• The difference between spiritual bypassing and embodied discernment
• Why your joy is contagious and models freedom for others
• Practical tools to shift your internal state while honoring pain

Through powerful reflections and a guided mindful moment, we explore being awake to suffering while still letting sunlight kiss your skin, holding the weight of the world while dancing barefoot in your kitchen.

Your joy is contagious, your rest demonstrates sustainability, and your aliveness models freedom for others. Let your softness be the protest, your breath be the resistance, and your joy be the revolution our world desperately needs.

Ready to go deeper? Join the Emotional Sobriety Workshop to learn how to feel deeply while staying grounded, to care while protecting your peace, to be present to pain while remaining available to pleasure.

Because your joy is not a distraction from the work—it is the work.

🔗 www.liftoneself.com/emotionalsobriety

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Music by NaturesEye

Opening Music "Whip" by kontraa
Opening music Prazkhanal
Opening music SoulProdMusic
Meditation music Saavane

Episode Transcript

NatNat (00:03):
Hey, love, whether this is your first time here or
you're a regular, welcome home.
I'm your host, nat Nat, andthis is the Lift One Self
podcast.
If you're new here, hit thatsubscribe button so you don't
miss out what we're buildingtogether.
And if you've been riding withme for a while, thank you.
I'd love for you to leave acomment letting me know where

(00:25):
you're listening from.
If today's message resonates,please share it with someone who
needs to hear it.
Your engagement helps thisreach the people who need it
most and also supports the LiftOne Self podcast.
Now, today's episode is anecessary one, not solely
because of what's happening outthere in the world.

(00:45):
Also because of what'shappening in here, in our bodies
, our minds and our spirits.
Let me say this clearly Feelinggood is not betrayal.
It's a revolutionary act.
We are living in a time ofcrisis, collapse and constant
grief, and somewhere along theway, many of us started to

(01:09):
question our right to joy, torest, to pleasure, to breathe
without guilt.
We whisper it like a secret.
I had a good day.
I went out dancing.
I laughed till my stomach hurt.
Day I went out dancing, Ilaughed till my stomach hurt.
And then the shame creeps in,because how dare we feel light

(01:31):
when the world feels heavy?
Here's what I need to tell youyour joy is not tone deaf, it's
sacred.
You're not ignoring the world.
You are refusing to let itdevour you.
Ignoring the world, you arerefusing to let it devour you.
We've been conditioned tobelieve that in order to be good
, we must suffer, shrinksacrifice.

(01:51):
Yet love, joy is not adistraction.
It's a declaration.
It says I will not give everypiece of myself to systems that
were never built for mywholeness.
It says I matter too.
You can be awake to sufferingand still taste something sweet.

(02:12):
You can be in grief and stilllet the sunlight kiss your skin.
You can hold the weight of theworld and still dance barefoot
in your kitchen.
Heck, go dance barefoot in thegrass.
This isn't spiritual bypass,it's embodied discernment, it's
the wisdom of knowing when toengage and when to exhale.

(02:35):
You know, while I was out thisweekend, someone said something
that really stayed with me.
They said I don't want theparty to end, I just want to
keep dancing and dancing, anddancing.
And I felt that I think all ofus relate to that moment when
we're high on connection, joy,music, movement.

(02:56):
We just want to stretch it out,make it last, bottle it up and
sip it slowly.
Bottle it up and sip it slowlyBecause, deep down, we've all
been taught this unspoken rulethat joy is fleeting and
something hard is always aroundthe corner, that we shouldn't
get too comfortable feeling goodbecause life is gonna life.

(03:19):
And, yes, life does life.
Grief still visits, life doeslife.
Grief still visits.
Our days still come, and here'sthe reframe I'm offering.
Who said joy isn't allowed tolast?
Who decided that lightness mustalways be temporary?
Who told us we need to feelguilty for feeling good?
What if it's not about chasingthe high?

(03:42):
What if it's about building themuscle to return to it, to
remember that we can shift ourinternal state, not to avoid the
pain, yet to reclaim our powerin the midst of it?
Just like my client, sarah, whotexted me yesterday, I was
crying about the state of theworld in the morning and by the

(04:03):
afternoon I was belly laughingwith my kids at the park.
I used to think that made meheartless.
Now I know it makes me human.
Thanks, nat, nat, for helpingme remember this.
Joy isn't fragile, it'sresilient and it's your
birthright.
So the next time you catchyourself wanting to dance longer

(04:24):
, laugh louder or stay in thelight a little more.
Do it and let that be yourrevolution.
Speaking of revolution, let'stake a mindful moment to amplify
that feeling of aliveness.
Let's drop into the body for amoment, if it's safe, gently

(04:54):
close your eyes, if not justsoften your gaze and turn your
awareness inward.
Take a breath, not a perfectone, just a real one.
Feel the inhale stretch acrossyour ribs and the exhale remind
you you are still here, stillbreathing, still choosing to

(05:14):
stay.
Now, gently scan your body,feel where you've been tensing
for too long jaw your chest,your shoulders, your belly
soften.
Let this moment remind you yourjoy is not a luxury, it's a

(05:36):
lifeline.
Feeling good it's not betrayal,it's your birthright.
Take another breath and, as youexhale, release the lie that
says you must burn out to proveyou care.
Let this breath be an act ofdefiance, let this softness be

(05:59):
sacred, let this aliveness beenough and, as gently return,
carry this quiet revolution inyour body, because every time
you choose presence, youinterrupt the systems that
benefit from your disconnection.
You are allowed to feel goodright here, right now.

(06:23):
You don't owe anyone yourburnout.
You don't have to collapse tobe compassionate.
You are not more righteousbecause you're exhausted.
Let that land.
There is so much pain in theworld.
Yes, we must care deeply and wemust remember aliveness is

(06:46):
contagious.
When you light up others,remember their spark.
When you smile without apology,you model freedom.
When you rest, you remind uswhat sustainability looks like.
So let this be your soul notefor the week.
So let this be your soul notefor the week.

(07:08):
You are allowed to feel joy inthe middle of the mess.
You are allowed to celebrateeven when others don't
understand.
You are allowed to choose yourmental health over martyrdom.
Let your joy be the protest.
Let your breath be theresistance.
Let your softness be theprotest.
Let your breath be theresistance, let your softness be
the revolution.
And if this resonates with you,if you're ready to stop swinging

(07:32):
between numbness and overwhelmand start meeting your emotions
with presence and power, I'dlove to welcome you into my
emotional sobriety workshop.
It's where we learn to holdboth the beauty and the
breakdown, where we use the bodyas a compass to navigate life's
complexity.

(07:52):
We don't bypass emotions.
We build capacity to feel andhold it all without losing
ourselves in it.
Think of it like this Insteadof choosing between feeling
everything or nothing.
You learn to feel it all andstay grounded to care deeply and

(08:12):
protect your peace, to bepresent to pain and available to
pleasure.
You can join us atliftoneselfcom forward slash
emotional sobriety.
It's gentle, it's potent andit's waiting for you when you're
ready to come home to yourself.
The link is in the show notes.

(08:34):
Until next time, be kind toyourself, be bold in your
boundaries and remember you'renot selfish for choosing
aliveness.
You're worthy of your own joy.
Your joy is not a distractionfrom the work.

(08:57):
It is the work.
Time is your currency.
How are you spending it?