Within our experience and practice of yoga there is a concept called Leela. Leela is play. Part of this is stepping back and observing how life is playing out for you, rather than life happening to you.

The other part is jumping in and enjoying the ride. Leela insists that we experience the joy in life, and not just from the big things, but from all the little things in between. Enjoy art and music and dance. Enjoy each other and going out, or staying in. The point is to play! Joy for the sake of joy. 

But we all know how the daily pressures of work, taking care of our families, and trying to do all the things just to keep our head above water, get in the way of fun. The more our lives continue to be scheduled without considering any play time, the more we stay in this rut. The longer this goes on, the more distant it all becomes. We don’t know how to be silly or spontaneous, we forget what fun even means to us. 

Now it’s quite possible that what used to bring us joy no longer does. I’m thinking about my teenage self, spending the day at Canada’s Wonderland going on every single ride I possibly could, that now makes me feel nauseous to even think about. But there are still many things that are a little easier to digest: family game nights, impromptu dance parties, a good comedy movie. The point is that just like all the other things we schedule in to our already overflowing calendars we must make sure to schedule in our play time too. We can’t just wait for our once-a-year vacation. 

Perhaps it’s because of turning 50, or the pandemic and not being able to, or maybe because life is short and unpredictable, but I’ve been finding myself more and more drawn to the things that really fed my soul when I was younger. Beyond just what I need to do for self-care these days like exercising (which I do love) and quiet time to read and chill, but quite the opposite. I’ve been drawn back into the world of techno music and raving. This time, however under very different pretenses than before. It’s not to be part of a scene, or to be seen, or even staying up late and the drugs to help with that. It’s simply to be one with the music. To be in a sea of people dancing, feeling the base in my heart, sweating, laughing – Leela in its purest form. 

I’m certainly not alone in this feeling of joy in dancing in crowds of hundreds or even thousands of people. When I look around, I’m seeing tons of my peers in their forties, fifties and sixties in similar experience. In fact, there is quite a large global movement right now of middle-aged women in particular finding their way back to the dance floor. No matter what’s going on right now, what has to be dealt with on Monday morning, where life has taken us in the last few years, for a few hours we can get lost in ourselves, the music, the energy and experience total joy and fun without an agenda. 

Here are a few journal prompts to ponder: 

Have you been sacrificing the fun from your life? 

Is it easy or challenging to be silly or spontaneous?

Do you have a sense of adventure?

Where has joy been calling you too lately?

And have you been listening?