🌈 Small Joys, Big Shifts
The Science of Rest, Play, and Collective Celebration
In a world that often confuses urgency with purpose, joy has become one of our most radical teachers. When was the last time you laughed so hard you lost track of time or allowed yourself to rest without guilt? At Love Before ALL (LBA), we believe joy is not a distraction from the work, it is the work.
Rest, play, and collective celebration are not luxuries. They are the neuroscience of belonging in action; the fuel that keeps movements alive and the soil from which our best ideas grow. Joy sustains us when systems try to drain us, and connection rewires the brain toward hope, creativity, and cooperation.
🧠 The Brain Science of Joy
Neuroscience confirms what our spirits have always known: joy heals. When we experience laughter, awe, or gratitude, the brain releases dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin (joy juice according to Conscious Discipline), chemicals that restore balance, increase empathy, and enhance problem-solving.
Joy juice + People= Belonging
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center found that even brief moments of shared joy strengthen neural pathways related to resilience and relational trust. Similarly, Dr. Marc Brackett reminds us in Permission to Feel that naming positive emotions is not indulgent, it’s strategic. It helps regulate stress and reinforces the prefrontal cortex, where our best decisions are made.
Every time we choose connection over isolation or play over perfection, we literally teach our brains that safety and joy can coexist.
🌿 Rest and Play as Collective Care
Joy does not belong to individuals, it belongs to communities. From the drum circles of Juneteenth to the laughter-filled porches of Black and Brown neighborhoods worldwide, collective joy has long been a survival strategy. It’s how our ancestors replenished spirit when the world demanded endurance.
Bell hooks called joy “an act of resistance,” and Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry reminds us that rest is reparations work repairing what systems of oppression have tried to steal: our peace, our creativity, our rhythm.
Rest and play are love in motion. They remind us that we do not have to wait for the world to be healed to experience healing. Joy is available now in a song, a stretch, a walk, a slow morning, a shared meal, or a belly laugh with someone who gets it.
💛 Small Joys Create Big Shifts
Every small joy is a micro-rebellion against exhaustion culture. When you pause to breathe, play, or rest, you remind your nervous system that you are safe, whole, and capable of joy even amid uncertainty. These micro-moments of delight expand our collective resilience and make room for new possibilities.
Joy builds movements that last because it strengthens the connections that sustain us. It keeps our work from becoming a grind and transforms it into a rhythm. When we celebrate even in struggle we remember what we’re fighting for: a world that feels alive, connected, compassionate, and free.
The following practices sound simple, yet they shape culture and have a powerful impact on your brain health and overall wellness. They signal that wellness is not an afterthought, it’s our way of being. So, this week, choose one joy practice. Dance in your kitchen. Take an unhurried walk. Share a funny story. Rest unapologetically. Because healing isn’t a solo act, it’s a shared rhythm.
With more intention, try these collective joy practices and report back on the experience:
✨ Begin team meetings with a “joy check-in” like what made you smile today?
✨ Schedule 10-minute dance breaks between meetings. (A favorite 😀)
✨ Incorporate family or community “gratitude circles” where everyone shares one bright spot in their day/week/month.
And if you’re ready to design your own rhythm of care, join us for our upcoming Live Workshop: Reset, Renew, Rejuvenate on October 17 at 12:30 p.m. EST, a guided experience to help you restore balance and build sustainable routines of wellness and joy.
👉🏽 Register here: https://forms.gle/r687fzRa3Vws8StcA
💛 With joy and presence,
Your Curious Cultural Architect
