What if the pain, burnout, and chronic illness you've been pushing through were actually signals – and there was a way to finally listen? In this episode of the Reconnect with Joy podcast, I'm sharing five of the most profound life lessons I've learned over 46 years as a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and human navigating illness, self-doubt, and spiritual awakening.This episode was originally recorded at my yoga retreat in southern Spain, nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Órgiva in the Andalucía region – so there's a beautiful, personal quality to it. I hope it lands for you the way it did for me when I first sat with these truths.🌿 WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:1. People Pleasing & the Fawn ResponseThe fight-flight-freeze-fawn response is something so many of us live inside without realising it. I talk honestly about how people pleasing shaped huge parts of my life – from relationships to my health – and how my nervous system bore the brunt of years of saying yes when I meant no. People pleasing isn't kindness. It comes from fear – the deep-rooted fear of being banished from the tribe. And the good news? You can absolutely say no with kindness, compassion, and clarity. I now call myself a people pleaser in recovery.2. Intuition & Inner WisdomFollowing your intuition sounds simple, but ignoring it – as I did, repeatedly – has real consequences. I connect this to the third eye chakra and the concept of ajna in yogic tradition, that brow centre of inner knowing. Intuition doesn't always show up as a clear thought – it can arrive as a gut feeling, a physical symptom, even recurring migraines. If your body keeps saying no, it may be time to listen.3. Your Unique Body Blueprint – Doshas, DNA & AyurvedaWe are not all built the same. I share how spending 10 weeks at an Ayurvedic centre was part of my healing from mold toxicity and chronic illness, and how understanding my Vata-dominant constitution completely changed how I approach life, stress, movement, and food. Whether you explore Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, or even nutrigenomics and DNA health testing, learning your individual blueprint is one of the most powerful things you can do for long-term wellbeing.4. Listening to Your Physical BodyThis one is close to my heart as a yoga therapist specialising in hypermobility, pelvic health, and bone density. I talk about why overstretching – those deep hip openers and endless pigeon poses – was actually destabilising for me, and how shifting to a practice built around strengthening, stabilising, and calming completely transformed my yoga and movement practice. Just because someone else can thrive in strong, heat-building practices doesn't mean your body will. Intuitive movement, pelvic floor awareness, and listening to your nervous system matter.5. Near-Death Experiences & Remembering You Are a SoulThis one might be the most radical – and the most freeing. I share how being introduced to near-death experience (NDE) accounts became a turning point in my healing. It sounds woo-woo, but the impact was immediate and profound: I remembered that I am a spiritual being having a human experience, here in "Earth school," learning the lessons I chose before I arrived. Fear of death, fear of getting it wrong — it all dissolves when you reconnect with that truth. This is where manifestation, spiritual guidance, and living in alignment all began to click for me.🎙️ ABOUT THE RECONNECT WITH JOY PODCASTThis podcast is for anyone who wants to come home to themselves – body, mind, and spirit. I'm Joy, a yoga teacher and yoga therapist based in Totnes, Devon, UK. I work at The Angel Hall at Bowden House and through my online platform, Yoga with Joy. My specialisms include nervous system regulation, somatic yoga, midlife wellness, hypermobility, pelvic health, and yogic philosophy.

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.