About Joy...

What inspires me is to see myself and those I work with find their aliveness, the power and peace of presence, the natural flow of feelings, in ordinary life and in the workshops that I have the privilege of facilitating. I love to see people shed the masks, armour and uniforms required in so much of worldly activity, and learn more how to trust themselves, their feelings, their honest truth, and be led through these to the stillpoint, the vastness, the openness at the core of being.

Community, connection, presence, being, peace, intimacy, vulnerability, love, surrender.... these are the things I value above all, these are the qualities I continue to learn about in the workshop in my own life. My passion is empowering people to live in the present, more awake, in touch with the essence of who we are, from which comes our natural power, joy, love and abundance. I have been drawn to spiritual teachings since childhood and I am very grateful to have worked with extraordinary teachers, indigenous and western. A group leader and therapist for 16 years, I run transformational weekend and week-long retreats and evening groups in Bristol, Bath, Somerset, Andalucia, Italy and the Hawaiian islands

I have a practice in Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath working one to one with individuals, using skills accumulated through years of study in Jungian psychotherapy, coaching, Huna, (which means hidden knowledge) shamanic healing, Time Line Therapy, astrological counselling, NLP, Releasing and Self-Inquiry, combined with insights from deeply transformational life experiences. This work enables people to find a deep integration between body, heart and being. Working in this way demands self-healing too. Life is constantly going deeper for me, and yes life is very happy in a quiet way!

The more present we are, the more we can fully embrace insecurity, challenge, death, the darkness, as part of the human of life, as well as the light, the bliss and joy. The more we can do this, mysteriously the more we find the magic, love and beauty in our lives that we would all choose by preference. In the Huna teachings, which is a very balanced and powerfully healing modality, we can only reach spirit through the unconscious-in other words, to be with our feelings, or with those of another, is the path to the divine. It is the way to become deeply happy. Without our joy, tears, exuberance, tenderness and sexual passion we are less alive, less healthy, less available and less playful. To keep being here with whatever is going on for us or a partner or a colleague, however uncomfortable, however exquisite, is the only way we can know real freedom and happiness.

It seems to me that the art of living happily is surrendering to what is greater than or beyond our own individual demand or expectation is. Aloha - the recognition of the life and love in another - sounds simple but demands rigorous inner work, total responsibility and self-honesty.From there, we live our lives through power and presence, rather than force and control. We learn to take back our projections, let go of blame, tread lightly on our abundant, generous and strained to the limit planet, to be more intimate with ourselves and others and recognize our ordinariness and our magnificence both. At this level life is paradox and we have to grow enough to hold the apparent opposites.

True spirituality is not about seeking a future enlightenment, nor about avoiding suffering. Doing a spiritual practice to attain anything in the future negates the very premise of God or Love or Truth as our true nature right now. We cannot control ourselves, others or the world in order to experience openness on demand, but at any moment we can simply allow a present moment revelation of openness to all there is. We are not here to transform the world and create love on earth. In truth, we aren't here. Here is in us. Though we appear to be limited, though we exist in the world of duality. we are and can live as openness, live as love.

The courses, whether Opening to Intimacy, (where intimate relating becomes a way in to the spiritual, a way to relax into openness) Huna introductions, retreats and in depth trainings, Sacred Ground (days for women) or evening gatherings, give people time, away from the demands and busy-ness of everyday life, time to strengthen connection with themselves, let go - for good- of any baggage they might be carrying, embrace change and envision a heartfelt reality for the future, and to connect and get reflection from others. People make deep and lasting friendships too. And for those whose work is with people, it gives them a greater depth in that. These are all courses that give approaches that are both compassionate and honest and create spaces where trust, challenge and acceptance and an appreciation of the simple and sacred in life can be experienced, that help in the challenge to

Joy Hicklin-Bailey, January 2005