Reclaiming Joy in a Hurting World
by Kamala Itzel Hayward
In their ancient teachings, the great Yoga masters remind us over and over that our true nature is Satchidananda—existence, knowledge, and bliss absolute. And yet, many of us find ourselves asking: If bliss is our essential nature, why is it so difficult to experience—especially in times of pain, injustice, or uncertainty?
What happens when the world feels heavy, when our communities are grieving, and when our own hearts are tired? Where does joy live then?
These questions have been living in me for a long time.
As someone who shares Yoga with others and is devoted to our collective healing, I’ve sat with many people who feel sadness, discouragement, or even self-doubt when they can’t seem to find joy—or even the willingness to seek it. It’s as if they see joy as something they should already have, or should be able to summon on command. Some have expressed that in the face of the deep suffering of others, the very idea of reaching for joy can feel out of place or even wrong.
But the sages tell us that true joy isn’t based on what happens to us. It’s not a fleeting feeling that can be found only when suffering is absent, or when life feels easy. The teachings remind us that true joy is always already available—even when external forms and conditions are imperfect. Indeed it isn’t something outside of us at all. Rather, it’s something already within us that can be seen, uncovered, or remembered when we are rooted in relationship with what is real: with Spirit, with each other, and with the sacredness of our own existence.
The Yoga teachings offer us many ways to cultivate that relationship: through seeing ourselves clearly, through staying present with life as it is, through anchoring ourselves in Spirit and in the web of life that holds us all. And the Bhagavad Gita reminds us that no sincere effort on the path is ever wasted. Every time we practice the teachings—no matter how small the gesture—we open space for true joy to express itself.
This is not a call to bypass real suffering or deny injustice. It’s an invitation to be anchored in something deeper than the shifting tides of circumstance. It’s an invitation to remember that even in sorrow and struggle, we are held by something larger than ourselves.
Join me at Integral Yoga San Francisco on June 7 at 5:30 PM PT for a talk called Joy as Resilience, Joy as Resistance. We’ll explore joy as a quiet strength, a source of healing, and a form of sacred resistance in a world that often asks us to harden, disconnect, or despair.
Kamala Itzel Hayward was a lawyer for over a decade before becoming a Yoga teacher and Yoga therapist specializing in trauma, addiction, and wellness. She is passionate about bringing Yoga and other healing modalities to adults facing chronic stress caused by living under oppression, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, and more. She is founder of the Integral Yoga Institute’s Scholarship-Based Yoga Teacher Training for Black, Indigenous, People of Color. Since founding Attuned Living in 2010, she has been sharing Yoga with individuals facing housing insecurity and related challenges, including systemic barriers; structural oppression; social dislocation; physical, emotional, and mental health challenges; substance abuse; and addiction. She sits on the Advisory Board for the Trauma Prevention and Recovery Certificate Program at the City College of San Francisco.
