How to Practice Joy: The Science of the "Glimmer"

If joy is a weapon, we must keep it sharp. In clinical terms, we discuss "weathering"—the accelerated aging caused by chronic toxic stress. For Black women in the US, this is often compounded by the Superwoman Schema, the pressure to be everything for everyone. Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts argues that joy is the antidote. It isn’t "toxic positivity"; it is a clinical and sociocultural strategy for restoration.

Research from 2024 highlights how "intentional delight" facilitates the release of generational trauma. By choosing joy, we aren't just feeling good; we are actively fighting the inflammation caused by the "Strong Black Woman" narrative.

The Bottom Line: Choosing joy on purpose is a way to fight back. It gives your body a physical break and helps you let go of the stress that's been passed down in your family.

Be in the Body

To practice joy, we must move it into the body. Remember laughing until your sides or jaw ache? That’s what joy in the body can feel like.

• Mining Childhood Memories: Recall the feeling of "jumping out" of a swing. 2024 Neurobiology research shows that recalling these exhilarating and positive memories activates the ventral striatum.
• In Plain English: When you remember that "stomach-drop" feeling of playing as a kid, you are actually "hacking" your brain. It forces your "fear center" to turn off and your "reward center" to turn on.
• Scheduling Delight: Because the world "punches us in the gut" daily, we must write joy into our schedules. Whether it’s "vegging out" to reality TV or savoring a slow coffee, reclaim that "unproductive" time. This is known as Cognitive Offloading.
• In Plain English: Think of your brain like a phone battery that’s stuck at 1%. Doing something "unproductive" like watching a favorite show or sipping coffee isn't being lazy—it’s plugging your brain into the charger so it doesn't shut down.
• You Come First: Do you need to get up a few minutes early to put yourself first? 2024 studies on "Self-First" rituals show a 30% increase in daily self-efficacy for women who prioritize their own “agency.”
• In Plain English: When you do something for you before you do something for your boss or your kids, you’re telling your brain that you are the boss of your own life. It gives you a "win" before the day even starts.
• The Breath: Use intentional breathing as a restorative act. Specifically, using an "exhaling-emphasis" breath acts as Manual Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS).
• Try this today: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, and exhale slowly for 8. Try humming lightly while you exhale. Feel the vibration of that breath. That’s how you activate your Vagus Nerve.
• In Plain English: You have a "peace nerve" (the Vagus nerve) that runs from your brain to your gut. When you breathe out slowly, you are literally pulling the emergency brake on your stress. It forces your heart to slow down and your body to relax.

Resilience in the Diaspora

We see joy in practice in Caribbean Carnival. Born from the ending of slavery, it is a literal reclamation of the streets. This tradition first took root in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 18th century, emerging from Cannes Brulées (French for "sugarcane burning"). Enslaved Africans purposefully set fire to the sugar cane intended for sale, destroying the crop and undermining enslavers' success.

Cannes Brulées later evolved into Canboulay and then Carnival, continuing to carry the legacy of defiance. To dance in the street is to say: My body belongs to me.

It manifests internally in the silence, somatically in the breath, and communally in our "hush harbors." Hush harbors are a vital part of this communal strategy. Historically, they were hidden places where enslaved people could gather to practice their culture and faith without surveillance. Today, they manifest as modern "cookouts"—spaces that are vetted member only, and/or family-centric, where the inner circle gathers for safety and belonging, and where the collective vulnerability is protected. They are, at their core, places of collective regulation. Casually, we call these VIBES.

Show Me Your Black Joy

What does your "reparative practice" look like? Tag us in a photo of you in a joyful moment! (Not in the moment, but later, after you’ve really got all the joy out of it, and realized it was joy. Boundaries, friend!)

Learn how to practice Black Joy as a somatic strategy for health. Explore the "Be in the Body" practice and the science of healing the nervous system. Check out Traceys’ follow up book, The Black Joy Playbook: 30 Days of Intentionally Reclaiming Your Delight.

#SomaticHealing #BlackWellness #PracticeJoy #RestAsResistance #MentalHealth