The Imagine Podcast · Episode 11
The Discipline of Joy
Joy is not something that happens when life finally cooperates. It's something we return to — again and again — like any practice worth keeping.
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There's a yogic concept called Ānanda — not the explosive, ecstatic kind of happiness, but a quiet, luminous sense of being at home within yourself. Daniela found it on a lake near Madrid, on a cold morning with a rope in her hands, thirty years after she'd last felt it.
Daniela opens with a childhood memory of learning to water ski in Venezuela — trembling in the water, falling again and again, until one moment when her feet found balance and something changed. Not the technique that stayed with her, but the feeling: wind against her face, light on the water, a current of pure aliveness. Decades passed. Adult life accumulated. And that feeling became a memory rather than a reality — until an Instagram ad for a free water-skiing lesson near Madrid changed that.
In yoga, this quality has a name. Ānanda — bliss — is not a peak experience reserved for meditation retreats. It's the natural state that arises when body, mind, and soul move together. Kundalini Yoga teaches that this quality doesn't have to be earned. It has to be remembered. The discipline isn't in being joyful all the time; it's in learning to return. Practitioners at the Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training in Geneva often describe this shift — from pursuing transformation to recognizing what was already there.
The episode ends with a simple, practical invitation: make a joy list. Not a bucket list of grand ambitions, but a personal record of the ordinary things that bring lightness — a walk in cold air, a particular song, a smell, a feeling in the body. When stress or inertia take over, that list becomes a compass. Because joy isn't a mood. It's a practice. And like any practice, it takes courage.
3 Key Takeaways From This Episode
- 01 Ānanda is your natural state, not a reward. The yogic concept of Ānanda — inner bliss — isn't something we achieve when conditions align. It's a quality already living within us, one we access through practice, presence, and the willingness to return to what makes us feel alive.
- 02 Joy requires the same courage as any practice. We resist things we love because we're afraid they won't be what they were. Daniela went back to water skiing after thirty years — full of doubt. What she found: the body remembers, and so does the soul.
- 03 Make a joy list — and actually use it. A simple record of what brings you lightness is not a sentiment. When stress or inertia take over, it becomes a compass. Kundalini Yoga has always offered practices for exactly this: recalibrating toward what makes us feel alive.
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Hi there, I'm Daniela Troconis.
I'm the co-founder of Imagine Yoga Academy and a Kundalini Yoga teacher trainer. For more than 14 years I've guided people toward reconnecting with their own truth through practice, breath, and honest conversation.
Since 2012, Pedro Misle and I have trained more than 900 teachers across Switzerland, Spain, India, and online.
The Imagine Podcast brings the conversations that happen inside our Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainings out into the world — grounded, practical, and real. Just real practice for real life.
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Episode Transcript
Full transcript · Ep. 11 · The Discipline of Joy
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Episode Transcript
Full transcript · Ep. 11 · The Discipline of Joy
What Yoga Calls Joy
Today I want to talk about something that is one of the deepest practices of yoga — the discipline of joy. It's important because it literally translates into improving our life's experience.
Because joy — real, embodied joy — isn't something that just "happens" to us. It's something we have to make space for, to return to, again and again. Just like our practice.
In yoga, the Sanskrit word for this state is Ānanda — bliss, happiness, or joy. Not the kind that's loud or ecstatic, but a quiet, luminous feeling of being at home within yourself. It's the natural joy that arises when your mind, your body, and your soul are in harmony.
A Childhood Memory
When I was a little girl, one of my greatest joys was waterskiing. It all started in Río Chico, Venezuela — a place of mangroves, calm channels, and bright sunlight. The first time I tried, I remember trembling in the water, tiny hands gripping the rope, heart racing with fear. I must've stayed there, floating and shaking, for more than twenty minutes — trying to stand up and failing again and again.
But my parents were there with me, patient, smiling, waiting. And eventually, I did it. I came out of the water, feet finding balance, wind against my face, heart wide open.
That moment changed something in me. From that day on, I loved it — the rhythm, the connection, the freedom. I moved from two skis to one, even tried some small tricks. But what stayed with me most wasn't the technique — it was that feeling of pure joy, of being fully alive.
What Happens as Adults
As adults, something happens. Responsibilities multiply, and joy starts to feel like a luxury. We prioritize productivity over pleasure, and in doing so, we lose touch with that natural current inside us — the one that makes us feel alive.
And yet, yoga reminds us: Ānanda is our true nature. We don't have to earn it, but we do have to remember it. We have to practice joy. We have to cultivate it, just as we cultivate patience, devotion, or compassion. That's why I call it the discipline of joy.
A Return to Joy
A few weeks ago, something beautiful happened. I was scrolling through Instagram — and I saw an ad for a free waterskiing lesson near Madrid. Something inside me lit up. A tiny spark that said: yes, this.
Without thinking too much, I signed up — for me and my daughter. At first, I was excited. But as the day approached, the old doubts arrived. What if I can't do it anymore? What if my body doesn't remember? But that inner voice said: "Go. You need this." So I went.
And the moment I came out of the chilly water, feeling the pull of the rope, the wind on my face — I felt that same old joy return. For a few seconds, I wasn't anyone's teacher, or mother, or problem-solver. I was just a soul, alive and awake. Completely here.
That day reminded me that joy, like yoga, requires courage. It asks us to show up — even when we're scared. To soften into the moment instead of trying to control it.
The Practice: Your Joy List
So here is my invitation to you. Make a joy list. Not a bucket list of grand adventures — a simple, personal record of the ordinary things that bring lightness. A particular song. A walk in cold air. A smell. A movement in the body. A conversation. A kind of light.
Because joy isn't something we chase — it's something we cultivate. And cultivating it takes the same courage as stepping back onto a lake after thirty years away. Begin again. Not with a dramatic reinvention — but with a small return.
Listen until the end and find a powerful Kundalini Yoga mantra to cultivate the state of Ānanda.
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