Most people think of joy as something that happens to them: a reaction to good news, a meaningful event, or a moment when life finally feels easier. But neuroscience suggests something far more empowering: cultivating joy is also a skill. Like attention, emotional regulation, or compassion, it can be practiced, and when done consistently, it reshapes your brain.
Finding small moments of joy each day isn’t about denying hardship or forcing positivity. It’s about using a growth mindset to teach your nervous system that safety, pleasure, and meaning exist alongside stress. Over time, this practice helps calm the brain’s threat response and strengthens the neural pathways associated with resilience, hope, and emotional flexibility.
Why Do Our Brains Need Help Recognizing Joy?
Survival instincts, past adverse experiences, and stress hormones all reinforce a tendency to scan for what’s wrong. For individuals with trauma histories, chronic stress, or addiction recovery, this negativity bias can be especially strong. The brain learns to stay alert, guarded, and skeptical—even during neutral or pleasant moments.
What often gets overlooked is that joy doesn’t disappear entirely in these conditions: it simply becomes harder to access. Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald, a trauma researcher and author of The Joy Reset, states that hypervigilance, emotional numbing, shame, guilt, fear of loss, and conditioning are all typical barriers that block joy circuits in the brain. Although small positive experiences still happen, they pass through the brain too quickly to register. Without intentional attention, they don’t get stored in memory or reinforced in neural circuitry.
However, when you slow down and consciously notice a positive moment, you give the brain enough time to encode it. Repeated over days and weeks, this strengthens connections between the prefrontal cortex—the area of your brain involved in awareness and regulation—and emotional centers like the amygdala. The result is a brain that becomes less reactive to threat and more capable of experiencing calm and pleasure.
Joy as a Nervous System Safety Signal
When you experience even a brief positive moment—such as comfort, connection, beauty, or curiosity—your nervous system gets evidence that it doesn’t need to stay on high alert. These signals help downshift the stress response and activate systems associated with rest, digestion, and emotional regulation.
Over time, repeatedly offering your brain these signals trains it to expect safety more often. This doesn’t eliminate stress, but it changes how quickly and intensely the brain reacts. That shift is at the heart of resilience, especially in recovery.
What Are Some Practical Ways to Practice Little Moments of Joy?
The approach of “joy imprinting” often works best when it’s woven into daily life rather than treated as a special exercise. Here are accessible, science-aligned ways to practice noticing joy, even on difficult days.
- The “Three Sensations” Pause
Once a day, pause and name three pleasant physical sensations you’re experiencing: warmth, softness, ease of breath, a comforting sound. This anchors joy in the body, which helps the brain register safety more deeply. - Joy Pairing
In your daily recovery practice, attach joy awareness to an existing habit. While brushing your teeth, walking to class, or making tea, intentionally look for one thing that feels good or meaningful. Pairing joy with routine makes the practice sustainable. - Micro-Celebrations
Instead of waiting for big achievements, acknowledge small wins: finishing a task, showing up when it was hard, calling your sponsor, choosing rest. Briefly recognizing effort strengthens self-trust and positive self-talk. - Capture, Don’t Judge
If joy feels muted, don’t evaluate it. Simply notice it. Even neutral-pleasant moments count. The brain learns through repetition, not intensity. - Visual Anchors
Keep an object, image, or note that represents something meaningful—a photo, stone, quote, or symbol. Let your eyes land on it once a day and remember why it matters. This activates memory-based reward pathways. - Joy Reflection at Night
Before sleep, recall one moment that was okay or slightly good. This approach—similar to choosing a moment of gratitude—helps counter the brain’s tendency to replay stress and supports emotional regulation during rest. - Shared Joy
Naming positive moments out loud, even briefly, strengthens social bonding and deepens emotional impact. Saying “That felt nice” or “I liked that moment” reinforces joy through connection.
What About When Joy Is Hard to Access?
Yes, on some days, this concept may feel distant or unavailable. That doesn’t mean the practice isn’t working. It means the nervous system is tired or overwhelmed. On those days, the goal isn’t happiness, it’s neutral safety. Noticing comfort, relief, or moments of non-pain still supports rewiring—and they can be simple, tiny things, such as:
- Breathe in a favorite scent
- Give your pet a few scratches
- Notice the beauty of a sunset
- Wrap your hands around a warm cup of tea
- Listen to a favorite song
- Enjoy a piece of hard candy
- Tend to a plant
- Watch a comedy clip
Joy is cumulative. Each small acknowledgment adds a layer of evidence that life contains more than threat. Over time, this evidence reshapes the brain’s expectations.
You, Only Better, at Ivory Plains
By choosing to notice small moments of goodness again and again, you teach your brain a powerful lesson: safety is possible, hope is learnable, and healing can happen in increments. And over time, those increments add up to real, lasting change. At Ivory Plains’ inclusive addiction rehabilitation program in Adair, Iowa, our board-certified professionals offer a whole-person treatment philosophy that reinforces just how many aspects of life exist that you can control in your recovery. Ask our admissions team for more information.
