What does it take to cultivate joy—not as a fleeting feeling, but as a steady presence—even in times of deep uncertainty? In this luminous conversation, Dr. Heidi Brooks is joined by psychologist and author Emma Seppälä and artist Clara Nartey to explore the resilient, regenerative power of joy. With insights drawn from neuroscience, personal experience and artistic practice, Emma and Clara reflect on how inner sovereignty—the ability to return to center amid chaos—can help us meet the world with greater creativity, calm, and connection.
From Clara’s practice of beginning each day in prayerful gratitude to Emma’s decades of meditation and breathwork, Heidi and her guests share how joy can be cultivated as a discipline of attention and care, and reflect on joy as an “inside job”—one that begins with how we treat ourselves and ripples outward in our relationships, our work and our communities. Together, they invite us to consider: What might it look like to build a “circle of delight” around ourselves and others—a nest of safety, authenticity and beauty?
This episode is for anyone seeking a more rooted, soulfully sustainable way to face uncertainty—and to offer something healing to the world in return.
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Resources
Show Notes & Key Moments
00:00 – Welcome Back to Joy
Heidi sets the stage for a conversation about joy as a practice of resilience during uncertain times–and a shared realization that joy often appears where you least expect it.
02:14 – Boarding School, Pandemic, and the Birth of Joy
Clara shares how hardship shaped her commitment to joy: “You either succumb to the situation—or find a way out using joy.”
03:42 – Inner Wealth, Outer Poverty
Emma reflects on cultures where joy thrives in the absence of material wealth: “You can’t put the human spirit down.”
08:45 – Training the Mind for Turbulence
Emma offers practices like breathwork and meditation as tools to cultivate resilience and unlock creativity: “The quality of your life depends on the state of your mind.”
14:35 – Art as Emotional Translation
Clara describes how her joy—or pain—flows directly into her textile work, regardless of what’s visible on the surface. Both Clara and Emma speak to the mystery of creativity: “It’s like the work is asking to be made—and I’m just the channel.”
23:19 – The Trouble With Toxic Positivity
They explore the power of authenticity over forced optimism: “Sometimes the most uplifting thing is just being present through the hard stuff.”
33:37 – What Is Sovereignty?
Emma defines it as reclaiming our inner space from inherited self-criticism: “You can’t unsee what you’ve seen.”
37:23 – Joy Begins With You
Clara reminds us: “You can’t give joy to others from a place of emptiness.” And something to sit with: Something to sit with: “Gratitude will float you through the rushing waters.”
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