Awakening Joy: An Eight-Week Class Series

"My hope is that the practices offered in this course will not only help all of you through these challenging times but also give you the energy and aliveness to help awaken all the goodness inside you and in those around you. Just as fear and hatred are contagious, goodness and caring are contagious, too. I hope each person taking this course sees themselves as an agent of goodness."  - James Baraz

Inclining the mind toward joy is one of the most transformative practices we can undertake. When we intentionally look for the good—in ourselves, in others, and in the world around us—joy naturally follows.  

Join teachers Ashleigh Enriquez and Michele Bledsoe as we explore the essential teachings of joy.  This 10-step program, developed by James Baraz, offers a practical and heart-centered path to cultivating greater happiness and well-being. We’ll meet weekly to reflect, connect, and deepen our practice together.

What makes Awakening Joy so effective is how we are able to bring the ancient wisdom into everyday life.  James used his years of studying Buddhist teachings, as well as contemporary insights from psychology and neuroscience, to develop this course that supports us in shifting habits, expanding awareness, and nurturing resilience.

At the heart of the course are three core principles:

• Understand what healthy activities support wholesome states in you.

• Intentionally cultivate wholesome states and be fully present for them.

• Research confirms that brain structure changes with what we focus on, deepening the groove towards depression or happiness.

"Whatever one frequently thinks and ponders upon will be the inclination of their mind" - The Buddha

Why now?
If "joy" doesn’t feel like a word you can easily connect with, think of this as Awakening Well-Being, Awakening Awareness, Awakening Love, or Awakening Goodness. This course can be a meaningful support—especially if you’re going through something difficult. It helps us open our hearts to all the goodness in the world, while also learning to hold life’s inevitable challenges with greater spaciousness and care.

This is a “feel-everything” program. It takes practice to focus on the good—and that’s what we’ll do together, in a positive and nurturing community.

Awakening Joy - learn how to hold all of life - with love and compassion.  

For questions, contact info@living-mindfully.org.

This event is offered on a dana basis - we suggest a donation of $100-$200 for all eight sessions ($12.50-$25.00 per class) to compensate our teachers for time training, creating the session materials, and their teachings.

This ticket is for all eight sessions; a Zoom link will be sent to you after you register.

Register

Frequently Asked Questions

💡 About the Course

What is Awakening Joy?
Awakening Joy is a 10-step program developed by James Baraz that explores how to incline the mind toward wholesome states like joy, contentment, compassion, and resilience. Drawing from Buddhist wisdom and contemporary psychology, it offers deeply practical tools to help us cultivate well-being—especially during difficult times.

Why is this course so important? 

It’s easy to lose sight of joy and the goodness in our lives and it can be easier to get caught in our stories and challenges. When we intentionally turn toward and hold the good, we begin to create pathways of well-being. Over time, joy can become a steady foundation—our baseline—rather than just a fleeting moment that comes and goes.

Because of our natural negativity bias, it takes practice to focus on what is right and good. Creating spaciousness in the mind and heart comes not only from understanding the principles, but from practicing them and opening ourselves to the fullness of human experience. And we are fortunate to have a supportive community in which to do this together.  Although it’s not essential, doing the course with a practice partner often makes the experience richer. You might invite a friend or relative to take the course with you. 

How is this different from other mindfulness courses?
What makes this course different is that after many years of studying and teaching Buddhism, James narrowed all that wisdom into ten steps that incline the mind towards wholesome and expansive states of joy.  So it’s years of Buddhist teachings, into an easily accessible and deeply profound course.  

👥 About the Teachers

Who are the teachers?
Your guides for this journey are Michele Bledsoe and Ashleigh Enriquez, both certified Awakening Joy teachers and experienced mindfulness facilitators.

• Michele shares:
  “James Baraz has been a mentor over the years and I was drawn to him because of this course, Awakening Joy. Before I began, I had given up on ever feeling genuinely happy again as I had experienced some very sad family events.  I believed I was destined never to feel whole or experience true well-being.  I took the course and I did find the course fun, enriching, and full of learning.   And I made wonderful friends, but at the time I wasn’t sure it had“awakened” anything.    Then, it was maybe a couple months later, I was out walking while something was deeply troubling me.  All of a sudden, it showed up—the shift inside me.   The course had awakened something in me and not only that - it had taken another difficult time to see it.   I felt a deep inner joy and presence, and when I looked around, I could suddenly see the beauty all around me and experience the joy within.  Since then, I’ve continued to lead Awakening Joy groups year after year. I am forever grateful—to James, to the course, and to the immense sense of well-being it has brought into my life.”

• Ashleigh adds:
  “I was introduced to the book and then the online program with James Baraz after a health crisis. I was diagnosed with a chronic medical condition that got so bad we debated if I could live alone any longer in my 20’s. Since then I return to the program and teachings regularly, especially in times of difficulty. ”

 What did it take to get certified? 

After completing the coursework as participants, Michele and Ashleigh applied and were accepted into the Awakening Joy teacher training program. They met monthly with James Baraz and a small group of fellow teachers-in-training, receiving guidance, practicing facilitation, and supporting one another as they developed their skills. As part of the training, they each completed a practicum. Both are now certified Awakening Joy teachers and bring deep passion and care to the course, with a shared intention to ensure participants feel well-supported throughout the journey.

🧠 What to Expect

What can I expect from each class?

Each class will be an exploration of one or two of the steps of Awakening Joy, practices on how to incorporate the steps in our daily life, and time for reflections and sharing.  

What topics will we explore?
Inclining the mind towards joy, mindfulness, gratitude, joy in hard times, letting go, compassion, loving ourselves and others, “bliss of blamelessness,” and simply being.

Will we talk about sadness, stress, or negative emotions?
Yes, we will talk about how to handle negative emotions, sadness, and stress. Awakening Joy invites us to notice the challenging times in our lives and explore ways to support and nurture ourselves. We learn how to turn toward difficult feelings and allow them to be part of our experience—while cultivating a deep inner wisdom that they aren’t the entirety of our experience. 

What if I can’t relate to the word joy? What if I rarely feel joyful?

If you don’t resonate with the word “joy”, try another word that’s more accessible for you, like “well-being” or “contentment”, “awareness” or “consciousness”.   During the course we’ll use a variety of words to point to this feeling of well-being.  Please substitute your own word(s) for any words that don’t work for you.

If you rarely feel joy, then this is the course for you if you’d like to increase that even by 1%. In this course we don’t overlook hardship or ignore that there are challenges in our lives, we find a way to experience all those plus all of the joy, or contentment, or peace. 

How will I integrate this into my busy schedule?
There’s no failing this experience. Our intention is for the course to be a nourishing experience, especially as you let go of any guilt about what you do or don’t do. To help in the process of allowing the conditions for joy to naturally arise.  Simply do what you are able, as every bit adds up. 

Is it experiential or theoretical?
Both. You’ll gain a grounding in research and Buddhist teachings and receive simple, powerful practices to use right away.

🧭 Logistics

Why is the class eight weeks?
We’re looking to incline the mind to see the good and research shows it can take at least 6-8 weeks to establish this habit.  

Do I need to attend all 8 sessions?
We understand life happens. We encourage attending at least 5 sessions live to benefit from group reflection and sharing, but weekly email recaps will be available if you miss a session.

Will I get support between or after sessions?
You’ll receive weekly recap emails and optional practices. Some participants choose to continue meeting afterward for peer support and community.

How much time should I plan for outside of class?
As much—or as little—as you can give. This is a do what you can journey. Even a few minutes of reflection or journaling can go a long way.

Do I need the book Awakening Joy?
It’s optional—but a great resource if you’d like to go deeper.

Can I take this course if I’m going through a difficult time in life?
While not a substitute for therapy, this course can be deeply supportive during hard times. We welcome you if you're going through a difficult season.

What materials do I need?
Just yourself and something to write with—a journal or paper and pen.

💬 Donations & Pricing

How much does the course cost?
This event is offered on a dana basis - we suggest a donation of $100-$200 for all eight sessions ($12.50-$25.00 per class) to compensate our teachers for time training, creating the session materials, and their teachings.

We deeply value the tradition of dana and aspire to offer all of our classes and retreats in this spirit. This particular series is part of a pilot effort to offer a full course on a dana-only basis, allowing participants to contribute whatever feels most aligned for them—no pressure or expectation.

As we continue to explore this model, we're also evaluating whether it allows us to sustainably and fairly compensate our teachers for the time, care, and preparation that goes into creating this offering. Your generosity helps make this possible and shapes how we offer future programming.

Why do you suggest a donation amount?
Your contribution supports our facilitators for their preparation and care. Of your donation:

• 80% goes directly to Michele and Ashleigh

• 10% supports IMCW

• 10% supports CML and our ongoing programs

What if I can’t afford the suggested donation?
You’re still warmly welcome. This is a no-judgment space. Choose the “scholarship rate”—no questions asked.

What if I’m already a monthly donor?
Thank you! You’re supporting this work already. If you’re able, we invite you to still make a one-time contribution for this course that goes to our facilitators, but only if it feels right for you.