My Happy Place Song List
One song. Two minutes. And you’re back.
There is a particular kind of joy that lives in music.
The kind that finds you — in the middle of an ordinary Wednesday.
You press play, and something in your body remembers what it feels like to be fully alive.
I was thinking about this a lot as I was preparing for the June Maven Circle Immersion workshop, where the focus was on exploring what it really means to befriend our being — to come into partnership with our body, mind, and spirit.
As a relationship to tend.
Through the Lens of Expansive Living
We spend so much of our lives relating to our bodies as something to manage.
To fix.
To push through.
Wellness becomes a project.
Self-care becomes a to-do list item.
And somewhere in that effort, we lose the thread of actual partnership — the felt sense of being with ourselves rather than working on ourselves.
Befriending our being starts with the small things.
The things that don’t feel like effort.
The things that light us up before our mind has a chance to talk us out of it.
And one of the most direct paths I know to that kind of partnership?
Music.
Specifically, the songs that make us feel high on life.
When I speak about expansive consciousness, it is not some abstract state, or something extraordinary, or special that needs a rigorous practice, or becoming very spiritual.
It is something accessible, practical, readily available to each one of us — in today’s world where we have access to any song we want in an instant.
A single song — the right song, YOUR song — can shift your mental and emotional state in seconds. Not minutes. Seconds.
The melody comes in, the rhythm gets into your body, and something opens. You feel lighter. More alive. More you.
That is what expanding consciousness actually looks like when it lands in real life. Not always a retreat or a practice. Sometimes it is just pressing play.
And if you hold space for others — whether you’re a coach, a therapist, a facilitator, a teacher, or simply the person in your circle who everyone comes to — this is a practice worth offering.
Put on a song at the start of a group session and let everyone move.
Invite a client who’s been carrying something heavy to take a break from the weight of it and just listen to something that makes them feel alive.
In a world where the news is relentless and the weight of things can feel crushing, sometimes the most expansive thing you can do is give someone permission to feel joy for three and a half minutes.
Profoundly simple. Profoundly accessible. Profoundly real.
So I made you a list.
These are four songs from my personal happy place — the ones where the rhythm gets into my body before my brain even has a chance to weigh in.
The melody just takes over.
I feel pure joy.
I feel vitality.
I feel like the world is, despite everything, still miraculous.
September — Earth, Wind & Fire
Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing — Stevie Wonder
Blame It On The Boogie — The Jackson 5
Overjoyed — Take 6
These songs are my self-care. Because they nourish something real in me — my love of rhythm, my love of melody, my love of feeling completely and unapologetically alive.
That’s what befriending your being looks like in practice.
Knowing what you love.
Knowing what lights you up.
And then — this is the part we often skip — actually doing it.
Just press play.
Try This
What is your happy place song?
The one that gets into your body before your mind can catch up?
Put it on today. Right now.
As a gift to yourself.
Notice what happens in your body when the first few notes come in.
What does it evoke in you when you hear it?
What state does it put you in?
What does it open up?
After you listen to it, come back here and share your happy song.
I’d love to know what song makes you feel high on life.
Sending your way blessings of finding your happy place,
Anna