About Joy Jordan
(click here to contact Joy)
Hi! My name is Joy.
I help people who struggle with anxiety, exhaustion, and busyness to slow down and savor life through everyday mindfulness practices. Unlike traditional approaches that can feel daunting, I focus on short, simple actions that can be easily integrated into your day.
My core values are love and courage. It takes both to show up wholeheartedly in this complex world.
You might wonder how I came to meditation or what qualifies me to teach this stuff.
There are hundreds of ways mindfulness has positively impacted my life. I’ll share three important stories to which you can likely relate...
Anxiety
In my late 30s, I experienced intense anxiety. Racing heart, excessive worry, and panic attacks. I was someone who always held it together, yet things were falling apart.
I’d read about meditation but wasn’t practicing. My middle-of-the-night panic attacks rocked me to the core. They got me to commit to meditation daily.
The changes weren’t immediate but my commitment (to myself!) made a difference. After months of mindfulness practice, my relationship to anxiety shifted. It was no longer the big, scary thing. It was simply a passing storm.
More importantly, I trusted my capacity to watch the storm and love myself through it. This is a life-long journey I’m on. Anxiety arises and rather than pushing it away, I breathe with it. It’s not pleasant yet it’s also okay.
Enoughness
For much of my adult life, my focus was external. I looked externally for signs I was enough and okay. I worked long hours, said “yes” to any request, did backflips to ensure people liked me, hosted parties, and ran marathons.
While working with my intense fear, I felt the vulnerability underneath: Am I enough? Am I lovable?
Meditation helped me sit with these feelings. And it helped me find enoughness inside me. My okayness didn’t come from my actions and accomplishments. It came from my being.
Once I felt a hint of this, I knew I was on a good path. Meditation, nature walks, photography, connection with good friends, writing—these empowered me. I was no longer controlled by externals.
I still fall into the “not enough” habit but I recognize it sooner; I change the course sooner. Self-compassion is a big part of this healing. Giving myself grace and beginning again.
Career change
For 14 years, I was a statistics professor at Lawrence University. Teaching at a small college is exactly why I got my PhD. I loved my interactions with students.
I enjoyed making stats accessible to folks who thought they weren’t good at math. They just needed a new lens, helpful resources, and active practice. Watching them succeed made my heart happy.
Yet there were many parts of my job that were exhausting. (This relates to my previous point about enoughness. I was giving an unsustainable 200% to my work.)
Again, my mindfulness practice buoyed me. I focused on what was most important (students!), cut my hours, said “no” more, cultivated my non-work life, and tried new ideas in the classroom. Even with these positive changes, I grew more exhausted each year.
Ultimately, I decided to resign my tenured position. I love teaching but I was done teaching stats. I love Lawrence but I was done with the academic mantra of “do more, publish more, accomplish more.”
Now I get to teach meditation and mindfulness (and make them accessible to folks who think they can't meditate!). My heart is again happy.
My approach
My approach to mindfulness is practical and grounded. I understand the research (thanks statistics degree!). I know from experience the positive impact.
Yet I also know y’all are busy. You’re trying to find peace amid all the doings of the day. You don’t have time to sit in meditation for 20 minutes.
That’s why I developed small yet powerful practices. These are low-commitment but high-impact tools that are quick to master. With my guidance, mindfulness goes from something you wish you did regularly to a well-formed habit integrated into your life.
My offerings include a variety of experiences: one on one, group, virtual, in-person, and asynchronous. And a variety of mediums: teaching, guided meditation, reflective writing, photographs, and poetry.
There’s something here for you!
I’ll meet you right where you are.
It’s possible to live with more courage, ease, and joy.
“Joy is supportive, loving, and authentic—willing to share her own struggles and soft spots. She risked everything, stopped doing what she once valued, and began a new career she believes in even more. Joy truly wants to help others and she meets us wherever we are in our journey.”