May Challenge: To Lovingly Detach
Hello Lovely Joyn Community,
I’m writing this from my parents’ couch on an overcast Sunday afternoon, half resting and half listening to the hum of my mom and brother in the kitchen. There’s something comforting about being in your own little bubble while life moves around you. A quiet reminder that you’re never truly alone.
I had a small procedure last week, and for the first time in a while, I’ve been forced to slow down. Not the kind of “I should rest” slowing down, but the kind where you don’t really have a choice. And if I’m being honest, it’s brought up more than just physical stillness.
It’s made me reflect on how much I tend to hold on. I’m someone who feels deeply, cares deeply, and loves deeply… and sometimes that means I find myself bending and shaping to meet others until I lose sight of where I am in it all. Letting the way I make other people feel become the measure of how I feel about myself.
Maybe you’ve felt that too. Or maybe you’ve held tightly to a person, a plan, or an outcome, and when it didn’t unfold the way you imagined, it left you feeling dejected.
That’s where the practice of detachment has been meeting me lately. At first, the term felt a little harsh. But the more I’ve sat with it, the more I’ve come to understand it differently.
Detachment isn’t about caring less. It’s about staying connected to yourself first.
It’s trusting what you feel, what you offer, and who you are, without reshaping it to make everything and everyone around you more comfortable. It’s allowing yourself to love fully, while staying rooted enough that you don’t lose yourself in the process.
In that way, detachment isn’t disconnection… it’s a deeper, more honest form of connection. One where you can show up fully, without gripping, forcing, or needing to control the outcome.
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“Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.” –Abi Talib
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In yoga, this is known as vairagya, the practice of letting things be as they are without needing to control or fix them. I’ve been exploring this on my mat through yin yoga, where you hold a posture for several minutes to reach the deeper layers of the body. My brain and body move quickly, and that usually (unsurprisingly) shows up in my practice too. But yin invites something different.
It asks me to settle in. To feel sensation without immediately trying to fix it, to stay present without turning away, t0 notice the feeling without letting it overcome my thoughts. And maybe, just maybe, what I practice on the mat will begin to ripple out into my daily life.
So this month, ~joyn~ me in practicing something subtle but powerful:
Feeling without gripping
Showing up without forcing
Caring deeply without losing ourselves
If you’re wanting to explore this idea of detachment more, I’m here to support you. I’ve been doing a lot of unlearning lately, and just like in yoga, detachment is a practice. Any of you are welcome to send me a message to connect here or if you’re looking to explore this on your own, the book Detached by Sabrina Alexis Bendory has been a powerful teacher for me.
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If yoga & connection is something you crave this May, we’ve got you covered:
Check the attachment for dates and all ticket links can be found here
For May music to flow along to, here are Joyn’s current playlists:
Showers to flowers by Anna
Yoga - April ‘26 by Tobey
Pru Spring 2026 by Leah
With lots of love & gratitude,
♡ Anna & The Joyn Fam ♡
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