In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to lose sight of the simple moments of joy and connection that fuel our inner strength. JOYBeing: Connecting with Your Essence and Rhythm of Life to Thrive and Inspire is more than just a book—it’s an invitation to reconnect with your true essence, unlock your potential, and experience a deeper sense of joy in everyday life. Through a unique blend of mindset, energy, and well-being practices, the book offers you tools to not just survive but truly thrive.
Are you ready to experience more joy, connection, and vitality in your life?
Alongside the book, we’ve created the Cultivating JOYBeing Course—a transformative journey offering practical tools to bring these principles to life. Whether you’re a leader looking to inspire and impact others or an individual seeking greater fulfillment, this course is designed to help you tap into your inner joy, reconnect with your purpose, and create meaningful change in your life.
Join us on this journey to cultivate a life filled with more joy, connection, and purpose.
What is JOYBeing?
Some Key Benefits of JOYBeing
JOYBeing is the joy of being. JOYBeing is more than just a fleeting feeling—it’s a state of being. It’s about intentionally connecting to the life force that animates you as you experience and manage the challenges and joys of life. It is recognizing that your vitality and joy are always accessible and waiting to be awakened amid the rhythm of life. JOYBeing is a way of living that infuses our days with meaning and connection. It is the joy of being alive.
- A heightened sense of aliveness and meaning
- Increased resilience and emotional balance
- Stronger connections and relationships
- Cultivating climates where joy is encouraged and flourishes
- Practical tools and insights to foster joy and vitality.
- Inspiration for leaders and learners to create a culture of joy.
About the Book
JOYBeing: Connecting with Your Essence and Rhythm of Life to Thrive and Inspire
Are you looking to experience more moments of joy? Do you want to thrive and inspire those around you to embrace more joy?
In a world beset by polarization, wars, trauma, disconnection, and technological challenges, it’s easy to drift away from the vibrant life energy that is your birthright. Yet even amid this turbulence, a path exists to connect with the radiant essence within you—JOYBeing.
JOYBeing is more than just a fleeting feeling—it’s a state of being. It’s about intentionally connecting to the life force that animates you, recognizing that your vitality and joy are always accessible and waiting to be awakened. JOYBeing is a way of living that infuses our days with meaning and connection. It is the joy of being alive.
A valuable resource for people seeking to infuse their lives, communities, and organizations with a culture of joy and vitality, JOYBeing offers many practical tools and insights. It empowers leaders and learners of all walks of life to foster a sense of meaning and connection, helping to cultivate climates where joy is encouraged and flourishes. The practices and tools included help to cultivate habits that allow vibrancy and aliveness to bloom. JOYBeing is an invitation to embark on a journey toward a more fulfilling, meaningful, and inspiring life.
How It All Began
The JOYBeing book and course were co-created from a place of desiring more joy. Our story began when we, Ann and Gila, met twenty years ago, each from different ends of the world—Chicago and Istanbul.
We started this adventure because we wanted to explore and more readily access the joy inside us. We both were overworking and felt we were missing life’s moments of joy. We wanted to live with more joy and aliveness. When we met at a coach training program, we agreed that experiencing joy is essential for living a fulfilled and harmonious career and life. We knew this in our heads, but we were not experiencing enough joy in our lives. We had not embodied joy.
We each recognized that amid addressing other issues, our clients and people around us long for more ease, connection, and joy at work and home. They often search for ways to manage their stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. We join them in the desire for more joy and spaciousness. Inspired by our clients and our desire to make a difference, we committed ourselves to exploring the path of joy and began with ourselves. We joined together on this mission and have explored many avenues. This quest is how our JOYBeing book and the Cultivating JOYBeing Course, came to life. We want to share this meaningful journey with you.
Through our process of learning and discovery, we created the term “JOYBeing,” which expands the definition and possibility of joy into a way of being, experiencing aliveness, and living life fully.
We all want more joy in our lives and have each been on our own journey to find more joy. The paradox is we have been looking for something that has actually been in us but covered up all along, waiting to be dis-covered. Discovered. The fog covers the beauty of the landscape and our inner garden. The beauty is always there. When the mist dissipates, we can see the seed or plant, growth, and natural beauty. Like the clouds covering the sun, we have discovered JOYBeing.
In our book and course, we aim to share the learning, experiences, and practices we have found valuable. In a simple, accessible, and creative format, we wish to give you a path to experience more joy and vitality. We have significantly benefited from this exploration and are excited to share what we have dis-covered and continue to practice with you.
If we can experience JOYBeing, we know you can too, if you so choose.
Endorsements for JOYBeing Book
“JOYBeing offers a beautiful blend of wisdom and practical tools that empower readers to cultivate joy in their daily lives. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to enhance their emotional wellbeing and live a more fulfilling life.”
–Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is the Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.
“I remember the day I realized that to deal with the pressures of work and stressors of a chaotic, divisive world, I had shut down my emotions. I didn’t feel pain, but I also couldn’t feel joy. I wish I had this book then as it took me years to revive my sense of wonder, and humor. Please read JOYBeing. Savor the beautiful blend of wisdom and use the tools to reignite your love and joy.”
- Dr. Marcia Reynolds, author of Outsmart Your Brain: How to Master Your Mind When Emotions Take the Wheel and Breakthrough Coaching
“The newest offering from transformational coaches Gila and Ann, JoyBEING, is an invitation for leaders to turn their attention inward to their own life purpose, sources of meaning, emotional experience and embodiment. This inward examination is the core transformational pivot needed for leaders to inspire others, create followership, foster creativity, and drive adaptive change in an ever more complex context. I commend the book highly for unlocking new thresholds of aliveness and happiness, both flames for higher potential.”
– Amy Elizabeth Fox, Chief Executive Officer, Mobius Executive Leadership
During these times of uncertainty and bedlam, JOYBeing offers a necessary medicine for the Spirit. The personal reflections of the authors Ancel Seritcioglu and Van Eron, in addition to their offering of pragmatic practices and insights, make this a valuable doorway into the exploration of leading a grounded, joyous life.
-Richard Strozzi-Heckler, founder of Strozzi Somatics and author of Embodying the Mystery: Somatic Wisdom for Emotional, Energetic, and Spiritual Awakening
Authors Seritcioglu and Van Eron do important work to offer research studies, differentiate joy from happiness and identify practices to deepen this life-giving emotion. In our fast-moving world, learning the pathway to experience and hold joy is literally life-giving. For leaders, coaches, and anyone interested in resilience and vitality-this book is a must-read, a must have and a source of repeatable joy.
-Dorothy E. Siminovitch, Ph.D., MCC, Author of A Gestalt Coaching Primer: The Path Toward Awareness Intelligence, Co-Owner: ICF Level2-Gestalt Coaching Program-online/Istanbul
In these challenging times, "JOYBeing" is an essential guide that provides hope and inspiration, guiding you to reconnect with your inner joy and spread positivity to those around you. Ann and Gila provide practical tools and heartfelt stories that will inspire you to cultivate a flourishing inner garden of joy. A must-read for anyone seeking to enhance their emotional wellbeing and live a more fulfilling life!
-Jackie Stallings Evans, CEO of What Do You Do When Leadership, Inc, Leadership Coach, Speaker, and Author of Rise: Game-Changing Success Strategies for Women Leaders
Gila and Ann show us that JOYBeing is not a destination, but a journey to be lived in the present moment. As I read the book, I found myself sowing my own seeds of JOYBeing through the ideas and exercises planted in my own inner garden, and I am grateful to each of them for taking me on such an heart-warming and inspiring journey.
-Michael Mervosh, Psychotherapist, facilitator, trainer
JOYBeing is a powerful reminder of how our own vitality, life force and overall sense of joy are not constructs of the mind but rather lived experiences which can be cultivated and nurtured in our everyday lives. It provides a clear pathway to embodying our aliveness and is a gentle invitation to remember what it's like to fully enjoy the experience of life.
-Giulio Brunini, MCC, Executive Coach, facilitator
Given how amazing coaches both Gila and Ann are, I am not surprised that this book is both full of wisdom and a practical approach to bringing more joy into our lives as a way of being. I am pretty sure the book will be a major contribution to anyone who reads it. I highly recommend this book.
-Dost Can Deniz, MBA, MCC, Executive Coach, facilitator
JOYBeing is an inspiring and practical path for experiencing what we all want: more joy, aliveness, and wellbeing in our lives. Just the description of “wellbeing” is worth the price of the book. This book is a MUST READ for anyone seeking to live a more fulfilling and joyful life.
-Laurie Zuckerman, Executive Coach and Consultant
Take Your Journey to the Next Level
Unlock Your True Potential with the
Cultivating JOYBeing Course!
The JOYBeing online course is designed to help participants connect to their inner strength and utilize their internal resources to navigate life’s challenges with greater resilience. Through the course, participants learn how to make intentional choices that foster a mindful presence, leading to a more fulfilling life that positively influences others. The course invites participants to explore joy and liveliness more deeply, enabling them to live fully in each moment while also developing a greater understanding of their emotions. By reconnecting with their inner child, they rediscover a sense of play, curiosity, and wonder, which often gets lost in adulthood. In addition, participants identify and overcome habitual patterns and limiting beliefs that may be preventing them from fully experiencing joy or reaching their potential. This journey is supported by guided meditations, experiential processes, practical awareness tools and a collaborative environment where participants can connect, share, and grow together. The course is built on the concepts outlined in JOYBeing, allowing participants to apply these teachings practically and meaningfully in their own lives.
Why Join the JOYBeing Course?
How would your life be different if you chose to experience joy at home, at work, in your relationships, and everyday life?
In a world filled with distractions and challenges, maintaining a state of joy and connection can be daunting. The JOYBeing Course offers structured, in-depth guidance to help you:
- Practical Application: Learn how to apply the tools and practices in real-life scenarios to cultivate a vibrant and joyful existence.
- Deepen Your Understanding: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the concepts introduced in the book.
- Community Support: Connect with like-minded individuals who are on the same journey towards a joyful and meaningful life.
- Personal Growth: Experience profound personal transformation as you align with your true essence and the rhythm of life.
Who is the program for?
Every day, how we choose to be present influences the impact we create in the world. This course is designed for those who aspire to elevate their wellbeing and reconnect with joy to make meaningful differences in their lives and the lives of others.
As a leader, professional, coach, parent or influencer you will explore your patterns of joy and discover your path towards developing a new mindset through experiential practices. We tend to think that joy is dependent on external circumstances, such as when we achieve a goal or when we have a better job or relationship, or even after a big purchase such as a home. We all have habitual patterns that create stress and deplete our energy. While these habits may have once served us, today we can build new neural pathways that support us in creating a fulfilling life since joy is an internal experience and is not dependent on external circumstances.
Are you aware of your habitual patterns that limit joy? What practices might serve you to create more joy in your life? If you want to explore these questions and discover your JOYBeing then this workshop is for you.
Format of Cultivating JOYBeing Course
Two-hour, Live Interactive Virtual Sessions on Zoom over 6 Consecutive weeks include:
- Centering experiences
- Experiential processes to embody joy and aliveness
- Interactive and reflective exercises
- Practices to reinforce connecting to joy
- Teachings that include diverse perspectives
- A workbook to support the learning
- A rich environment for sharing
- Daily practices and tools to explore JOYBeing
Content of the Cultivating JOYBeing Course
SESSION 1: EXPLORING JOY AND ALIVENESS
In this session, you will explore the meaning of joy and how it is different from happiness. You will go deeper in exploring where joy and aliveness live in you and how to easily access it. You will learn the Path to JOYBeing and practices to support you in noticing and staying connected to joy.
SESSION 2: THE POWER OF BEING PRESENT
JoyBeing lives in the present moment. You will learn a model that will allow you to be centered, present, open and connected with purpose. You will learn the power of adopting an Open Stance and experience practices that will enhance aliveness.
SESSION 3: UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS
Our thoughts create emotions. In this session, you will create awareness that will allow you to relate to your emotions in a positive and healthy way. You will gain more understanding of the role of your emotions and of how to manage them with awareness and choice using the 4A recipe.
SESSION 4: IDENTIFYING OUR HABITUAL PATTERNS & TRAPS THAT LIMIT JOYBEING
In this session, you will explore your inner critic and how unconsciously you strengthen this voice and give it more power, which does not always serve you. You will identify your habitual patterns that limit you and learn the E-MRI awareness tool that will support you in connecting to joy and aliveness.
SESSION 5: RECONNECTING WITH THE CHILD WITHIN AND NURTURING JOYBeing
In this session you will focus on reconnecting with your child within to experience joy and creative flow. You will contact, listen to and appreciate this part of you from a centered presence with curiosity and non-judgment. As leaders, you will explore the power of reconnecting with the playful and creative energy that inspires others. You will also learn how to connect and experience the power of your Wise Self.
SESSION 6: CONNECTING WITH THE JOY OF THE FUTURE SELF
In this final session, you will focus on your commitments and create an action plan for enhancing joy and aliveness. You will strengthen your support mechanisms, which include daily practices to sustain JOYBeing.
What Participants Say about the
Cultivating JOYBeing Course
Ann and Gila are the consummate professional coaches/teachers. They embody joy and share their lived experiences with grace and openness. Their guidance is grounded in multiple disciplines, enabling me (the learner) to find applications for my personal self and my use of self in work with others. I have already recommended the course to others.
-Nora O’Brien-Suric, President, Health Foundation for Western & Central New York
We all tend to lose joy as life happens to us. It is crucial for everyone to stop at one point and think about joy and how to remember to feel it in our everyday life. This course definitely helps you realize all the limits you’ve exercised on yourself that are really not necessary and therefore we lost the simple feeling of pure joy. I believe Gila and Ann are great in helping us as we struggle with our self-inflicted limits.
-Ela Gokkin
This was a beautiful and long overdue experience for which I feel deep, deep gratitude.
-Julia, HR Leader, Fortune 100 company
I just completed the JoyBeing course and let me voice my thoughts in one word-FANTASTIC!! This "experience" was like no other. I enjoyed sharing my feelings openly with talented people across the world. I learned so much about myself. Ann and Gila are outstanding. Don't ponder as to whether you should do this-it's essential!!
-Mario Weiss, Leader and Executive Coach
I would absolutely recommend this program. It was wonderful!
In our busy world, it can be hard to make space for joy. Through this class, I find myself opening to joy much more frequently, and I have new tools that I can use to keep joy manifesting in my life. I’m deeply grateful to Ann and Gila for what they have created and to the class for joining in a community of joy.
-Laurie Zuckerman, President, Zuckerman Consulting
I enjoyed the JOYBeing program. It was wonderful.
-Michelle McCarthy, MA ACC ACPC coach, Canada
Cultivating JOYBeing is an excellent course helping build key skills and practices to create JOY in ourself and inspire others. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with internationally-based people.
-Shamim Nasser, Executive Coach, Discovering Potentials (London)
Join the JOYBeing Community
Ready to experience more joy in your life?
Join our community and start your journey to JOYBeing today.
Sign up for our emails for exclusive content, updates, and special offers.
Meet the Authors and Cultivating JOYBeing Course Facilitators
Gila Seritcioglu, MA, MCC and the founder of Gila Seritcioglu Coaching, brings more than thirty years of expertise in unlocking the potential of leaders worldwide. With a diverse background as a registered Expressive Arts Therapist, a Global Gestalt and Certified Somatic Coach, facilitator and trainer, she partners with top executives and teams to drive profound transformation. She orchestrates change as an advocate of awareness, empowering leaders to cultivate resilience and innovation, transforming challenges into opportunities. Gila’s work is a catalyst for meaningful change in both individuals, teams and organizations. She collaborates with a broad spectrum of industries worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies, guiding visionary leaders and teams toward transformative impact and sustainable growth. She co-founded the Gestalt Center for Coaching, whose flagship offering is the ICF accredited Gestalt Coaching Program, of which she serves as co-chair and faculty. Gila is the founder of the “Coming Back to Center” workshop series, held in Tuscany, Italy, which aims to create awareness and a powerful leadership presence in individuals through a variety of experiential transformational practices like somatics, expressive arts, and horses, all in nature. Gila's dedication to the coaching field extends to her role as a visiting faculty member in the HEC Global Executive Coaching program in Paris since 2019. Married and the mother of two girls, she resides in Istanbul. Connect with Gila at gilaincrea@gmail.com and www.gilaseritcioglu.com
Ann Van Eron, PhD, MCC, is CEO and founder of Potentials, a global coaching and leadership development firm. With over thirty years of experience, Ann has dedicated her career to guiding leaders and teams toward creating positive environments where people engage in open-minded and productive conversations that lead to unparalleled relationships, positive results, and overall wellbeing. Potentials has been supporting organizational culture change, executive coaching, team coaching, and providing leadership mindset and skill development. Certified as a somatic Master Coach and organization development consultant, Ann works with leaders, teams, and organizations to create open-minded, collaborative, and engaged environments. Ann has a doctorate in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. She is the author of OASIS Conversations: Leading with an Open Mindset to Maximize Potential and Open Stance: Thriving Amid Differences and Uncertainty. Ann focuses on creating awareness and meaningful connections, enhancing emotional and social intelligence, fostering engaging conversations, inspiring joy, supporting transformational change, and realizing potential. Signature leadership development programs include OASIS Conversations, Open Stance Leadership, Cultivating Team Culture, The Coach Approach for Leaders, Cultivating JOYBeing and more. Ann trains facilitators to lead Open Stance Circles that create community and support people in being open-minded. She works with a diverse range of leaders and organizations, including Fortune 500 companies. Clients include CVS Health, the United Nations, The World Bank, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Ford Motor. Ann lives in Chicago. Connect with Ann at Avaneron@Potentials.com and www.Potentials.com
Cultivating JOYBeing Card Deck
As a companion to the JOYBeing book, we offer the JOYBeing card deck—a practical tool designed to help you connect with your inner joy and vitality. This beautifully crafted deck serves as a daily reminder for individuals and is perfect for group settings, featuring thought-provoking questions and uplifting messages that encourage presence, purpose, and wellbeing.
By integrating the insights from the book, the card deck empowers you to align your actions with your values and aspirations. Carry it with you as a source of inspiration and awareness, guiding you toward a life enriched with joy, meaning, and connection. Whether you use it in personal reflection or as a facilitation tool in group discussions, the JOYBeing card deck invites you to explore the depths of your potential and cultivate a more joyful existence.
Contact Us
We respect your email privacy.
Contact us at:
Gilaincrea@gmail.com
Avaneron@Potentials.com
