I’m going to tell you about this epidemic that I see – and one that I am certainly guilty of myself – and then share with you one of the most powerful antidotes that I have found.
We’re so focused on the big wins, the big successes, the milestones and accomplishments that will finally be the evidence and proof that we’ve arrived, that we are “enough”, and that will get us the attention of those whose love and approval we seek most that we so easily and often miss the small stuff along the way.
We’re moving so fast to keep up with daily demands, armored from unresolved trauma, or hijacked by negative thoughts that inhibit our ability to truly open, relax, and actually enjoy the experience of pure pleasure – we’re not just talking about sexual pleasure here but pleasure in all its textures throughout our lives.
If you’re anything like I am, you probably get so busy in the doing and distractions of every day productivity, pulled up into your mind, and lost in everything happening ‘out there’ that you end up losing touch with yourself and your inner world. You forget to slow down, rest, and take a moment to turn inwards and get more intimate with your own body, your sensuality, your soul, your deeper desires, and with that which would truly nourish you at the deepest level.
And this is where pleasure starts! This is the very foundation that pleasure needs to survive and to thrive.
It starts in the slowing down, in the turning inwards, in the coming back home to our bodies, in the opening and presence to what is already here.
One of my favorite go-to strategies for downshifting into presence and, therefore, pleasure (because presence = pleasure in my book) is to make a 180 degree turn from racing to an imaginary finish line – whether that be the end of your to-do list OR the relationship, job, lifestyle, or home of your dreams…
And, instead, place it all onto your breath and your body…. And specifically on to what feels good – on to all the pleasurable sensations circulating through you.
Your only task is to allow yourself to feel as good as you can possibly feel in this moment and in the very life that you’re living now.
My heart melts open whenever I hear from the women I work with that one of the biggest transformations they go through is in becoming more devoted than ever to discovering and being more present than ever to those small moments of joy and pleasure – rather than major “accomplishments”, remembering what is truly important in life, and making that powerful shift into living FOR REAL!
You have a choice in every moment.
You can postpone that presence and pleasure while doing everything that needs to be done to “get it”.
OR you can choose to simply open to it now….knowing that your now is what determines the quality of your later.
When you find pleasure and presence now, you’re already “there”…. You’re already home…free of the need to go anywhere or get anything else.
Go ahead, give yourself permission to feel good right here – right now…
Allow the nourishment of pleasure to feed your deep, relentless hunger for more without having to go anywhere or get anything.