Most women live in a chronic state of stress. From the foods they eat to comparing to others to sleep deprivation to daily responsibilities… There is always something that can trigger stress.
And most of the time, this trigger is lack. Lack of time, support, money, love. Lack is the chronic state of “not enough” which has become an epidemic in our lives. And it is the exact opposite energy of why so many of us became entrepreneurs and change-makers. Lack dams freedom and leaves us feeling depleted rather than fully resourced.
Living in a chronic state of low level (or high level!) stress infringes on our quality of life. And yet, when asked how to reduce stress, most women are truly stumped. They look at their business or relationships and can’t imagine how to reduce their workloads.
Rather than judge ourselves for all of our stress and get more stressed thinking about how to eliminate the worry and anxiety and deadlines, what if we added more pleasure?
It is actually pretty simple. When you feel pleasure, you release dopamine, oxytocin, and natural endorphins. You feel good. You feel connected.
Compare that to how you feel when stressed. Contracted. Exhausted.
What woman doesn’t want to feel more connected and happy? Naturally, you will begin to say Yes to more pleasure and No to what drains you. You will set healthy and appropriate boundaries, you will stop with the people pleasing, and you will take greater responsibilities for your actions and outcomes.
To become more of the change-maker that you are, embodying pleasure is essential.
What would be possible if you were a turned-on, lit-up woman?!
Imagine the transformation that you would create in this world.
3 Tips for Sinking into Pleasure
1. Give Yourself Permission to Experience Pleasure
This might sound funny. Of course you want to experience pleasure! Think about your last 24 hours… how much pleasure was infused into your life? Or were you merely typing away at your computer keypad, sucked into Facebook, worrying about money, pining over a long lost love, overeating to quench the sadness.
In this moment, I invite you to give yourself permission for pleasure. No, it is not self-indulgent or an act relegated for certain occasions. It is an act of self-love. The more pleasure cascading through your life, the more magnificence you have to give. Pleasure is not a luxury, only to be indulged in on certain occasions. It is the foundation for your turn on.
2. Create a pleasure journal
Set aside time every day for pleasure. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time; remember this is about the opposite of stressing you out. Take some to explore what pleasure means to you because every woman has a different definition. Be a researcher of what turns you on and makes you smile, what lights you up and inspires you to be audacious. Is it dancing? Gardening? Manicures/pedicures? Time with your girlfriends? Commit to infusing this into your life every day, even if for 5 minutes.
3. You are worth it.
There is no shame or guilt when it comes to pleasure. Yes, you may have been taught this but we are changing the conversation right here and right now! As a woman, pleasure is your absolute birthright and will be the conduit for you to create and live the life of your dreams. If you are overworked, stressed, and anxious, the amount of energy that you have to give out to the world is very different than when you are in full expression of pleasure.
I invite you to take a moment and ask yourself, “Are the choices you are making in your life nourishing your spirit or are they based out of perfectionism, obligation, and lack?” Be totally honest here. This is an inquiry for you. If you find that you are leaning more on the side of obligation, remind yourself that you deserve a life of pleasure and delight.
4. Drop into Your Feminine Nature.
Did you know that it is your birthright as a woman to experience pleasure? You have 8,000 nerve endings devoted to pleasure! For so long, women have been trying to fit themselves into a masculine society and the truth is, it is not working. We have overidentified with masculine tendencies and forgotten about our feminine nature. This is not to say that masculine energy is “bad”, it is merely to remind you to that embracing more of your feminine essence is one of the keys to pleasure. You are a divine Goddess and it is time to remember the ways of the Feminine. More intuition and less practicality, more receiving and less overgiving, more softness and less rigidity, more journaling and dreaming and less Doing.
