The Pleasure Principle

“Many of us pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that we hurry past it” ~ Søren Kierkegaard

What does pleasure mean for you?
The scent of a flower, a delicious meal or gazing into the eyes of a love?
Where do you feel pleasure in your body?
Is it limited to one or two or a few specific areas?
Or does pleasure include the whole of your body, & more?

Media & society have taught us to seek immediate gratification & look externally for pleasure. The monkey mind can be so strong, driving us to external distractions, seeking outside instead of inwards, whilst creating greater resistance to self-connection. We project outwards because we think that pleasure comes from something outside of ourselves instead of realising that pleasure lies within us.

Pleasure is driven by the release of various hormones including:
Dopamine, which tells the brain when to expect something rewarding, modulating how rewarding it will be & driving us to seek. Dopamine can be produced naturally by self massage, sleep & meditation Serotonin is also related to pleasure, helping us regulate our emotions including stress. It can be increased using self massage & exercise Endorphins that help us feel good & can be created by exercise, self pleasuring or self touch, dance & laughing
Our brain is built for pleasure & it is through learning to appreciate the extraordinary in ordinary experiences, through pursuing the variety of pleasures rather than the relentless single-minded pursuit […] that a life well-lived can be constructed ~ Kringelbach (2015)
By bringing more awareness to ourselves & letting go of our limiting beliefs & conditioning, we can deeply heighten our pleasure.

“Once you start making the effort to ‘wake yourself up’ – that is, be more mindful in your activities – you suddenly start appreciating life a lot more” ~ Robert Biswas-Diener (2008)

Through mindfulness practices, slowing down, breathing, feeling the subtle sensations of the body, we can open to a deeper pleasure.

As we create more integration, connecting our sex & mind with our hearts, we become more aligned with our true Self. We open to a different world, a world in which we are responsible for own pleasure, where we are embodied & connected; seeking more pleasure & connection internally rather than externally.

“I've wanted to feel pleasure to the point of insanity. They call it getting high, because it's wanting to know that higher level, that godlike level. You want to touch the heavens, you want to feel glory and euphoria, but the trick is it takes work. You can't buy it, you can't get it on a street corner, you can't steal it or inject it or shove it up your ass, you have to earn it” ~ Anthony Kiedis, Scar Tissue (2004)

Growing up, most people did not receive the support to create & feel pleasure from within. The tools for understanding, connecting & feeling were often sparse or non-existent. The support & guidance needed was frequently missing. However, now as adults we have choice; we can continue to be controlled by our conditioning, or we can choose to consciously create space for the pleasure that lies within.

Let’s journey together…

Image by: cameron-ahlvers on unsplash