Basking In Your Glow: Your Pleasure is Your Strength

In a time when so much validation comes from your ability to push yourself past your comfort zone, it is easy to forget that pleasure should be a priority. Your pleasure is your strength and the foundation to a joyful life. Taking time to rest, to invite in softness, and moments of reflection in your life are incredibly valuable. Allowing yourself the freedom to tend to your being helps ensure you have a safe landing spot when the world around you is spinning out of focus.

Pleasure in life is a sign that you are living in integrity to your values. Your pleasure is a guiding light to your needs, showing you where you may need extra tending. When you lead with pleasure you invite in abundance, joy, and security. The world is your oyster babe! The desires in your heart are valid and deserve to be recognized for what they are: important. Pleasureful experiences can help you grow and learn who you are as you create a path to your goals. A pleasureful life takes as much time, dedication, and drive as any other goal and should be respected the same. In a society that focuses on a fast paced lifestyle, you deserve to divest from that mentality and engage in practices that feel good.

What brings you joy will change and evolve as you continue on your life journey. Allow yourself permission to change with these tides and adjust where you feel called to do so. It's almost like outgrowing your favorite pair of jeans. The memories are incredible, and maybe they even still look amazing on you, but you can feel the tightness of the fabric as go about your day. Putting on these jeans becomes more and more of an ordeal and you know in your heart it is time to get a new pair, and you may even find some rockin' new jeans that better embody the human you have grown into. Yet you still hesitate to let your original pair go. Denying your need for pleasure can dim your light over time and cast a shadow over moments of joy. It's hard to full belly laugh in jeans that are simply too tight!

When you come back to pleasure and accept it in your life as a strength or a tool showing you where you can thrive, your life can change radically. Glimmers and moments that make your heart sing can come from something as simple as spritzing on a scent that makes you feel like the magical babe you are, singing your favorite song in the shower, or brewing a warm cup of tea to end your day. These small moments pile up and can uplift you throughout your day. Thinking of making life more pleasureful can feel like a new big task to add to the list of things you already have to do. Rather than creating a new task, what if you found ways to adjust the tasks you already need to complete to transform these needs into a want. I invite you to take a look at your routine and look for ways to make them more pleasureful. You could add a shower steamer to your shower routine to affirm the energy you would like to carry throughout the day, add a few drops of an essence or tincture to your water to invite in pleasure, and so on. Pleasure should not add extra stress to your life babe.

A Bathing Self Love Ritual

You will need:

• Bath and Body Oil

• Massage Candle

• Bath Salts or Shower Steamer

• Time (I'd recommend dedicating 30-45 minutes at least for this, but whatever time you can carve away is perfect!)

Take a moment to breathe and allow yourself freedom from outside stressors. This time is just about you. As you run the water to your bath imagine the outside world slowly fading away, leaving just you and this moment. In this moment, you are the center of your universe. Take this time to intentionally create a pleasureful experience- with each step try saying to yourself, "I am deserving of pleasure." Light a candle to add depth to this reality you are creating. Think of the scent that is filling the room and how it is delighting your senses. Wiggle your toes or gently sway your shoulders to remind yourself that you're here, now, and embodiment can feel safe. Sprinkle in bath salts and focus on your intention. Do you want to invite softness? Detox from stress for a minute? Let the water be filled with the gentle magic you're invoking, and know that when you submerge your body into the waters you will be held inside this warm cocoon of your magic. Add a few drops of body oil to create an extra moisturizing effect.

As each drop enters the water, imagine each drop is filled with purpose. One drop to soothe anxiety, another to invite in relaxation, and so on. As you enter the water allow yourself a few deep breathes. Notice how it feels for the water to meet your skin. How does the temperature feel? What do you notice? Allow yourself to succumb to pleasure and release any tension you feel in your body. Start at your head and work your way down; releasing furrowed brows, tension in your jaw, and tension in your shoulders. Allow your hands to rest open, you are safe in this space. Say again, "I am deserving of pleasure." As you sit in this pleasure potion, how are you feeling? I invite you to stay in this pleasure filled universe as long as your heart desires. This is a safe space for you, by you. there are no rules or deadlines in this space.

Once you are ready to leave the bath, lock in these joyful feelings with a moisturizer. If you are using a massage candle, imagine the heat of this oil as a pleasureful life source. As you slather yourself in this oil, imagine yourself creating an invisible shield of pleasure to protect your spirit from the outside world. You are at home in your body, and have created boundary protecting you from those who bring forth undesirable experiences. Even in moments where everything feels too much, you will always find safety in the pleasure palace you've built today. Repeat again, "I deserve pleasure" to affirm this boundary.

The experience of pleasure is innately human and is nothing to be ashamed of. You do not have to earn a right to pleasure; because you exist you deserve a life that brings you joy. Your existence does not make you indebted to anything before experiencing joy. Pleasure should not have to come at a cost. If you want to enjoy the luxurious flavors of a sweet treat, you should! Being human is hard, you owe it to yourself to bask in all things your heart sings to. Allow yourself the freedom to experience pleasure without internal judgement so you can bask in the joy radiating off of you.