What Most Blocks our Most Vibrant Life Force...
It's still October. I'm optimistic.
I think I really can do all I've planned.
Fabulous new projects as my career heats up.
Leading groups and planning retreats. Writing.
Making Halloween happen. Family events.
Keeping up with perpetual email and Facebook .
I’m betting you’re in the same situation. We do so much, and our standards are astronomical.
We want to bring our best to everything.
And then there’s what I want do for me. Hikes. Meditating. Fun with my son.
Buttoning up the garden. Time with friends. Tending my chickens.
Making quince paste.
(I just can’t resist this pleasure! It's the first year my quince tree has produced its glorious golden mythic fruit.)
Oh, and there's lovemaking. That's right. I'll squeeze that in somewhere.
Is this your story, too?
Partner or not, why is it that tending to our own sexual pleasure is often near the bottom of the list?
We know we should want it. But, what's wrong that we don't, or not so often.
It's kind of crazy, really!
After I do make love with my partner or myself, I wonder why I don’t do this every night!
That's what I say in the moment, at least.
But then my life happens.
There’s so much still to do!
And I'm exhausted.
Just let me sleep.
Please!
So here’s the issue, Dear Women…
The everyday stress of our full-on yang lifestyle is death to a woman's desire.
And even more confounding – the masculine doesn't work that way.
For most men, sex reduces stress. It chills them out.
Lets them relax and revive.
Perhaps this is why our hyper-yang culture is so sex-obsessed.
And why a constant diet of quick sex is often just not that great for women.
But stress defines the culture we live in!
What’s a girl to do?
Well, first. WHEW!
Does just hearing this truth help you feel a little less bad?
It’s not just you.
You’re not defective.
Here’s the thing…
Being relaxed is necessary foreplay for a woman's pleasure.
Running as fast as you can — even if it’s doing all that good self-care – is really NO help at all.
But sinking into the sensual is.
Stepping back into the feminine.
And not by just making that another goal on your to-do list.
Begin to look for the simple sensual pleasures that are available to you in this moment, without any effort at all.
How do we move out this crazy hyper-efficiency obsession?
Here’s what I know.
Remembering to notice – and then appreciate — what’s here now is the secret.
Really seeing beauty — the contrast of colors on my plate, the arch of a sparrow in flight,
a kindness received or given,
one exquisite breath expanding the tense muscles in my shoulders and chest – begins to turn my life around.
You see, pleasure begets pleasure.
When I find the simple sensual pleasures that are available to me in this moment, my energy expands from doing-doing-doing to being present and welcoming.
Then a soak in the tub doesn’t seem such a ridiculous waste of time.
And THEN, almost magically, giving myself or my sweetie a hand massage begins to sound, well… delicious.
Try this simple practice — for just one day, shift your focus from efficiency to noticing beauty and see what happens.
Do your own research — and let me know in the comment section below what you find.
Here’s to the shift that wants to infuse this day – and every one to come — with the pleasure that moments of beauty bring.
I think I really can do all I've planned.
Fabulous new projects as my career heats up.
Leading groups and planning retreats. Writing.
Making Halloween happen. Family events.
Keeping up with perpetual email and Facebook .
I’m betting you’re in the same situation. We do so much, and our standards are astronomical.
We want to bring our best to everything.
And then there’s what I want do for me. Hikes. Meditating. Fun with my son.
Buttoning up the garden. Time with friends. Tending my chickens.
Making quince paste.
(I just can’t resist this pleasure! It's the first year my quince tree has produced its glorious golden mythic fruit.)
Oh, and there's lovemaking. That's right. I'll squeeze that in somewhere.
Is this your story, too?
Partner or not, why is it that tending to our own sexual pleasure is often near the bottom of the list?
We know we should want it. But, what's wrong that we don't, or not so often.
It's kind of crazy, really!
After I do make love with my partner or myself, I wonder why I don’t do this every night!
That's what I say in the moment, at least.
But then my life happens.
There’s so much still to do!
And I'm exhausted.
Just let me sleep.
Please!
So here’s the issue, Dear Women…
The everyday stress of our full-on yang lifestyle is death to a woman's desire.
And even more confounding – the masculine doesn't work that way.
For most men, sex reduces stress. It chills them out.
Lets them relax and revive.
Perhaps this is why our hyper-yang culture is so sex-obsessed.
And why a constant diet of quick sex is often just not that great for women.
But stress defines the culture we live in!
What’s a girl to do?
Well, first. WHEW!
Does just hearing this truth help you feel a little less bad?
It’s not just you.
You’re not defective.
Here’s the thing…
Being relaxed is necessary foreplay for a woman's pleasure.
Running as fast as you can — even if it’s doing all that good self-care – is really NO help at all.
But sinking into the sensual is.
Stepping back into the feminine.
And not by just making that another goal on your to-do list.
Begin to look for the simple sensual pleasures that are available to you in this moment, without any effort at all.
How do we move out this crazy hyper-efficiency obsession?
Here’s what I know.
Remembering to notice – and then appreciate — what’s here now is the secret.
Really seeing beauty — the contrast of colors on my plate, the arch of a sparrow in flight,
a kindness received or given,
one exquisite breath expanding the tense muscles in my shoulders and chest – begins to turn my life around.
You see, pleasure begets pleasure.
When I find the simple sensual pleasures that are available to me in this moment, my energy expands from doing-doing-doing to being present and welcoming.
Then a soak in the tub doesn’t seem such a ridiculous waste of time.
And THEN, almost magically, giving myself or my sweetie a hand massage begins to sound, well… delicious.
Try this simple practice — for just one day, shift your focus from efficiency to noticing beauty and see what happens.
Do your own research — and let me know in the comment section below what you find.
Here’s to the shift that wants to infuse this day – and every one to come — with the pleasure that moments of beauty bring.