I’m keen to know, what’s your relationship with pleasure like?
The reason I ask is because I’ve been doing A LOT of work myself on being open to pleasure (and even BEING pleasure) + partnering with my clients to help them identify their barriers to pleasure in life and business.
You see, pleasure is always available to you. YOU are pleasure.
It’s not something you do. It’s not something you can strive to achieve.
The truth is, it starts from within and it’s up to you to dial up your pleasure stamina. (And BTW, it’s a key ingredient to having a successful and sustainable business).
Pleasure also has so much to do with your external felt senses – taste, sound, sight, touch, sound and smell. I’ll come back to this later.
I’m not going to go too in depth around embodying pleasure in this post (it’s such a juicy and in depth topic….there’s so much to share).
But I do want to point 2 key things out:
1. Pleasure is your birthright.
2. We must build pleasure into our natural rhythms and routines of life and business, as opposed to pleasure only being a reward.
For far too long I believed I had to give myself permission (or an external source give me permission) to experience and enjoy something pleasurable and I had to have earned it.
‘Earned’ meaning, worked my tail off, sacrificed something, been a continual ‘people pleaser’ etc.
Sound familiar?
And whenever I reached my end goal (whatever that was) I didn’t really enjoy the ‘reward’ I had reluctantly gifted myself. I was on to the next thing I had to tick off.
This is a very masculine-oriented way of operating and viewing pleasure.
Here’s another example.
Last week I was working with a client. This woman is a phenomenal business leader who I love and respect deeply.
We were working on crafting some embodied boundaries around her personal and professional time.
But what came through so strongly was that she felt she could only give herself a break (which involved watching some Netflix over lunch = her PLEASURE), IF she had ‘EARNED IT’ by completing all of her tasks in the morning.
Now I’ll raise my hand and say I have been guilty of this way too often, and especially in business. But not anymore.
Ok. Here’s what I really want to share.
I have experienced first hand that when I invite pleasure into my life and business, when I’m well rested and my ‘cup is full,’ I’m far more energised, inspired, creative and connected to my purpose which in turn enhances my productivity.
I could go on and on about the pleasure vs productivity conundrum, but I’m sure you’ll agree that if being in your pleasure makes you feel alive, on fire, juicy (or whatever it does for you) you will put more into your business and ultimately get more out of it.
So enough of the theory. Here is the practical part.
I thought it may be helpful if I shared a few key things I do to experience more pleasure in my business.
1. Rituals – I have a few lush little rituals I do within my business on a daily and weekly basis. For example, each week I create an altar for my office and I pull a series of oracle cards. This process in itself is a really pleasurable experience as it makes me feel supported and more connected to my business.
2. Tap into my external senses – as I mentioned previously, heightening your senses is a key way to turn up your pleasure. For me, I love nothing more than cleansing my office with a lovely crystal infused spray or picking a delicious oil to diffuse. I play some beautiful music or I enjoy some medi-tones in my ears. I also have a few different and delicious hot and cold beveridges on my desk to sip while I work and coach. I allow my little peepers to enjoy some pleasure by taking the time to look out my office window at the view of the ever changing ocean and the luscious park.
3. Outsource – so you may be wondering what outsourcing has to do with pleasure? Well I outsource things I don’t like doing/don’t bring me pleasure in my business so I can focus on the things I do love and bring me pleasure eg. writing and mentoring!
4. Plan and Prioritise Pleasure – if pleasure isn’t your modus operandi I find it helpful to look at ways you can schedule pleasure into your working day and week. I ask myself before I do things “how can I make this a really pleasurable experience?”or “what would pleasure have me do now?” or “where in my week can I plan something really pleasurable?” As Marie Forleo says “If it’s not scheduled, it’s not real.” So plan and prioritise pleasure in your business.
5. Change up your work environment– my physical environment plays a big role in my ability to be in my pleasure. For example, when I’m in a more social phase of my menstrual cycle I work from cosy cafes or buzzing co-working spaces. Or if I feel the pull to experience pleasure from mother nature I’ll joyfully work around the pool or at the local park where my senses are heightened.
6. Anchor the feeling in – this is key!! When you’re experiencing pleasure within your body, especially while working, breathe that feeling in, feel it in your body and let the pleasure ripple through every cell. Anchor this feeling in and fill yourself up on pleasure. This will help to build your pleasure stamina and prime your body for more! (I always do this after a great client mentoring session!).
Ok, so how are those suggestions feeling in your body?
How open are you to welcoming pleasure into your body (and your life?).
I’d love to know! So if you feel called, please email me and share with me your takeaways.
And if you’d like 1:1, high level support around deepening your relationship with pleasure within your life and business, I currently have availability for a small number of committed leaders in my NEW Private Mentoring + Coaching Program – Feminine Embodiment + Leadership in Business.
This experience is for the leader who desires a pleasure-filled business that is sustainable and successful.
To learn more, I’d love to invite you to book a free call with me HERE .
Here’s to cultivating pleasure in your body and business!
Ainslie x
