PLEASURE THAT FUELS THE PROTEST

Every empire falls.  Living through the collapse is chaotic and painful to say the least. Simultaneously, we have unfettered access to evidence of the horrors taking place globally.  Our bodies are designed to take over and protect us in times like these - in short sprints, not 24/7.  Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn is a miraculous gift from our nervous system that helps us escape an attack from a large predator or kicks us into gear in a life-threatening emergency.  But, we are not built to endure an unending news cycle, genocide, the abduction and cruel incarceration of our neighbors, the stripping of our healthcare, and the billionaire class confiscating our resources.  How the $!&* do you stay in the fight?

Depending on how your nervous system has been trained it is common to respond to overwhelming stress in one of two ways.  Your body can force a shut down. It may feel like you’re going through the motions on autopilot or with blinders on. You may also notice your body’s threat responses kicking into high gear with an overwhelming desire to escape or to rage. You’re not alone if you find yourself bouncing between the two. If you want to stay engaged or sustain peace in your body and mind, your nervous system has to know that you are safe.

It may seem counterintuitive in times like these to turn to pleasure.  However, pleasure, savoring joy when it shows up and staying in loving connection with your community will allow you to face the stressors, as unpleasant as they may be, without needing to bury your head in the sand or run for the hills.  Creating an intentional pleasure practice is especially important now, and particularly important for empaths, activists and healers.

Practicing pleasure may not be where you have turned in the past when rubber hits the road.  It also would surprise no one if you are able to notice pleasure in your sexual life but not in your daily routines. Simple daily pleasures help you live in your body. They help pull your attention from the stressors. What we know from research is that when pleasure is experienced consistently and in a variety of ways, we keep the reward pathway tuned up and primed. The reward pathway plays a crucial role in motivating behavior by associating pleasurable experiences with specific actions, putting our attention and focus on those experiences and seeking them out again and again.  Being aware of pleasure helps you notice and experience more pleasure.  Also, the reward pathway and the nervous system are linked.  Stress dampens our reward pathway, which means that when we’re stressed we turn to alcohol, addictive substances or peak experiences to feel something. When you take up daily habits like exercise, yoga, masturbation, meditation, home cooked meals with your fam or housemates and sprinkle in weekly practices like community gatherings, crafting with loved ones, a long walk with your dog, soaking in a bath (you get the drift) you start attuning your whole system to simple pleasures. and builds resilience.

TLDR; Practicing pleasure daily through simple actions helps tell your body you are safe and makes you more resilient.  Bonus points if your pleasure practices can include your community.

Reorienting towards pleasure does not require a big commitment of time, attention or money.  The simplest practices can be the best precisely because they do not require you to overhaul your life or schedule to fit them in. 

🚶🏽‍♀️A daily walking practice clears your head, helps you integrate information, and burns off stress. 

☕️ Your first sip of coffee can be a pleasure practice if you do it with intention. Get your coffee just right, take your first sip and notice. Notice the smell before you sip. Notice the taste as it hits your tastebuds. Notice the warmth down your throat. Notice your body respond to this familiar stimuli that you love you so much. Smile.

✨ Seeking out the glimmers, like your first sip of coffee, in your daily routines can support your shift out of survival mode.  Glimmers are the small micro moments of joy, or anything that brings a smile to your face - the rays of literal and figurative sunshine that can bring you into a momentary state of contentment and presence.  Being intentional about noticing and taking in the glimmers where they show up for you cues your body that you are safe.  You can check out my article on glimmers if this sparks curiosity.

Right now, fear and anxiety may be driving your bus.  Fear can drive short bursts of effort and threat responses are fantastic in an emergency when immediate action is required.  Living in a reactive state not only runs you down, it impairs your decision making and your ability to show up as your best self.

🙅🏻‍♀️ Bilateral movements are very easy to incorporate in virtually any moment to bring stress down. This can include things like tossing a ball between your hands, tapping your left leg with your right hand and your right leg with your left hand (back and forth) under the table during a stressful meeting, even just clapping to burn off stress. Virtually every exercise or game like basketball involves bilateral movements, so does drawing or doodling. Being intentional about getting bilateral movement into your routines is a stress killer.

You may be practicing pleasure without even knowing it. Pleasure tools can be anything that brings stress down, makes you laugh, or is outright enjoyable to you. For this moment in time, finding the practices that help you feel like you can take a breath are essential.  You may have these in your wheelhouse already.  If you do, practice them with regularity, like it’s your job.  If you do not have nourishing, pleasure-centered habits, I want to invite you to find some that work for you. This moment needs you well-resourced.  Check out my burnout article for inspo or download this FREE MEDITATION FOR EMPATHS AND ACTIVISTS. It is a 13 minute guided meditation for inviting your energy back to your body that you can download and keep.

FREE DOWNLOAD – A MEDITATION FOR ACTIVISTS & EMPATHS (13 min)

It is easy to let pleasure take a back seat when there is an urgent need for change and justice.  When you have the tools to process your stress, reset and experience harmony in your body, you are better equipped to fight for what you believe in and to weather the storm.