Eye yi yi…
I know that some of you might be cringing just reading the title of this post, but cut me some slack & get yourself down to the bottom before you start jumping off the X-Rated bridge of no return…
What would happen if I told you that there was no way you would ever be truly healthy or even happy unless you had some sort of daily pleasure ritual?
Okay, before you close your blinds & turn off the lights, let me clarify something here.
The concept of pleasure has been villainized and relegated to the X-rated side of things. The pleasure that I’m referring to is something that can be done both in front of other people & that won’t really make you blush.
Let me take a step back.
I’ve been having tons of conversations with clients these days about the steps they can take to lose weight, feel better in their bodies & have more energy.
They *always* think that in order to do any of the above that they’re going to have to give up the foods they love the most. They’re going to have to do some sort of crazy hard and definitely not fun exercise & I’m going to give them some wacky, hard to pronounce foods to eat.
Well no, no & no. That’s not what I do.
How much would that suck? I mean, really, who would ever really want to live like that?
So I take them a step back & I ask a really simple question:
What is it that you like to do?
This usually gets me a ton of blank stares.
“Well I really hate to…”
No, I say, what do you LIKE to do?
Huh?
When you come from a place of what you like to do, then the whole mood of things change.
When you have to give up the foods you like to eat the most, you’re already ticked off. You’re already angry & at some level, your brain is going, “Oh yeah, well we’ll see about that. How dare she tell me what I can & can’t do!”
So if we start from a place of what you like, of what you love, then we’ve already disarmed your brain from the usual confrontation about trying to get healthy.
What does this really mean?
Well this means that everything you do needs to come from a place of pleasure!
How cool is that?!?
You get to do, have & be whatever it is that you really love!
Well yeah of course there are some other things that go along with that but for today, we’re talking pleasure.
What is pleasure?
Pleasure is the place where your goofy happy smile lives. Pleasure is the place where you can’t help but smile & laugh & enjoy yourself. Pleasure is the place where relaxation occurs. There are playgrounds & swing-sets in pleasure. And if you choose, you don’t have to share the sandbox or any of your toys in pleasure.
Get where I’m going with this?
You need to start from a place of pleasure & love in order to be healthy, and most definitely to be happy. It won’t come from anywhere else & remain.
So what makes you happy? What gives you pleasure?
Go on & take out some paper or your computer or your cell phone or whatever & I’m going to have you make 3 lists.
List 1:
On list 1, I want you to put all the things you love to do. Write down all the foods you love to eat, all the drinks you love to drink & even all the different types of things you like to do that could be thought of as exercise. (Yes, you can put *that* down…!)
If you love it, put it down. If you want to go the extra step, put down the people & places you love as well..
List 2:
On list 2, I want you to put down all the things you THINK you need to do in order to be healthy. If you want to lose weight, what do you think you need to do in order for you to lose weight? If you want to have more energy, what is it that you’ll need to do in order to do that?
What are the things that you believe you’ll have to give up in order to achieve your goals? Especially write those down. Put a star next to it if you’re dreading any of them- these are definitely some strong trigger points…
Got it? Good.
List 3:
On list 3- & this is the tricky part- I want you to write down all the things you could do INSTEAD of the things you wrote down on List 2 & use List 1 as your own handy dandy cheat sheet. The key to List 3 is that everything you put down must be given a heavy dose of “pleasure”.
So let’s pretend you put down on List 2 that you’ll have to spend hours upon hours in the gym each week, sweating like a pig, wearing clothes you don’t feel comfortable in, surrounded by people you don’t really feel comfortable with & really not even knowing if all this sweat & grossness is even working.
Instead of sweat & grossness, what could you do instead?
How about call up some of your favorite people & see if anyone wants to go dancing that weekend? If you love to dance, this could totally work for you.
How about instead of sweating inside a gym, you head up to a local park & go for a walk in the fresh air?
The point is, how can you make things fun & pleasurable for yourself?
Just because you want to be healthy, doesn’t mean you need to be tortured. This is the whole point of List 3.
List 1 is helpful but not really complete.
List 2 is our judgements & not 100% truth.
List 3 can be our life. List 3 can be our go-to when we’re out of ideas, motivation but full of frustration.
How about this:
Healthy is a way of life & not a destination. Go on, set your GPS for “Healthy”. Let me know when you get there & then let me know when you’re satisfied at “Healthy”.
Instead, get yourself up & moving in search of pleasure. The journey will be a whole lot more fun, a whole lot more productive & you’ll never have to worry about reaching your final destination.
So what gives me pleasure?
There are tons of things but I’ll give you just one!
Here’s a picture of me in my Vibrams last August while I was on vacation in Alaska. There’s nothing like some funny looking shoes to make even the most stoic person smile! : )
Feeling brave? Have questions? Just don’t get it?
Comment below & let me know your thoughts!
