River of Yes
River of Yes/Current of pleasure part 1.
What happens when we give ourselves permission to center into the current of pleasure? When we allow the vibration of joy and expansion to become the anchor point of our conscious mind?
I know some of you are probably already arguing with me…but there is so much bad and wrong.. With me, my body, with life, with the world…I cannot possibly focus on pleasure.
Yes- ok. Yes— and…..
Does squelching your own pleasure alleviate problems?
Hear me out, we are taught and modeled not to center the energetic quality of bliss, joy, pleasure or even curiosity, perhaps because there's so much power and opportunity within it. We may have been told (directly or indirectly), that good feelings are dangerous, that they are to be feared and not to be trusted.
Yet- is this true?
To me all of those words (bliss, joy, pleasure) are an attempt to describe a quality that is open and expansive, not closed and bound. And I am not referring to the natural cycles of open and close, expansion and contract, living and dying, all of which can hold a lot of bliss within them. I am referring to the contraction against the life force and resistance to it's movement. (Which we can never fully stop the force of life anyway, no matter how hard we try…)
Don’t get me wrong, full truth- I am a big resistor... Before I make any progress I am heels dug in, brain confused, working hard to convince myself of why I should stay right where I am (as if that is actually possible!).
But I can bring pleasure to even this. I can bring joy and curiosity to my resistance, to my monsters, to my judgements and habits. And then the climatic conditions are in place for those old patterns to open, the energy to be freed from them so evolution, growth and change can occur.
(Because Staying is Nowhere)-Rilke
Centering the energetic quality of joy and pleasure is not blinding ourselves, it is an energetic state, a consciousness state. It follows the river of yes, the pleasure current that pulses through us. It may be small delights and simple curiosity. It is a feeling of the sun on your skin, the softness of a favorite pet, the aromas of dinner. Maybe not all moments in this life have this available, it is true- but perhaps far more of them do than we may believe or notice?
Can you imagine giving yourself permission for that? To follow what feels good and shape your choices around that? What if for an hour that alone guided you?
All week I have been obsessed with this movement practice which developed over the course of several small group offerings, so big thank you to the students willing to play in this material with me!
Here it is in quick form:
RIVER OF YES MOVEMENT PRACTICE
Part 1; close your eyes, get comfortable. Breath and turn up the dial on your sensing sensitivity. Do your best to feel pleasure, good feeling, the river of yes anywhere in your body.
Part 2; Stay with it, increase it, let it guide you. Keep gently bringing back what feels good and yummy- right now! And NOW! Move with delight, curiosity and pleasure. (music can be useful here.)
Part 3. Clearing the tunnel: allow the river of yes, the pleasure current to move the formerly stuck energies. No need to force, trust that what is ready to move will naturally wash away with the pleasure current.
If you feel like it, do clearing movements and breaths.
Part 4. Plant a seed. Into the fertile space created by the river of yes plant your intention. The things we plant in this state of mind live all together differently than the things we plant in the state of mind of anxiety, pain, or fear.
REST and ENJOY.