As we do from time to time, I recently had a new AHA!! moment! I
realised that I had a number of quite bad bruises on my body, particularly
around my right foot area – each one inflicted through my own lack of being
present….
Around the same time, while chatting with a friend, she mentioned
Louise Hay. So after she left, I got out
my Louise Hay book "You Can Heal Your Life" and checked out what Louise Hay has to say about bruising first - and that one I had already got to –
all about self- harm, beating myself up, etc… This was a no-brainer for me!
I then looked at what Louise Hay says about ankles, as this was my biggest,
sorest, most intense bruise, around my right ankle. And what Louise Hay has to say about ankles
is: Ankles represent the ability to receive pleasure.
Well that one hit me between the eyes!!
Suddenly I realised how much I deny myself receiving pleasure – the
simple things that make life feel good.
The affirmation that goes with this realisation is : I deserve to rejoice in life. I accept all
the pleasure that life has to offer.
As I wrote this affirmation out, I realise just how true it is – how I
don’t allow myself to RECEIVE the pleasure that life offers and so committed to
myself to really engage with this. I
realised that although I try to focus on
things that I am grateful for on a daily basis, I am often just going through
the motions and I often don’t get into the feeling
of being grateful. So I thought that I
would shift this and do things a different way and play with the notion of
receiving pleasure.
How I approach it is, when I am feeling anxious or fearful or I wake up
and can’t sleep, I ask myself: What in
this moment gives me pleasure? What
this does is bring me right into the moment – to become aware of where I am at
and to focus on something that makes me feel good right then and so shift how I
am feeling.
So for instance If I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go
back to sleep, I focus on what it is that gives me pleasure in that moment – so
it may be snuggling up under my warm blankets, or relaxing my body, (getting into
physical feelings is great because it gets you into the moment). I then focus on that feeling only and really
enjoy it – this enhances the pleasure and appreciation as I am focusing on it and really savouring it. I often find that after that that I quickly
fall asleep.
If I am driving along and am stuck in traffic, I ask myself: What in this moment gives me pleasure? And as I look around, I may notice how
beautiful the sunshine is, or how sparkling the sea looks, or how nice it is to
just sit for a bit – it gets me to focus on what makes me feel good…
Or when I am busy enjoying myself with friends, focusing on what it is about
what I am enjoying that gives me real pleasure – what it is that brings me that
enjoyment.
Or if I am procrastinating or feeling bored, if I ask what gives me
pleasure, it could even be how my back is being supported by the chair, or I am feeling nice and warm, or I am enjoying drinking
my tea… the possibilities are endless…
With this approach, I find that 9 times out of 10, I can find something
in whatever I am experiencing as giving pleasure. It’s these thin slices of
pleasure that all add up and that make life look better and lifts my
energy. In this way I am allowing myself
to accept the pleasure that life has to offer – it is around me and available
all the time, I just need to go inward and tune into it
The reality is that there is a lot of sh*t in life and it’s going to
keep coming…. It’s how we find ways to deal with it and shift our energy around
it that makes a difference to what we experience. I am also aware that I spend a lot of time
focusing on the negative stuff in life ( what is that with us – spending so
much time engaging with the bllleeechchch stuff?) and this gets me to move away
from this at a very powerful energetic level.
For me these pleasure moments take me beyond gratitude, it takes me to
a space of really tuning into what feels good to me – on an energetic level
this is really healthy and the more I focus on what gives me pleasure, the more
that I can experience that pleasure, the more I can shift my energy. In that the gratitude and thankfulness is
automatic as we really get into the feeling of appreciation and don’t have to
manufacture it!!
Go on – try it out!! and let me know what you experience.
Till next time
Kim
(Kim operates under the banner of The Brain Trainer. She offers:
Till next time
Kim
(Kim operates under the banner of The Brain Trainer. She offers:
- Brain Training (Neurofeedback)
- I-on-1 processing for people wanting to process a specific issue with someone objective and non-judgemental
- Facilitation of difficult conversations
Have a look at www.thebraintrainer.co.za to find out more