Pleasure as a Portal into Presence

When we slow down and invite more breath into our bodies, a strange thing inevitably occurs: pleasure.

There is a power in pleasure that encourages us (yes, gives us more courage) to become more present in the present moment, the place where life is actually happening.

If you are in a moment of challenge or pain, these words may not easily land. I get it. Or, if you are born and raised like me, driven to be incessantly productive, the notion of pleasure may not park your interest or care.

But pleasure is an under-valued natural resource we would be wise to consider. One that can restore presence, balance, and optimism in our bodies, hearts, and spirits.

Our minds can only occupy known territories and tend to concern themselves with what is troublesome about ourselves, our partners, and existence. But pleasure belongs to the present moment, to body, breath, awareness and sensation. And even what is perceived as unwanted to the territory of mind may very well be revealed through direct present moment experiencing as yes, pleasurable.

Pleasure also opens a gateway into understanding ourselves as the interconnected beings that we are, and reveals our nature as spiritual beings having a physical experience. Pleasure is how spirit actually inhabits the physical; it is the bridge between the physical and the Everything. As we draw the ineffable into us with breath, and apply the light of awareness to sensation, space and fire permeate the earth of us, supporting us to feel our nature more as mystery than known, more interconnected than separate. When we are in our pleasure, joy, ease, and openness we are closest to ourselves, our naturalness, and our interconnection with existence.

Pleasure functions as a portal into presence because pleasure can only be experienced when we are present in our bodies, and bodies can only occupy the space of now. Additionally, when we allow ourselves to bring breath and awareness to sensation, something else happens, magical and noteworthy: pleasure itself starts to draw breath and spirit more powerfully into us. So our portal pulls, like a magnet, drawing more life force energy into us, opening us to yet more and more life force energy: we become magnetic, we become a life-force generator.

Even if it is only a moment of chocolate melting on your tongue, exploding in your mouth, momentarily interrupting your scrolling or litany of to-do’s, this counts.

The more moments like this we allow ourselves, the more we fan the small ember of bodily presence within ourselves. As the ember gets fanned, pleasure and life-force energy grow, and our appetite for aliveness grows with it. Breath deepens. And yes, an ember may very well become a forest fire.

Three ingredients are essential for pleasure: slowing down, breath, and awareness. The body moves at a slower pace than the mind. And only when breath moves in the body can we feel. (Many of us have developed brilliant strategies of how to manage our feelings by minimizing our breath, strategies developed early in response to unwanted experiences, which we can now begin to unlearn and rewire.) I can devour a piece of chocolate and it is wonderful. But when I slow down, savor it, and bring breath and awareness to the experience, it can become a full body awakening. The same is true when walking: when I slow slightly and allow the full swing of my hips, feeling breath moving through my entire pelvic structure, I begin to feel more present, more full of feeling and aliveness.

Try noticing what feels good to you in this moment and taking a deeper breath. Continue placing your awareness on this pleasurable sensation while drawing in more breath. Notice how these two actions support you to become more present. Have fun with using pleasure as your new portal into presence.