Pleasure, Food and Stress

By Guest Writer Daphne Cohn

If there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that eating and living without pleasure = stress.

And stress leads to:

• Weight gain
• Overeating
• Exhaustion
• Moodiness
• Irritability
• Overwhelm
• Loss of passion
• And way less beauty

But the tricky thing is most women I know don’t think pleasure is that important. In fact, most women I work with think pleasure is something they:

• Don’t have time for
• Can’t make space for
• Don’t deserve
• Aren’t worthy of
• Are unsure about
• Can’t understand

Which makes a lot of sense since most of us grow up in cultures that praise struggle and belittle pleasure.

But before I tell you why you need pleasure to be a clean, light, radiantly beautiful woman let me tell you what I mean by pleasure.

When I talk about pleasure I’m not talking about:

• Losing yourself in a pint of double fudge brownie ice cream or
• Escaping reality with a couple bottles of wine or
• The kind of pleasure that fills you with guilt and shame and you wake up in the morning regretting.

I’m talking about real pleasure.

Soul-satisfying, life-giving, “wake you up and fill you with joy” pleasure.

I’m talking about pleasure that feeds you, nourishes you and sustains you.

Pleasure like:

• Planting your bare feet in the grass on a warm summer’s day.
• Stopping amidst meetings and deadlines to just breathe. Deeply.
• Calling a friend who makes you laugh.
• Cuddling up on the couch with a cup of cocoa and good book.
• Calling a friend who makes you cry.
• A massage.
• Taking a walk in the woods, or the hills or the city streets.
• Making love.
• Eating a really delicious meal.

And this kind of pleasure isn’t an option.

It’s a necessity.

Life-giving, soul-satisfying pleasure:

• Dramatically reduces stress.
• Helps flush out waste (and extra weight).
• Gets nutrients to every part of the body that needs them.
• Lowers blood pressure.
• Slows aging.
• Increase feel-good thoughts.
• Decreases cravings and emotional eating.
• Makes a woman come alive.

And when a woman comes alive, when she feels less stressed and more beautiful, she takes better care of herself, her loved ones and her body.

When a woman brings pleasure into her life, she makes different food choices, she eats more of what her body wants and needs, she listens to herself and she treats her body and spirit as sacred and worthy of love.

When a woman brings pleasure into her life, she doesn’t have to read the latest diet book or sweat for hours in the gym when her body just wants to sleep. She begins to become her own guide, her own teacher, her own expert.

Because pleasure slows down all the crazy negative thoughts that prevent a woman from knowing her truth.

And pleasure eases all the stress that keeps a woman from feeling energized, alive and present.

Pleasure opens doors to true beauty.

So today, I ask you to bring a little pleasure into you life.

1. Start by taking out a piece of paper and a pen.

2. At the top of the paper write the words, “My Pleasure Prescription.”

3. Underneath those words write, “I’m worth it.”

4. Then write the numbers 1-10.

5. Next to each number write down one thing that brings you pleasure. Big, small or anything in between.

6. Circle one that you can do today.

7. Promise to do it today.

8. Do this everyday.

It’s a small act but a profound one.

And it can begin to change your relationship to food, your body and your life.

Join our Pleasure Party and learn just how to Rewire to Pleasure. Listen in on Saturday, February 18 for Dr. Sara’s presentation. Click here to learn more and to register.

Daphne Cohn is the founder and CEO of The Pleasure Nutritionist, a company dedicated to guiding women to tune into their bodies and tap into their pleasure for maximum energy, clarity and radiant beauty. She is Whole Health Educator, Raw Foods Specialist, Intuitive Eating Counselor and Certified Sister Goddess. Her latest book, “Screw Weight Loss: how to have loads of energy and achieve your natural body weight through intuitive eating and pleasure” is due out in Spring 2012. You can join Daphne and 21 other Pleasure Experts for the first ever Online Worldwide Pleasure Party here.