Pleasure is an interesting concept and something that guides our actions and reactions, yet how much do we really know about pleasure?
Last year I visited my friend Stewart Blackburn on Big Island. Stewart is a shamanic teacher and practitioner and a fellow Alakai of Aloha International. One area Stewart has focussed on is the concept of pleasure. This includes notions such as ‘relaxing into intensity’ and ‘savouring’ pleasurable experiences. Based on this work, in 2013 Stewart wrote the book ‘The Skills of Pleasure’.
Whilst I was there I took the opportunity to record some of our conversations. In the video below Stewart gives a short overview of how pleasure fits into the work he does. It is interesting to note how pleasure can be found virtually anywhere if we learn to tune into it and that we can develop the skills to experience intense pleasure. It is also useful to realise that each experience of pleasure has a natural cycle with a beginning and end.
In his book Stewart provides a simple and effective tool to identify how much you focus on pleasure in your life. The Personal Pleasure Evaluation Worksheet is available on Stewart’s site here. Reflecting on where we focus can be extremely revealing and a useful starting point to focus on more pleasure.
Stewart is due to publish another book imminently entitled: ‘It’s Time to Come Home: With Kindness and Compassion, We Come Back to Ourselves’. I look forward to reading it and will share more information when it is available.
Stewart’s site can be found at: https://www.stewartblackburn.com
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