Over the next five+ months I will be sharing the content from my Embodied Writing : Pleasure online group program, which I last offered at the end of 2020. As we move into Spring, and the natural rebirth that occurs both within and outside of us, I invite you to explore the ways to incorporate more pleasure into your lives, especially given the state of the world today. We are complex beings who can hold multiple, even contradictory things at once, including the pain of our hearts breaking at the horrorific events happening around the globe and in our own lives, along with the beauty and pleasure of budding flowers, warming weather, and the promise of fresh stone fruits on the way.
This material is for paid subscribers (though I will always offer a snippet for everyone to read, and the first week of content of any given past course is always available for all to view in its entirety). You can take advantage of the 7-day trial to explore all that is available for those who offer some financial support that allows me to continue focusing on writing and my work in the world, to see if the content available resonates with you.
And now. On to Embodied Writing : Pleasure…
Our embodied writing journey will loosely follow the path of Inanna's descent to and ascent from the Underworld on a three week cycle. Week one we will begin our descent, exploring a singular aspect of pleasure; Week two we will "be in the Underworld" caring for ourselves and finding compassion around the aspect we explored the previous week; and Week 3 we will ascend into the world, reclaiming this aspect of pleasure on our own terms. This pattern will repeat for a total of seven cycles (21 weeks of material)
We begin with the stories and voices we carry in our minds around pleasure. The narratives we have been taught by both culture and our families of origin. These are the stories of how pleasure is bad. How pleasure is a sin. How we are a bad person if we partake in pleasure, and as such we deserve every painful thing that has ever happened to us.
It is also the stories of how we have to constantly be doing, producing, creating. How we cannot stop to rest or even "smell the roses." How our value and worth as a human is directly tied to our level of "busy-ness." How resting and enjoying where we are is not acceptable, how we much constantly be striving for more.
These voices we hear could be our mother's, our grandmother's, our third grade teacher's, or even a stranger's. And through hearing this voice, and the messages of how pleasure and enjoyment are bad. Through the repetition of hearing them over and over we internalize these stories, and these voices, and sometimes we can't differentiate that these voices actually came from outside of us and aren't an innate part of us.
We weren't born with these voices in our heads. We weren't born thinking pleasure is bad, being satiated is wrong, finding comfort is a sign of weakness. In fact we are born with quite the opposite attitude toward comfort and pleasure. As infants we cried when we were hungry, cold, scared, needed our diapers changed - we cried because we were seeking comfort, a pleasurable sensation and experience. How our primary caretakers responded to our cries, wants, and needs, began the development of our neuropathways around comfort, pleasure, and our worth.
We were born knowing our needs and wants. We were born knowing how to voice them. We were born knowing we deserved love, caring, acceptance, comfort, and pleasure.
And so.
Today we begin to unravel these stories that others gave to us. Stories that were not originally our own. Stories that cause us harm, hold us back, keep us small.
Today we pass through the first gate, setting these voices down.
EMBODIMENT EXERCISE
I invite you to try these exercises before you start your writing. Each only takes a minute or two (or less or longer if you like!). While doing them, if you like, think about the writing prompt below and also remember to keep checking with the embodiment exercise and your body to see how the prompts are affecting you physiologically.
Head Hold
For each step, apply pressure with your hand (whatever pressure feels right for you) and hold each position for 30 to 60 seconds.
• Place each hand on the sides of your head above your ears. Apply as much or as little pressure as you want. Hold for a minute or so. Next...
• Place right hand on forehead and left hand at back of head, right above the occipital bone. Hold for a minute or so.
• Place each hand on the sides of your head above your ears again. Apply as much or as little pressure as you want. Hold for a minute or so.
• Place left hand on forehead and right hand at back of head, right above the occipital bone (so hands are in the other position from the second step above). Hold for a minute or so.
• Repeat the sequence as many times as you like.
Mind Relaxation
Close your eyes. Breathe normally through your nose. As you exhale, silently say to yourself the word “one,” or any other short word such as “peaceful,” or a phrase such as “I feel quiet” or “I am safe.” Continue for as long as you like. If your mind wanders, gently remind yourself to think about your breathing and your chosen word or phrase. Let your breathing become slow and steady.
STREAM OF CONSCIOUS WRITING
While doing the exercises above, think about these questions below and then once you have completed the exercises, write our your responses in your journal.
What does pleasure mean to you?
What are some of the stories or narratives that go around your head about pleasure?
What are the narratives that stop you from doing something pleasurable?
What are the narratives that keep you in a state of doing or producing or striving?
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Ways for us to connect
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Soothe Your Nervous System Card Deck
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