Pleasure Healing: Positive Affirmations to Behold the Beauty Within

Do you know how beautiful you are? Yes, you! You're beautiful beyond compare. Affirm this to yourself ten times right here and now.

Okay, now that you're back, think about how you felt as you affirmed your beauty. Did you feel a spark of power? What if you used that spark to ignite filling your whole life with beauty, truth, and goodness? Imagine this tiny spark spiraling outward, casting a radiant glow upon everything and every person you see. Can you picture how glorious it would be to see all of life in this beautiful light of transformation? Once you achieve this, you'll find more to celebrate and less to criticize.

Now, imagine how those around you - family, friends, and business associates - will feel as they interact with you. How do you think they'll react to you as a person who sees beauty in the entire world and everyone in it? This brings to mind words attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: "We must become the change we want to see." The residual effects of your self-realized beauty are enormous. Together we're exploring ways to turn your spark into a radiant blaze.

Let's ignite that spark, shall we? But first, let's dwell some more on how beautiful you are! Affirm it. Spend the next few moments thinking about, appreciating and writing down all that you find beautiful in yourself and your life. Let the words flow unedited.

What would I write? Oh, something like this: I appreciate my curly hair and long legs; my nonjudgmental nature; my athletic ability; my deep compassion for humanity and all of creation; my wonderful husband; my cherished family; my wonderful friends and dear clients; my adorable pet companions; the air that I breathe; my meditation and yoga practice; having enough money to pay the bills; the first tomatoes out of the garden; my glorious, scarlet-red poppies opening for their brief spring fling; and Friday-night martinis.

Now, get out your notebook or journal and try it yourself. What beauty do you appreciate in your life?

Abe Lincoln said, "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be." We can all embrace bliss, joy, happiness, optimism, and positivity as long as it's a life goal. Who doesn't want to be happy? According to a survey of 6,500 American women, 95 percent said that happiness was more important to them than power, wealth, or even beauty.

We all have our down days, but a basic capacity for bliss is the foundation for overcoming even the most trying obstacles. This means enjoying a steady diet of simple pleasures rather than waiting for that big pie in the sky. Our inner lives, relationships, and careers are the areas in our personal landscapes most likely to send us sinking into a well of self-pity or soaring into a cloud of self-satisfaction.

Getting a grip on these areas gives us the ability to experience the essence of true joy. So how about you? Are you floating in a sea of serenity or watching from the shore in fear of riding that big wave of bliss?nn***

Excerpt from PLEASURE HEALING: MINDFUL PRACTICES & SACRED SPA RITUALS FOR SELF-NURTURING