02/12/2021
Greetings,
I am putting on a course at the end of the month and the end of March that's all about increasing pleasure and joy in one's life. The original course was designed by a genius guy called Victor Baranco in 1968 in Northern California very much in service of women to have better lives since he found when the women around him were happy, everyone's life was better. However, the principles of the course are equally applicable to men and women.
Pleasure is something that happens when someone is living in the present moment - right here, right now. . .and can be had at any time regardless of one's circumstances. For the most part, the human condition is to not be living in the present moment but rather "stuck" in one's minds/heads worrying or concerned about the future or thinking about the past. Have you ever been in a beautiful location in nature and not been able to appreciate it because you were thinking about something that was worrying you that wasn't happening right at that moment? Or, do you ever notice how there is a constant drive to get somewhere else, dissatisfied with how life is right now with recurring thoughts like - "when I have more money, more time, or when I'm in a different situation, or when things are different, then I'll be happy".
Consider that pleasure and happiness could potentially be independent of one's circumstances and that there is a way to find pleasure anytime without anything even having to be different in one's life.
Consider, we all had an expanded ability to experience pleasure when we were babies and very young. Notice how very young children don't really need much of anything to be happy and joyful. Somewhere along the way, this way of living got lost. The good news is that it's possible to get back to that place in one's life even as an adult.
Another interesting thing to notice is that it's a basic human instinct to go towards things that feel good and pleasurable and to move away from things that don't feel good in order to survive. In fact, all living things - animals, plants, even single celled organisms all move towards things that feel good in order to survive (i.e. go towards food, sunshine, etc.) and away from things that are harmful to survival (i.e. pain, extreme environments, lack of light, etc).
Yet, the basic concern / fear that most have is "if I did things that were good for me or had the things I wanted most in life, I wouldn't survive or life would fall apart" or "I have to do things I don't like in order to survive" - deeply rooted "Puritan" values which create a fundamental conflict between natural instinct and one's mind.
Where do those beliefs in one's mind actually come from about survival and are they real or not? These are valid things to explore and see if these "unexamined" fears with which we base so much of our life on are actually real or not.
In the course, all these things are examined more closely so they can get unwound in a brilliant way making it possible to experience the fullness of life again and expand pleasure no matter what someone's circumstances are.
More details about the program are here for anyone interested in exploring this further:
The Basic Pleasure and Joy Course Dates: February 27-28, 2021 (in person and online hybrid course) March 27-28, 2021 (in person and online hybrid course) Course Description In the “Basic Plea…
