Hey sisters!

Subscriber Rischa wrote me after the last newsletter that very early spring is her favorite time of year. The unfolding sweet promise of the big spring bang to come, she says, is for her just as delicious as the actual spring riot of color here in Seattle.

Ahhh, Yours Truly responded, kind of like foreplay?

Yes, Rischa replied, a little like that...

So the last couple of weeks I’ve looked at buds swelling on the forsythia and magnolia, and the first green fingertips of bulbs pushing through the winter-dark earth, with a whole new pleasured eye!

I’m jumping with delight to tell y’all about the First Ever Luscious Midlife Retreat, March 8-9 at the Harmony Hill Retreat Center. I’m teaming up with Denise Carrico, yoga teacher extraordinaire. Denise shines at teaching midlife women restorative yoga, the most delicious, simple, and luxuriating kind of yoga I know. Count on two days of pleasure, renewal, great food, and lots of laughter. To find out more, and register: http://www.harmonyhill.org/retreats/inharmony.html - midlife

The best of this beautiful, hopeful, and swelling time to you all!

With love and pleasure,

FEATURE ARTICLE: Meditating With Chocolate

So here we are with Valentine’s Day chocolate erupting everywhere, and you’re wondering how to sashay that fine line between deprivation (ick!) and overindulgence.

Have I got a treat for you! Here’s a way of – get this – meditating with chocolate. Ladies, how good can that get?

The exercise — or play, as I like to think of it — is to develop mindfulness, awareness of the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness is one of the cornerstones of pleasure, deepening our capacity for it in all its forms. After all, if we’re stressing about the meeting tomorrow, or beating ourselves up for forgetting to return that phone call, how can we relish the grace and pleasure of this moment?

Mindfulness is traditionally developed through meditation. I say, how about developing mindfulness and cultivating pleasure at the same great time?

So ladies, hie yourselves to your favorite chocolate supplier and indulge in some high quality dark chocolate. Cut three small pieces and place them on a plate, get comfortable and non-interruptible, and begin. Bon appetit!

1. Take several slow breaths, and allow yourself to come into your own body and the present moment. You’ll find that you’ll get distracted sometimes ... simply gently come back to the present moment and this wonderful chocolate. Be aware of your intention to begin eating. If you’re the praying/asking sort, ask to be fully present, both to the process and to your own sweet pleasure.

2. Place a piece of the chocolate in the palm of your hand. Slowly explore the chocolate as if you’d never had the exquisite pleasure of hanging out with chocolate before. Stroke the chocolate with your fingers, feeling its texture and temperature. Notice its color, and the light upon it. Be gently aware of what thoughts you’re having about chocolate, or anything else (mine might be, “I’m so fat, why am I eating this?” or “I should be doing something useful right now”). Simply notice them and come back to yourself and the chocolate.

3. With soft awareness bring the chocolate up to your nose, being aware of the movement of your hand and arm. Take in its aroma. How does it smell? How are you responding to the smell? Is your mouth watering? Notice any feelings of anticipation or desire.

4. Place the chocolate on your tongue.  What does it feel like? Let the chocolate warm in your mouth. Feel its softening and spreading.  Where is the chocolate in your mouth? Let yourself relax into its taste.  What are the sensations on your tongue?  What part of your tongue is experiencing the taste? How does the taste change as the chocolate melts? Slowly play with the chocolate with your tongue, noticing both taste and sensation.

5. When you are ready to swallow, notice this, then swallow.  Be aware of how the chocolate moves down your throat.  Can you feel any sensations in your stomach? Imagine that your body is now “one piece of chocolate richer.” How is it to be with the rich aftertaste of the chocolate in your mouth?

6. Take as much time as you need to eat the other two pieces of chocolate with the same mindfulness.

Here are some post-chocolate questions you can play with. I invite you to share your responses with me and your pleasure-sisters! Email them to me at Melissa@MelissaGayleWest.com, and I’ll print them in the next newsletter.

• How did this experience differ from the way you usually eat?
• Were you satisfied and pleasure eating just one small piece of chocolate?
• How might it change your experience of eating pleasure to bring more mindfulness to what, and how, you eat?

YOU’RE TALKING BACK!
Lots of response to the last issue-I love this community of pleasured midlife women that’s coming together!

Meg writes: Ah yes, tears well up as I respond to this emailed letter of community. I too am willing to receive and delight in the community of 45+ yo women. What I am "rolling" in this year is to stop and tell myself two simple things, as often as I can remember: Thank you and I love you. I am not waiting for someone else to tell me. Because only I know in my being how much Thank you means at those moments when I may have recoiled in pity or shame, or just not acknowledge some simple courageous act. I love you is powerful too, because I mean to cultivate this as the plumb line for my being. Wondrous new year to all! Meg

Heather writes: For the past decade I have been bombarded with everything from divorce to my oldest child being diagnosed with cancer.  I made a decision that rather than making a traditional new year's resolution I would deem 2008 a new beginning and would focus on gratitude.  Rather than being weighed down by all of the loss and chaos, I would focus on being grateful for what we do have.  I am sending out gratitude letters instead of traditional holiday cards and letting people in our lives know how grateful we are for their love and support.  I am also looking for things to be grateful for, rather than worrying about what might go wrong.

COACHING SESSIONS WITH MELISSA
If you would like to:

• Experience deep and authentic pleasure in your life
• Create a life that sings for you, free from struggle and efforting
• Free yourself from damaging cultural myths about growing older that limit your aliveness, creativity, and unique genius
• Making a meaningful difference in this time in your life
• Deepen your spiritual journey in a way that reflects who you are now
• Reclaim curiosity, gratitude, and wonder for your journey

Read more about how you can benefit from private coaching with Melissa: http://www.MelissaGayleWest.com
If you're interested, contact Melissa at Melissa@MelissaGayleWest.com, or 206.427.1325

 ABOUT Pleasure and Soul
ANY QUESTIONS, comments, feedback?
Contact me at Melissa@MelissaGayleWest.com

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Melissa Gayle West
106 NW 104th St.
Seattle, WA 98177