In this presentation I discuss pleasure from biological and psychological point of views, and how it is rooted in the body. I also present exercises to feel pleasure in the body.

1. Pleasure – A Creative Approach to Life
Homayoun Shahri, Ph.D., M.A., LMFT
Homayoun.shahri@ravonkavi.com
http://www.ravonkavi.com

2. Definition
● The state of feeling of being pleased
● An agreeable or enjoyable sensation or emotion
● Something that gives or affords enjoyment or delight

3. Pleasure – Biology
● Biologically pleasure is equivalent to a state of
expansion of the organism
● Pain (unpleasure) is equivalent to a state of
contraction of the organism
● All life is based on the pleasure principle
● Pleasure – Pain spectrum
AGONY – PAIN – DISTRESS – GOOD FEELINGS – PLEASURE – JOY – ECSTASY

4. Exercise
● Relax yourself on your chair
● Feel all tightnesses in your body (Toe to Head)
● See if you can let go of the tensions
● Now breathe into every cell in your body (Head
to Toe)
● What do you feel?

5. Pleasure - Psychology
● Pleasure principle
– Freud conceptualized the pleasure principle as one of the driving
forces of the id (i.e. the primitive, animalistic and instinctual elements
of the mind; also conceptualized by other psychoanalysts as the
deepest level of the unconscious).
● Reality Principle
– The reality principle may oppose the pleasure principle, originally
proposed by Sigmund Freud, that compels people to defer gratification
when necessary due to the obstacles of reality, or for more pleasure.
The reality principle is governed by the ego, which controls the instant-
gratification desire of the id.

6. Duality (functional unity) of Pleasure
and Reality Principles
Pleasure Principle (id) Reality Principle (ego)
Psyche

7. Pleasure - Energetic
● Wilhelm Reich was able to demonstrate a charge at
the skin’s surface directly related to feelings of
pleasure and anxiety. This charge would increase
when a subject felt pleasure, and decrease during
feelings of unpleasure. From this, Reich concluded
that pleasure is the movement of biological energy
toward the periphery of the organism, while anxiety is
the movement of this energy toward the center.

8. Duality (functional unity) of Pleasure
and Anxiety
Pleasure Anxiety
Life Energy

9. Exercise
● Follow presenter's instructions
● Breathe
● Put your awareness on your pituitary gland
● Stay with it for about 30 seconds or so
● What do you feel?

10. I am Breathing (Mary Oliver)
Breathing just a little
life flows
without thought
of each moment passing
away
draining into the next
every drop of anticipation
sucked dry
of life's rich bounty
unfolding
in the unexpected joy
of being alive.
Breathing together
of all things
I find myself
awakened
revelling in every drop
of anticipation
dripping wet in the ripe, rich fruit
of life
flowing
effortlessly
into the unexpected joy
of being alive.

11. Water bear (Tardigrade) meets
Paramecium

12. Amoeba eats two paramecia

13. Cell Division in a Protozoan

14. The Joy that Wounds (Rumi)
Love asks us to enjoy our life
For nothing good can come of death.
Who is alive? I ask.
Those who are born of love.
Seek us in love itself,
Seek love in us ourselves.
Sometimes I venerate love,
Sometimes it venerates me.

15. Exercise
● Relax yourself and breathe deeply
● Make small circular movements with your right
shoulder while being aware of the movement
● What do you feel?
● Now repeat the movement with your left
shoulder
● What do you feel?

16. Pleasure Anxiety
● Yes, it is true!
● Developmental Trauma
– Adjusting to the environment through the mind and body
– Developing belief systems
– Contracting musculature to adjust to the environment
● When waves of excitations are met with body contractions, they turn inward –
Anxiety is the result
● When forbidden (pleasurable) thoughts come to surface – Anxiety is the result
● A neuroscientific view

17. Duality (functional unity) of Mind and
Body
Body Mind
Aliveness

18. Power vs Pleasure
● Power is antithetical to pleasure
● Pleasure stems from free flow of feelings and energy within the body
and its environment
● Pleasure is a feeling of harmony between an organism and its
environment
● Pleasure enhances human relationships
● Power develops through damming and control of energy
● Power develops from control and operates through control
● Power is disruptive and creates a wall between man and his natural
surroundings
● Power can disrupt human relationships

19. Power vs Pleasure (Continued)
● Dr Alexander Lowen's view of power vs pleasure
● Pleasure Individual
– Radiate with pleasure, listen with interest
– Move easily, and eyes are bright
– Enjoy life, and it is a pleasure to be around them
– Identify with their true self (have self esteem)
– Do not stand out, but they stand apart from the crowd
– They are aware of their bodily feelings and very openly express them
– They know what they want and can ask for it
● Power Individual
– People are drawn to their power, and are anxious around them
– Dominate all gatherings because they dominate
– Tensions in their bodies
– No identity apart from their power or people to dominate
– They Stand out from the crowd
– They fall flat when alone, as they need their audience
– Respond with hostility when questioned

20. Pleasure – A Creative Force of Life
● All creative actions are necessarily conscious
● Ego plays a role in executing the creative impulse
● This impulse does not arise in ego
● It has its genesis in body
● Its motivation is striving for pleasure
● Creative work is always pleasurable
● Pleasure enhances creativity and creative work
Self expression, creativity, and pleasure are closely related. Every form of self
expression has a creative element and leads to pleasure and satisfaction.
(Alexander Lowen, M.D.)

21. Pleasure – A Creative Force of Life
(Continued)
Ego
Conscious activity
Achievements
Thinking
Adult
Individuality
culture
Body
Involuntary responsiveness
Pleasure
Feeling
Child
Community
Nature
Every nature lover is a child at heart.
Every creative artist is a child in part.
Every joyous person is a child in rapture.
For joy and creativity are at the heart of nature.

22. A word of Wisdom (Alexander Lowen)
We deaden our bodies to avoid our
aliveness.
We then pretend to be alive to avoid our
deadness.

23. Exercise
● Imagine someone that you hate or dislike
● Stay with it for a moment
● Breathe
● Now open your arms wide
● Stay in this position
● How do you feel about that person now?

24. Move Into Your House of Joy (Rumi)
If you knew yourself for even one moment,
if you could just glimpse
your most beautiful face,
maybe you wouldn't slumber so deeply
in that house of clay.
Why not move into your house of joy
and shine into every crevice!
For you are the secret
Treasure-bearer,
and always have been.
Didn't you know?