We had a massive spring snowstorm yesterday (and yes, I know it’s the middle of May…!). After a day of staying snuggled up inside wearing a warm sweater and a pair of cozy slippers, I’m excited for the weekend ahead.

The temperatures are supposed to stay cool, but everything is turning so lush and green in response to all of this fantastic moisture. As the snow melts, it’s the perfect time to venture outdoors and take in all of the sights, sounds, and smells of spring!

Spring is not only a time of birth and change, but it’s a time of awakening, too. Life is springing up everywhere, and there are reminders, big and small, of what a gift it is to be alive. The rains (and snowstorms!) are nourishing the earth back to life, and in a lot of ways, they are calling all of us back to life, too.

I haven’t always felt this connected the subtle opportunities that come with the change in seasons. In fact, I spent a good number of years (decades, if I’m really honest) being relatively numb to the world around me. I know I am not alone in this phenomenon. So many of my clients and dear friends have given voice to this experience, too.

Numbing out is a way of coping with the things in your life that are hurtful, annoying, overwhelming, or too loud. It’s a very clever way of convincing yourself that you can handle a circumstance that, if you fully felt how it was negatively affecting you, is actually quite intolerable.

I believe women are being called to “wake up” and feel themselves and their lives – and not just the stuff that’s icky, like a health challenge or a conversation with a loved one that turns ugly. We’re being asked to awaken our souls and our senses to the things that are beautiful, pleasurable, and life affirming, too.

As I’ve opened up to feeling my life – the beautiful, the ugly, and the mystery of it all – I’ve simultaneously opened myself up to experience more pleasure. When you’re numb, you numb out to the good stuff, too. I’ve been astounded by all of the ways pleasure offers itself to me everyday, and how incredibly healing and energizing it is when I really let it in.

It’s easy to pinch pleasure off, and to say, “that’s enough”, or “yeah, that felt good” before we actually feel how pleasurable something truly is.

When was the last time you let the soft sensation of your lover’s touch on your leg travel up your thighs and awaken your sleeping desire, even when that touch wasn’t “sexual” at all? Have you ever allowed the soft, intimate color of pink to penetrate your senses to the point of feeling a bit weak in the knees? Or allowed the smell of sweet lilac flowers to bathe your senses in tender, lavender-colored kisses?

This weekend I invite you to see if you can open yourself up a bit more to the pleasure that is present in your life – the warmth of the sun on your skin, the smell of fresh flowers on the breeze, the sound of your child’s laughter echoing in your home, or the orgasmic and dreamy taste of a piece of high quality raw chocolate as it melts on your tongue.

I invite you to join me in letting life’s little and big pleasures in this weekend. Notice how they effortlessly lift you up and leave you feeling full of gratitude, inspiration and sheer joy.

Let the awakening begin!