InnerSelf.com

In the pure and holy embrace of Anything,
we find our truest Self.

What if we could fully embrace the joy that comes with eating chocolate, without any sense of guilt, for an entire day? Could we then also embrace other experiences of joy? This is where we begin, with this thought, this question:

What if?

For many of us, our relationship with chocolate is not unlike our relationship with ourselves — with our most natural and authentic self, that is. How willing are we to surrender to the state of divine Bliss that is at the very core of our innermost being? Do we not, for the most part, limit ourselves with regard to the experience of pleasure and ecstasy? How often do you allow yourself the experience of joy — pure joy? Would you go so far as to say that you allow yourself to experience Bliss? I know, that’s a tough one — a BIG one. What is it about that word, Bliss?

Accepting Bliss as Your Birthright

The surname I bear now is not the one I was born with. When I first began to think about changing my last name to Bliss, it was a very exciting prospect. In my core I felt certain it was going to require a shift in my consciousness, a change in perspective to feel comfortable and ‘deserving of’ calling myself Bliss. To say every day to everyone I meet: ‘I am Stasia Bliss’, that would take some getting used to. Yet as I began to be open to the prospect of accepting my Bliss, and I began to embrace myself as ‘Bliss,’ I also began to move into a space, not just of acceptance, but of the realization that Bliss is my divine birthright. It’s yours as well.

A movement is taking place today that urges us to reach within and touch this place of inner peace and divine Bliss. Yoga, meditation, Tai chi, and a host of other like spiritual practices both ancient and new are now (finally!) starting to come to the forefront of our modern reality here in the West. And all of them teach in one form or another that Bliss is our birthright, our natural state of being.

I Deserve to Live in a State of Bliss

Isn’t there just something about the idea of Bliss, of the very word Bliss, that resonates deep within? Beyond all the self-judgment and fear, something that says ‘Yes, I deserve to live in a state of Bliss!’ ?

Well, that’s because YOU DO!

If you are at the beginning of this road to inner discovery, let me suggest an experiment. Take an already recognized pleasure in your life — journaling, gardening, origami, dancing, cooking, whatever it may be — and allow it more fully and completely into your life, without guilt and without shame. With such an acceptance of something that you already love, we can begin to build our association with the idea of Bliss. It is easier to go somewhere, mentally and emotionally, if you have some kind of reference point. For the journey of this book we are to use chocolate as the reference point for pleasure, joy and Bliss.

Chocolate is extremely pleasurable…You have just to give yourself permission to enjoy it. As the bouquet of melting chocolate perfumes your palate, it spreads a feeling of well-being. Each of your five senses is excited, and they all interact with each other. (Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light)

Finding Pleasure & Bliss with Chocolate

Through chocolate you can get a glimpse of your natural state of Bliss. You already know this has happened, if you think about it, nearly every time you have eaten it. Think about it now, the chocolate melting in your mouth and coating your throat, the taste on your tongue. You feel the excitement, the satisfaction, the joy just in the thought of it. We might laugh a bit to ourselves, thinking we are being silly to believe real joy could be found through a dessert… And so, just as quickly as we feel the joy, we banish it and move into the feeling of guilt or remorse.

Do we think we must balance our pleasure with something ‘practical?’ Is guilt practical? Do we feel so undeserving of pleasure that we are compelled to replace that feeling with one more ‘fitting?’ Do we really believe that we deserve to feel guilt and pain, sickness and loss, rather than joy, pleasure and Bliss?!

Self-Censure is a Toxic Emotion

Guilt, shame, worry, fear, and other forms of self-censure are all toxic emotions. Any distressing emotion causes our body to produce cortisol, a hormone that when produced in excess (or kept in the body over an extended period of time) suppresses the immune system by shrinking the production of T-cells by the thymus gland.

Chocolate, on the other hand, is beginning to be recognized as one of the healthiest foods on the planet. In its raw form it is, in its physiological effects, both nutritive and tonic, and is now recognized to be a “superfood”. (See David Wolfe’s book Naked Chocolate & properties of ‘superfoods’).

Embracing Living from Our True Bliss

When we embrace that which brings us joy, it is not so much the thing that we are embracing that opens us up to Bliss, but the act of embracing itself. It is through this embracing that we allow an inner alignment to take place, bringing about the possibility of living from a higher expression of our Selves — from our true Bliss.

Keep your mind open to the possibility that chocolate can, indeed, be a doorway to your highest self. You may just decide to release the need for guilt in every area of your life, and embrace the Bliss that is your inheritance!

In the process of the personal transformation that has unfolded as a result of writing this book, these words have come to me:

And so it is, that in the pure and holy embrace of Anything, we find our truest Self.

This article was excerpted with permission from the book:

The Chocolate Fast: Embracing your Bliss one Truffle at a time!
by Stasia Bliss.

This article was reprinted with permission of the author. ©2010. http://www.neverthesamechocolate.com.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Stasia Bliss resides in Portland, Oregon where she teaches yoga, creates raw transformational chocolate and practices life alchemy. Stasia is passionate about life and empowering others to live from a place of passion and joy. She is grateful for the experiences which encourage her to expand to become bigger and for every person she meets, in whom she can see a mirror to her inner state of being. She is thrilled to be able to share her message and life's work -- that truly -- Life is Bliss, find yours! http://www.neverthesamechocolate.com.

Please Share This Article... Thank you :-)

You Might Also Like

Shame: It's Unhealthy, Self-Destructive & Extremel...
by Mary Hayes Grieco. Shame is an unhealthy and extremely toxic emotion that makes a person very sick inside. It plays out in families and in society in a self-...

Setting your Intention: Fasting...
by Stasia Bliss. Think about how we normally consume. We usually choose to fill our shopping cart full of the foods we habitually buy. To choose new foods, eve...

The Wholeness of Love-Making ...
Few of us grasp the wholeness that is love-making. In true love-making, two people come together, open in body, mind, heart, and soul. They are intimate in love...