Pleasure is the Thread
In the pleasure garden with Isabelle Griffith
This year, I’m diving deep into a single word: pleasure. For me, pleasure is a powerful way to connect with myself, with my body, and with the whole of life. I believe that for women, especially at midlife, pleasure isn't just important. It's revolutionary.
Each month, I’ll share a new interview with a woman who opens up about what nourishes her, the self-care rituals she practices, and what pleasure means to her.
Feeling burned out? Disconnected from yourself?
What if pleasure is your pathway back…to presence, to aliveness, to life itself?
This month, I’m honoured to welcome Isabelle Griffith into the pleasure garden. Isabelle is a Somatic Coach and Educator and the founder of The School of Somatic Leadership for Women™. She guides women to reconnect with their bodies, reclaim their inner wisdom, and lead from a place of rest, resonance, and self-trust.
In this conversation, she reminds us that pleasure isn’t frivolous. It’s deeply healing. It nourishes us, restores our relationship with our senses, and tenderly weaves us back into the fullness of being alive.
And you will love the gentle somatic practice she shares toward the end!
Though our connection has only been virtual, I feel a genuine sense of kinship with Isabelle. We even share the same birthday!
Pour yourself something delicious, and settle in for this soul-nourishing exchange with Isabelle Griffith.
Can you share a glimpse into your world right now. What’s lighting you up these days?
At the moment, what’s lighting me up is the sensual feast of spring blooming all around me here in the UK. Cherry blossoms carrying fluffy pink flower pom poms, the warmth of the sun kissing my skin, sitting in the park and watching nature slowly emerge from its long sleep. Finding a sense-filled refuge in the miraculous beauty of nature and letting my body, my heart and my nervous system linger in what feels like a tender embrace.
The sense of renewal, possibilities and hope that spring brings always feels blissful to me. It makes me feel more vibrantly alive - It’s my favourite season.
What are three pleasurable words to describe yourself?
I would say, devoted, spiritual, compassionate.
Where do you find inspiration?
My three greatest sources of inspiration are nature, stillness and rest.
I feel most inspired when I’m in nature - sitting on a tree trunk in the quiet of a clearing in the woods, listening to the birds sing, the wind ruffling in the leaves …
Inspiration comes to me in the quiet and spacious moments where my mind settles and something lands mysteriously within me.
My yoga nidra practice also nourishes my creativity in subtle but really powerful ways. I never write as much as when I rest daily.
Is there a book, podcast, or resource that has deeply influenced you?
There are so many. Most accompany me for a season, some for many years.
The books True Refuge and Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach are old-time favourites. Her podcast, resources, and practices have been deeply supportive, and have held me through some very dark and challenging times.
The Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie is a beautiful reminder of the enchanted and magical nature of life. It speaks to how our disconnection from the natural world has led us to lose touch with life itself.
Cassandra Speaks by Elizabeth Lesser is another favourite of mine which speaks to why we ‘lost’ our voices as women, and how vital it is for us to reclaim it to heal and transform the world.
Finally, Come To Your Senses with Mary Lofgren is one of my favourite podcasts - it takes me into a world of sensuality, mindful living and pleasure and always soothes my nervous system. I feel like I’m taken into a gentler world.
What are the first things you do every morning?
As I wake up, before stepping out of bed I ‘land’ in the day with a meditation practice. It could be a yoga nidra, a body scan, a somatic meditation or a visualisation. It helps anchor me in the present moment before the rush of the day sweeps me up, and helps me regulate my nervous system.
Is there a ritual you could not live without in your day?
My morning and evening meditations. I find that starting and ending the day with a pause creates a beautiful container and helps me to feel a little more held regardless of what life brings me.
What are some favourite ways you nourish yourself?
I love dancing, whether it’s going to a 5 rhythm dance class, practicing ballet or dancing alone to my favourite music in the lounge.
It sparks the most incredible joy within me.
Yoga has also been a life transforming nourishing practice. A faithful companion I can return to anytime to touch the greater mystery and connect with the deepest part of myself.
How do you define pleasure? Has your understanding of pleasure evolved over time?
My understanding and relationship with pleasure has evolved and matured over time. When I was younger, I might have defined it as a fleeting moment of bliss.
These days, pleasure is multi-layered, with different experiences and textures, and a lot of depth.
Pleasure now feels like a communion with the richness and aliveness of life itself as it flows through my senses.
How do you integrate moments of pleasure into your daily life, even in the midst of challenges?
I have found over years of practicing mindfulness and embodiment that it’s often the simplest moments that give me the greatest pleasure.
I try to take deliberate pauses during the day to simply breathe and notice (I have an alarm set on my phone for midday to remember to pause).
In those pauses, I intentionally choose to seek the small details within my experience that feel pleasurable, beautiful, awe inspiring or simply safe and stable, and I linger for a few moments to let these sensations fully land in my body, until I feel a sense of satiation.
What role does self-compassion play in allowing oneself to experience deep, embodied pleasure?
I see self-compassion as a doorway into pleasure.
Without self-compassion, pleasure can feel out of reach or undeserved, or be tinted by shame.
Self-compassion is an inner permission slip that says: my love, you too, deserve to feel good, just as you are. You don’t need to earn it, prove you are worthy or tick every (or any) box on your to-do list to feel fully alive and experience life in all its beauty and richness. You deserve pleasure now, without condition.
When we meet ourselves with tenderness, especially in our messiest, most tender moments, we start to soften the internalized belief that pleasure is frivolous, undeserved or selfish.
Self-compassion gently opens the door that invites pleasure in.
How can women learn to recognize and trust their own authentic sources of pleasure, rather than those shaped by societal expectations?
As women, so many of us spend our lives attuning to those around us. We are so well versed at reading rooms and anticipating everyone’s needs, but in calibrating to this outward attunement, we often lose our inner attunement.
What used to light us up, give us pleasure, or help us feel radiant and fully alive can become a distant memory and feel difficult to remember.
Recognising and trusting our own authentic sources of pleasures starts with slowing down and listening to our body. Taking small steps, and noticing the subtle clues of our body letting us know when something is a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ - orienting more and more towards our ‘yeses’ to reclaim our own sources of pleasures.
How can pleasure be a tool for healing, especially for those recovering from burnout or chronic stress?
Burnout disconnects us from ourselves, our bodies, and our joy. It often leaves us feeling depleted, joyless and lost.
And pleasure is our pathway back.
It’s a slow and gentle invitation back to a sense of presence and aliveness. Pleasure nourishes us profoundly, reconnects us to our sensual experience and in doing so, it tenderly weaves us back into life.
Finding glimmers of pleasure after burnout is the thread that guides us back home.
Beyond burnout recovery, pleasure offers us a beautiful and potent resource to lean on through our healing journey. It’s an opportunity to drink from the well of life, and reminds us that there may be pain, challenges or tenderness AND that pleasure is here to hold us through it all.
Can you share a somatic practice that readers might use to cultivate a deeper sense of pleasure and presence in their lives?
One of my favourite practices is a gentle somatic touch ritual that invites us into slowness, tenderness and presence.
Begin by bringing the tips of your fingers to the crown of your head, lightly touching.
Then slowly and softly trace your fingers down the landscape of your body, starting with the forehead, temples, cheeks, lips, jaw. Let your touch be light as a feather, as if you were stroking the most delicate silk.
Continue gliding your fingertips down your neck, your throat, across your shoulders, arms, wrists, palms of your hands, and fingertips. Then bring your hands gently back to your chest, gliding over your heart, your abdomen, the sides of your body, perhaps your lower back … let yourself be guided organically.
When you feel complete, hold yourself in a gentle self-embrace. And rest here for a few moments, feeling held.
I find it to be such a tender and compassionate practice.
I’d love for you to share about microscopic pleasures that you have recently experienced:
A taste: I was recently gifted a beautiful tea box with apricot, honey and lavender tea which I have fallen in love with.
A sound: The birds happily chirping in the trees all around us as spring unfurls.
A sight: The bluebells appearing in the woods - always around my daughter’s birthday.
A smell: The fragrance of all the spring blossoms!
A touch: The warmth of the sun on my skin - always delicious.
Isabelle Griffith is a Somatic Coach and Educator for women, the founder of The School of Somatic Leadership for Women™ and creator of The Wisdom Within™ Somatic Practitioner Training.
She guides women to reconnect with their bodies, reclaim their inner wisdom, and lead from a place of rest, resonance, and self-trust. Through her deeply restorative and empowering approach, she supports women to move beyond burnout, people-pleasing, and self-doubt, towards a life that feels whole, alive, and aligned.
Her work is devoted to redefining feminine leadership as a regenerative force that ripples out into the world.
