Bodyful Episode #09: Dr. Rachel Allyn Reminds Us that Pleasure is Ours to Claim

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by Valerie Martin

Pleasure is not just a sex-positive buzzword or a euphoric state to chase sometimes— it is essential to our humanity. When we prioritize pleasure, we connect back to the truest version of ourselves.

In this conversation with Dr. Rachel Allyn, holistic clinical psychologist and author of the recently released book. The Pleasure Is All Yours, we chat the power and importance of pleasure, WTF “bodyfulness” really means, and why it matters.

Pleasure is most often associated with sex— and while sex is important, pleasure is SO much more than just that. It’s one of the fundamental aspects of being fully alive in the time we are given in these beautiful, messy, awkward, miraculous flesh suits.

The full spectrum of life includes the capacity for both tremendous pain AND tremendous pleasure— and learning how to make space for both to coexist is a necessary piece of feeling the truth of our own aliveness, instead of always feeling removed from our experience or seeking to fill the good ole Bottomless Pit of Despair. While the experience of pleasure may seem fleeting, cultivating moments of pleasure can compound into deeper, lasting states of joy and contentment.

For many of us, we’ve spent so much time being conditioned into how we’re “supposed” to think, feel, and act that we’ve forgotten what it feels like to trust the knowing of our own body. This leaves us feeling a disconnect, both with ourselves and with others.

Through Dr. Allyn’s bodyfulness framework that she shares in her book (this conversation is just a teaser!), readers can learn to reconnect to their bodies, their hearts, and release internalized shame and conditioning.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Dr. Rachel Allyn (she/her)

Rachel Allyn, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist, certified yoga instructor, public speaker, and relationship columnist. She is the founder of YogaPsych, PLLC, a psychotherapy practice for adults that blends Western medicine with Eastern philosophy, and connects the mind with the body. She has been in private practice for almost fifteen years working with individuals and couples dealing with sexuality, intimacy, and relationship problems as well as trauma, depression, anxiety, and loss. She’s been quoted in books and magazines including Yoga Journal, Women’s Health, Outside, Good Housekeeping, and Cosmopolitan.

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