I hope you're up for exploring a fascinating exercise today. I want to invite you to recall or imagine a mental snapshot of an experience filled with gendering joy, pleasure, comfort, or ease. If accessing a memory isn't possible at the moment, feel free to let your imagination guide you towards envisioning what a moment of gendering joy could feel like.

This joyful experience could be something as simple as trying on a favorite piece of clothing that made you feel more like yourself. It could be a hairstyle that perfectly captured your essence or a new way of moving and engaging your body that made you feel alive in your gendered self. Perhaps it's a memory of exploring a sex toy or discovering a way of touching your body that aligned just right with your gender. It might even be a moment where you felt truly seen in your authentic gendered nature, whether by a loved one or a stranger. Maybe it's visualizing a selfie or a photo of yourself as an adult or a young child that captures a glimmer of your internal gendering experience.

Now, as you engage in this exercise, I invite you to sink into the sensations that arise. Let them wash over you, immersing your senses in the smells, tastes, sounds, sights, and physical sensations associated with your pleasure. This memory or fantasy of gendering joy may take on different forms for each person – it could be grand and sparkly, or perhaps it's subtle and soft. It might even evoke neutral sensations, like relief from shedding a bit of gender dysphoria or discomfort.

Here's where it gets interesting: imagine communicating these sensations to someone else without using words, relying solely on your body's expression. What might that look like? What posture or movement would best convey your gendering joyful YES? I encourage you to try out different shapes, movements, and postures. Stand up, lay down, or move around. When you find a gesture or posture that captures some aspect of your gendering YES, give it a try in front of a mirror or even with a camera as your witness. Observe yourself as you express your gendering joy.

Take a moment to reflect: how does it feel to see yourself take on this shape or make this gesture? What somatic noticings arise as you witness your own expression of gendering joy? Allow yourself to dive deep into these sensations, noticing which muscles are engaged and which are not. Explore the distribution of your weight, the angles of your shoulders and hips, and all the intricate details that make up this physical expression.

This exercise serves as a powerful tool to connect sensations with movement and physicality. With practice and repetition, these gestures and physical statements become touchstones that allow us to tap into our gendering joy sensations whenever we need to. It draws inspiration from the Yes/No/Maybe exercise developed by The Strozzi Institute, adapted here to specifically explore realms of gendering joy.

If this exercise resonates with you, I'd love to hear about your experiences and any insights that arise from engaging with it. Feel free to share your thoughts or ask any questions that come up along the way.

Wishing you a journey of joyful self-expression and exploration!