Pleasure Bag Tool Kit

Part One

On a sheet of paper, compile a list of all the pleasurable things you like to do for yourself. Leave a space between each one, as you’re going to cut them up. The aim is to have at least 52 things. If you can’t think of 52, then you can always repeat some of them.

Here are some of mine as an example:

Having an aromatherapy bath

Going for a walk in the country / by the sea

Having an ice cream

Coffee & cake in a café

Buying myself a new book

Visit a local art gallery

Visit the local museum

Buying a new colourful scarf

Going to the cinema

Write your thoughts down, free flow - 10 mins each day

Have a pyjama day. Watch a movie

Spend time writing in a café

Sketch outside with crayons

Have a pyjama day. Read a book

Dance on your own, to music

Learn a favourite poem. Verse by verse each day

Walk in the local park

Part Two

Paste the list onto a piece of card. Cut up each one and put all the slips into a small, attractive bag that you really like. Shake them all around so they become all mixed up.

Part Three

This is your very own Pleasure Bag, with 52 tokens of delight - one for each week of the year.

Each week take one token from the bag without peaking and commit to doing that treat for yourself, either each day or sometime during that week, depending on the suggestion.

If you are feeling low at any point in the week, you could take another one and give yourself a double treat.

Best to keep the used tokens in a separate bag until your Pleasure Bag is empty. Then you just refill and start all over again. You can always add some extra surprise treats when you think of them.

Your Pleasure Bag is a way of giving yourself some treats that can lift and rejuvenate  flagging spirits. Or to use when your smile has disappeared behind a cloud and you’re feeling low and out of sorts.

Using your Pleasure Bag tool kit on a weekly basis is a way of making yourself special with some simple pleasures. Well worth the effort in making one for yourself.

I use mine regularly and sometimes have a double dose in the week, either to make myself smile with the joy of being granted permission to do things I love, or because I feel I deserve that extra treat.

I’ve made some Pleasure Bags for my friends. As a token of your affection, they make a special gift.


Author of ‘Wearing Red, One Woman’s Journey to Sanity’

Available from www.amazon.co.uk and www.browndogbooks.uk