To Be Nourished

Happy Lunar New Year…The Year of the Rabbit! We have transitioned out of the fiery action-oriented, intense energy of the year of the Tiger into the more hopeful, fluid, easeful, peaceful sign of the Rabbit. Whew…much needed after the wild year we have just completed!

It feels like a perfect moment in time to delve into the realm of nourishment, from a holistic and embodied perspective, and many facets of what it feels like to nourish ourselves on every level.  As we are in that liminal time of Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere where burn out, lethargy, depression, and fatigue are quite common, it is a wonderful opportunity to perhaps create some tweaks in one’s self-care and capacity to feel nourished.

My virtual women’s circle, The Acceptance Circle, is also just completing a month of inquiry into their own ways of nourishing themselves and what they need to shift in that realm.  It is always a potent exploration that can really help in fine-tuning one’s relationship with self and self-care. 

In the spirit of keeping these emails short (ish) and sweet, I am highlighting some components but please do hop on over to my latest blog post, To Be Nourished, to gain more in-depth inspiration and ideas about this dense and important subject.

Do you know what it feels like to be nourished? How you feel in your body? In your heart? In your soul?  Do you know what true nourishment is? How to nourish yourself from a holistic approach?  Where do you feel your gaps are in your own practices and gestures towards yourself in nourishment?

We often think of nourishment around what we are eating, yet that is only a very small fraction of the whole gamut of what nourishment actually is and what it feels like to be nourished.

Nourishment runs much deeper and varies moment-by-moment as we fluctuate in our needs as humans.

To me, an important component in this is to recognize that true nourishment is *not* stagnant or one-tracked or absolute.  It is an ever-evolving inquiry into our ever-evolving selves and what we need in each given moment.  To cultivate the capacity to drop deeply down into oneself and to be able to articulate on a somatic (body-centered) level what feels nourishing to us. 

Meeting our nourishment needs that honor our bodies, our hearts, our spirits, our souls, our minds, and the whole of US.

Being human is a journey and the good news is our exploration never ends!  As we get older, our tastes begin to shift and we begin to refine what soothes our soul and brings us into our hearts as opposed to what is taking us off center.

Below are some suggestions for deepening in your own nourishment inquiry.  As you read through these, I invite you to take a moment and take some deep breaths, drop into your body, and tune in.  Perhaps feel into which of the below are what you are needing to deepen into and commit to exploring in your own way.

·      Food/Beverages: Our relationship to how we feed our bodies with food is such a critical way in which we are relating to ourselves and, I believe, translates into how we are relating to others. Food is our base nourishment and when there is angst, dysfunction, and challenge in this arena, it becomes difficult to truly heal oneself sustainably and move forward embodied and whole. When we begin to feed ourselves from a place of loving kindness, awareness of the impact of our food choices on our bodies and the planet, and overall create a relationship with our nourishment that is based on acceptance and care, we gain access to a deeper experience of who we are and what we need.  As we deepen in our relationship with ourselves, we have the opportunity to begin to assess on an embodied level the impact certain foods and beverages are having on our state of being. From that place of awareness, we are able to make choices on our own behalf that enhance our lives, uplift us, and nourish us from the inside out. 

Also, in this category comes our beverage intake….the impact of alcohol, caffeine, not enough water/hydration.  There is no judgment here, allow this to be an invitation to tune into your choices and the impact that they may have on your state of being.  Perhaps this is a moment to tweak a bit….not as much coffee or caffeine, being more mindful about your alcohol consumption and/or taking a break, making sure that you are drinking plenty of water throughout your days, etc.  I do not believe in absolutes around anything (unless you are dealing with alcoholic tendencies, this is a different story).  In the sustainable healing process, we have the opportunity to create balance in our lives and an important component is in our consumption.  Drop into yourselves, check in, and feel into what shifts you need in this realm of your nourishment.

·      Sound vs. Quiet: What we take into our systems audibly make a *huge* difference in our state of being and feeling nourished in ourselves. As we continuously fine-tune our relationship and connection to ourselves from an authentic and accepting space, investigating our input through sound and how that makes us feel, is a beautiful exploration.  What we are listening to has tremendous impact on our ability to access our hearts and souls. 

Think about it, if you are constantly listening to loud and jarring music coupled with kids screaming, and the phone dinging incessantly it is not possible to be dropped into your hearts and connected to your soul.  Most likely you are operating from a place of disconnection, auto pilot, and residing from your headspace.  This is not a place to be judgmental, it is simply an invitation to begin to observe how you feel in varying environments, with particular background sounds, unplugged from your devices vs. plugged in, and overall what your personal preference is in any given moment.

What sounds drop you into your heart? What sounds rock your soul? What sounds enliven you? What sounds relax your entire being? How does it feel to be quiet without any sounds at all?  Does it feel uncomfortable? Scary? Disorienting? Comforting?  Soothing?  Relaxing? 

·      People/Relationships: We all have those particular people in our lives that feel like a warm embrace and perhaps others where we feel as though we have to keep our guard up out of protection.  While we cannot feel warm and fuzzy with every single person we cross paths with, we certainly can become more discerning about who we choose to spend our precious time with.  Trust yourselves….feel into your body how you feel around particular people and make choices that are honoring of you and your evolution. 

·      Environments: You know those moments when you walk into a crowded store and you start almost gasping for breath it’s so jarring for your system?  Or a loud concert and it takes a moment to get yourself oriented and grounded in the moment? Where do you put yourself? What environments feel nourishing?  What feel jarring or harsh to your system? While nourishment and ground do come from within, it is important to pay attention to how we feel in particular environments so that we can make informed choices about where we want to be, where nourishes us, where relaxes us, where stimulates us, and where do we feel as though we are easily able to ground and rest into the beat of our own hearts.

·      Connection vs. Solitude: Finding a balance between connection vs. solitude is nourishment on a deeply personal level.  Everyone has varying needs around this…some are fed by more connection with others while others of us (yes, me!) thrive and recharge in solitude. Begin to notice in yourselves how you feel when you are with others regularly and not alone much or vice versa if you are alone too much and do not have enough human connection.  Finding your sweet spot in this aspect will truly feed you and nourish you on a deep and heartfelt level. 

·      Movement vs. Rest: This is ever-changing depending on our phase of life, our bodies needs, energy levels, natural limitations, time of day…for women the time of the month makes a huge difference as well. Moving our bodies for pleasure and with presence is an art and is so important to tap into an experience of acceptance and subsequent nourishment. Tuning into our bodies on a cellular level and honoring what we need in both the realms of movement and rest are crucial in the realm of soulful self-care and will greatly enhance your capacity to show up with wholeness for your life.  While moving our bodies is essential for our well-being, so is REST, which society does not celebrate.  I greatly encourage that intermixed with movement practices are periods of rest, of unwinding, of slowing down.  Restorative yoga, permission to nap, tucking yourself into bed earlier (wonderful to do especially during these dark days!) are all effective ways of gifting your body and nervous system the opportunity to unwind and reset promoting health, wellness, and nourishment from deep within.

·      Touch: What touch feels nourishing to you? What do you need around touch?  Do you need a professional massage or perhaps just a good hug from a friend or loved one?  Receiving safe, connected, nourishing, relaxing, and consistent touch is so important for us as humans to thrive.  We *need* touch that is non-sexual, where we don’t have to necessarily do anything but rather just allowing ourselves to receive.  If getting a professional massage is not in your realm of possibility, get creative. This is a moment for you to ask those in your life for what you need…even if it’s a nice, big, firm, welcoming hug. Another wonderful option is self-massage. You can get some lovely oils, lay out a towel on your floor and give yourself a luxurious head-to-toe massage. Nourishment at it’s core!

·      Mind Care:  Nourishing our minds with productive and life-enhancing affirmations or mantras. Choosing to sit in meditation daily is a deeply nourishing choice to wrap our minds with the attention that it is craving but rather than feeding the chatter we can nourish with intentionality. I cannot say enough about the importance of cultivating a daily meditation practice, preferably in the morning.  It will shift absolutely everything in your life.  Beginning your days with a connection to YOU, with intentionality and presence, will shift the trajectory of everything in your world.  Trust me, meditation works!

·      Words: How do we speak to ourselves?  What are the conscious and unconscious ways in which we talk to ourselves?  As humans, we receive our nourishment from many sources.  How we speak to ourselves and the messages that we are infusing our cells with have tremendous impact on our beings and our felt sense of nourishment. How we speak to ourselves has such a tremendous impact on our ability to heal, our capacity to show up for life, and our state of being as a whole. We must eliminate debilitating messages that are playing on repeat.  Here is an invitation for you to take a good look at what you are habitually saying to yourself, about yourself, and choosing to shift the language and messages.

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As you move through these varying realms of inquiry, it is simply an opportunity to get to know yourself more intimately so that you can continuously tweak and fine-tune your ability to meet yourself in every moment.  So that you can learn how to nourish yourself with presence, acceptance, and the capacity to pivot as you grow, change, and evolve in your humanness. 

Obviously, this is not a complete list, yet a basic introductory invitation to approaching your nourishment from a holistic and embodied level.  When we choose to approach our lives from this place, we have the opportunity to deepen and open and expand in unimaginable ways. 

Are you curious if this work is for you? I have developed this methodology through my own exploration both personally and professionally over the course of 25+ years. I would be honored to connect and support you on your path! Please reach out anytime. 

Doing this level work in a group magnifies our experiences and allows us to grow in community with witness and support.  We remember that we are not alone and are inspired to do our work with diligence, consistency, and care.  We take our work to the next level in a circle of women showing up week after week, month after month for ourselves and for each other.

My Acceptance Circle will begin an *in person* option beginning in April and the ongoing *virtual* Acceptance Circle will open to new women in June!  These circles meet bi-monthly and offer a life-changing coaching program (all online) and each participant works 1:1 with me.  A truly transformational empowering 6 months!

 **Picture is nourishment from our annual Ground in Expansion: Mid- Summer Women’s Wellness Retreat! Nourishment for all of YOU. Registration is OPEN!