Nourishing Nurture

Nourishing Nurture

You can’t fill a glass from an empty pitcher, or so the saying goes. We have a lot of nourishing to do, too. We have our physical bodies, our emotional bodies, our mental bodies, and our spirit bodies. Each of them needs nourishment, of some sort or another. When we neglect ourselves, we throw ourselves out of balance. Our judgment gets weird, our emotions get weird, and crazy stuff seems normal.

Danger ahead.

Crazy stuff seems normal.

That is a hugely important thing to remember. Crazy stuff isn’t normal.

Indulging in negative fantasies isn’t nourishing. That means anxious thoughts, which are negative fantasies about the future, worry, guilt, which is often negative fantasies about the past, fearful thoughts, angry thoughts, these are damaging stuff. And we start to believe them, and base our actions and behaviors on them. Uh oh.

Crazy stuff seems normal.

Starving or binging isn’t nourishing. Trying to correct our bodies through ferocious exercise, or lying on the couch watching TV for hours isn’t nourishing. Depriving ourselves of wholesome rest isn’t nourishing. We start to think that feeling exhausted is normal, we begin to think that aches and pains are normal. We call it “aging” and think it’s normal.

Why would I feel good?

Our minds and spirits crave stimulation and challenge, and not just the challenge of how to get five hours of work done in three and a half. We need to be learning new stuff, we need to have time to contemplate the stuff we’ve learned, we need time to just be, to look at something beautiful, to consider the big questions.

Why do I enjoy down time?

We hear warnings all the time about how we need to spend more time taking care of other people, more time thinking about other people, less time thinking about ourselves.

Well, that’s true to a point. If I am stuck in a place where I am so absorbed by my misery, getting out and helping other people can be a godsend.

But if I am a caregiver already, that advice is crazy. And it can feed into a feeling that many of us have of not feeling good enough, or worthy, or deserving.  

Why am I good enough? Why am I worthy? Why do I deserve balance in my life?

How would a feast for our spirits look? How about a feast for our minds? What would a feast for our emotions feel like? Why do I like to feast?

How have I changed from thinking imbalance is normal to always feeling sustained?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 08212013