8 Ways to Nourish Your Self

Never give from the depths of your well, but from your overflow.

– Rumi

Story

What are you actually hungry for? This is how I open my high school class on Mindful Nourishment. We dive into exploring what we really need in this world. It’s not just a critical inquiry for 17-year-olds. We’re all susceptible to numbing out when we’re overwhelmed and so busy that we’re missing the time to integrate our experience. I want everyone to have the space to pause and ask, “Do I need this glass of _____ or is there a deeper need?”

We live in a culture of never enough - never enough time, never enough beauty, never enough money, never enough achievement, never enough of the person we might become….it’s exhausting and our economic dependency makes it a marketing goldmine. Between a 24/7 contact culture and the endless ways we can numb out, it can become easy to confuse a hunger pain for food and a hunger pain for connection. What if we were all super clear on what we need and how to meet that need?

When we mindfully nourish we pause and assess how to best fuel our energy and meet the actual need. When we skip an awareness process, we are more likely to make a decision from a reactive place. This means we may not get our needs met, or could even hurt ourselves by reacting from our pain, rather than our wholeness. 

There are 8 evidence-based ways to nourish our whole Self that I regularly teach.  The 4 Internal are ways we can support our wellbeing system, and the 4 External are ways we can connect with our people, environment. I’ve included the chart we use in class to explore our needs. Stop at least once a day and ask if you need any of these practices.

Concept

Mindful Nourishment means to support our whole self with the appropriate fuel for our lives. Often we only think of food for nourishment, but we consume many energies in our day. How we nourish ourselves directly connects to the quality of our lives, our ability to perform, our ability to connect, and our relationship to ourselves. 

Practice

Mindfulness:

Set a timer for 3 to 5 minutes.  Sit comfortably and breathe in a way that feels nourishing to your body. 

Place one hand on your heart and ask one of the questions below.

In this moment, what do I need?

How do I nourish myself when I feel disconnected?

How do I nourish myself when I feel connected?

Daily Orienting Question:

Is this bringing me vitality or draining me?

In honor of back to school, and just a helpful frame for all of us, read along How Full is Your Bucket.