NOURISHMENT
Hello everyone and welcome to my twenty first blog. Thanks so much for all the positive feedback.
Whew! Another week and last night’s address by our President announcing the easing of lockdown, with the government following a five level phased approach.
The initial euphoria has disappeared completely, and I have felt grumpy over the last day or so.
This led me to the subject of this week’s blog. Now is so the time that we need to take care of ourselves, to be kind to ourselves and to nourish ourselves, in all the ways that we can, as often as we can and as magnificently as we can. The word nourish means so much. To nourish is to sustain with food or nutrient and to supply what is necessary for life, health, and growth, to cherish, foster, strengthen, keep alive, and build up.
I love all these definitions because to me they cover all aspects of this magical word. It is not just about the food that we eat, it’s also about our minds and our souls, the other parts of our being that need to be nourished equally and all together. When our minds, bodies and souls are in harmony, the result is balance in its purest form. Let’s give this a bash. Again, we have nothing to lose, and so much to gain.
So how can we nourish all aspects of our being?
Let us take a look at our amazing bodies. Firstly, our bodies are made up of fifty trillion cells. An enormous number to try to envisage. So, think of this. If we were to save one rand a second, it would take us twelve days to save one million rand. In thirty two years we would have saved one billion rand, but to save one trillion rand, it would take us thirty two thousand years. That is only one fiftieth the number of cells in our amazing bodies. The mind boggles at this gargantuan number!
These fifty trillion cells, which look like tiny circles, all work together and chat to each other and exchange info with each other. These cells do not live forever and are in a constant state of replication, repair, and death. Some quicker and some slower than others. In order for these cells to remain healthy, they need to be getting plenty of nutrients (quantity) and all the different nutrients (quality) from the food that we eat.
Every second there are billions of biochemical reactions taking place between these trillions of cells in our bodies and their optimal functioning depends hugely on our food intake.
To illustrate how this all works, let us use the example of vitamin C. Vitamin C is needed for so much but we are just going to chat about just two of its functions, (1) it is needed for the reaction that creates serotonin and (2) it acts as a powerful anti-histamine.
So, what happens if we are feeling anxious and overwhelmed, and at the same time the pollens have just come out and are stimulating our sinuses towards hay fever? If we are not getting enough vitamin C in our diet, the body will build up the anti-histamine but not create the serotonin. Our body will prioritize the hay fever story, but we will remain anxious and overwhelmed. No beautiful balance there. So, you see how easily the lack of one nutrient can impact our overall health hugely.
We really do need to understand that the way we feed ourselves is the most basic, most fundamental way in which we demonstrate care and love for ourselves. Come on, friends, go eat those macros (protein, carbs, and healthy fats), lose the sugar and processed stuff, eat those dark leafy green veggies, and loads of that water.
What about the other aspects of complete nourishment, our mind, and our soul? Our mind is our faculty of thinking and reasoning, while our soul is our spiritual nature. For the purposes of this blog, I will consider them an entity.
How can we nourish these to ensure that we have a glorious, happy, and healthy future?
- If it is possible, and most things are, do what you love and love what you do. If your career is your passion and your passion is your career, then your mind and soul will be well fed.
- Surround yourself with positive supportive people, those who encourage you to strive towards fulfilling your goals and who share in the joy of your accomplishments.
- Listen to your body. If your intuition tells you something does not feel right, it is not. You know what is best for you. Be observant of the subtle changes in your body.
- Tweak that morning routine and let it be nurturing. Meditate and breathe deeply. Get some fresh air and vitamin D. Walk outside, look at the sky, smell the roses, and feel the sun on your face.
- Laugh, another one worth repeating. I laugh all the time. I make a corny joke, my boys look at me strangely and that makes me laugh, and then they just shake their heads and I laugh some more. Eventually, I am guffawing. I love it and it is such a release.
- Start a positive journal and write in it daily, even a few words, about yourself, your life, anything. Maybe use this as a time for self-reflection, too.
- Look in the mirror and say, I love you. Seriously look into your own eyes and do this. I do. However, I have this thing at the moment that I have never noticed before. My left eye opens more than my right. So, I end up looking into my eyes saying” I love you, but please just open your frigging left eye!” Oh dearie me.
- Move because you love your body. Not because you have to, but because of those trillions of magnificent cells. Relish the movement and imagine all those little happy biochemical pathways, celebrating and rejoicing.
- Boost your creativity, take a personal development course, or acquire new skills.
- Put the kettle on and make a cup of tea. Just that sound is such a homely and comforting one for me. If tea or coffee is not your thing, add some lemon to the hot water and drink that. It’s very soothing.
- Connect with a power greater than yourself. This could be your inner voice, God, or another higher power. This will give you something to belong to which will make you feel connected and give you strength.
- Make a vision board, I know it sounds a bit woo! Woo! but it can be fun. Get an old printed magazine and start cutting out things that appeal to you. It could be an object, a place, a mood, or a vibe. Do not stop and ask why, just cut it out. Then go through your cuttings and make a collage of the ones that really speak to you. When done put it someplace that you can see it often and watch what happens.
I really hope that some of this may resonate with you.
Wishing you all a safe and healthy weekend and a nourished mind, body, and soul.
United we are strong.
My twentieth tip.
Think about, and then write down one positive thing (or more) that has come out of this very trying, very worrying and often quite scary time of lockdown. Reflect on what you have written and try to keep that in your mind going forward.
NOURISHMENT
Hello everyone and welcome to my twenty-first blog. Thanks so much for all the positive feedback.
Whew! Another week and last night’s address by our President announcing the easing of lockdown, with the government following a five-level phased approach.
The initial euphoria has disappeared completely, and I have felt grumpy over the last day or so.
This led me to the subject of this week’s blog. Now is so the time that we need to take care of ourselves, to be kind to ourselves and to nourish ourselves, in all the ways that we can, as often as we can and as magnificently as we can. The word nourish means so much. To nourish is to sustain with food or nutrient and to supply what is necessary for life, health, and growth, to cherish, foster, strengthen, keep alive, and build up.
I love all these definitions because to me they cover all aspects of this magical word. It is not just about the food that we eat, it’s also about our minds and our souls, the other parts of our being that need to be nourished equally and all together. When our minds, bodies and souls are in harmony, the result is balance in its purest form. Let’s give this a bash. Again, we have nothing to lose, and so much to gain.
So how can we nourish all aspects of our being?
Let us take a look at our amazing bodies. Firstly, our bodies are made up of fifty trillion cells. An enormous number to try to envisage. So, think of this. If we were to save one rand a second, it would take us twelve days to save one million rand. In thirty-two years we would have saved one billion rand, but to save one trillion rand, it would take us thirty-two thousand years. That is only one-fiftieth the number of cells in our amazing bodies. The mind boggles at this gargantuan number!
These fifty trillion cells, which look like tiny circles, all work together and chat to each other and exchange info with each other. These cells do not live forever and are in a constant state of replication, repair, and death. Some quicker and some slower than others. In order for these cells to remain healthy, they need to be getting plenty of nutrients (quantity) and all the different nutrients (quality) from the food that we eat.
Every second there are billions of biochemical reactions taking place between these trillions of cells in our bodies and their optimal functioning depends hugely on our food intake.
To illustrate how this all works, let us use the example of vitamin C. Vitamin C is needed for so much but we are just going to chat about just two of its functions, (1) it is needed for the reaction that creates serotonin and (2) it acts as a powerful anti-histamine.
So, what happens if we are feeling anxious and overwhelmed, and at the same time the pollens have just come out and are stimulating our sinuses towards hay fever? If we are not getting enough vitamin C in our diet, the body will build up the anti-histamine but not create the serotonin. Our body will prioritize the hay fever story, but we will remain anxious and overwhelmed. No beautiful balance there. So, you see how easily the lack of one nutrient can impact our overall health hugely.
We really do need to understand that the way we feed ourselves is the most basic, most fundamental way in which we demonstrate care and love for ourselves.
Come on, friends, go eat those macros (protein, carbs, and healthy fats), lose the sugar and processed stuff, eat those dark leafy green veggies, and loads of that water.
What about the other aspects of complete nourishment, our mind, and our soul?
Our mind is our faculty of thinking and reasoning, while our soul is our spiritual nature. For the purposes of this blog, I will consider them an entity.
How can we nourish these to ensure that we have a glorious, happy, and healthy future?
- If it is possible, and most things are, do what you love and love what you do. If your career is your passion and your passion is your career, then your mind and soul will be well fed.
- Surround yourself with positive supportive people, those who encourage you to strive towards fulfilling your goals and who share in the joy of your accomplishments.
- Listen to your body. If your intuition tells you something does not feel right, it is not. You know what is best for you. Be observant of the subtle changes in your body.
- Tweak that morning routine and let it be nurturing. Meditate and breathe deeply. Get some fresh air and vitamin D. Walk outside, look at the sky, smell the roses, and feel the sun on your face.
- Laugh, another one worth repeating. I laugh all the time. I make a corny joke, my boys look at me strangely and that makes me laugh, and then they just shake their heads and I laugh some more. Eventually, I am guffawing. I love it and it is such a release.
- Start a positive journal and write in it daily, even a few words, about yourself, your life, anything. Maybe use this as a time for self-reflection, too.
- Look in the mirror and say, I love you. Seriously look into your own eyes and do this. I do. However, I have this thing at the moment that I have never noticed before. My left eye opens more than my right. So, I end up looking into my eyes saying” I love you, but please just open your frigging left eye!” Oh dearie me.
- Move because you love your body. Not because you have to, but because of those trillions of magnificent cells. Relish the movement and imagine all those little happy biochemical pathways, celebrating and rejoicing.
- Boost your creativity, take a personal development course, or acquire new skills.
- Put the kettle on and make a cup of tea. Just that sound is such a homely and comforting one for me. If tea or coffee is not your thing, add some lemon to the hot water and drink that. It’s very soothing.
- Connect with a power greater than yourself. This could be your inner voice, God, or another higher power. This will give you something to belong to which will make you feel connected and give you strength.
- Make a vision board, I know it sounds a bit woo! Woo! but it can be fun. Get an old printed magazine and start cutting out things that appeal to you. It could be an object, a place, a mood, or a vibe. Do not stop and ask why, just cut it out. Then go through your cuttings and make a collage of the ones that really speak to you. When done put it someplace that you can see it often and watch what happens.
I really hope that some of this may resonate with you.
Wishing you all a safe and healthy weekend.
United we are strong.
My twentieth tip.
Think about, and then write down one positive thing (or more) that has come out of this very trying, very worrying, and often quite scary time of lockdown. Reflect on what you have written and try to keep that in your mind going forward.