Discovering the benefits of a holistic approach to health and wellness can change your life.
Imagine feeling truly nourished and fulfilled, not just by the food on your plate, but by every aspect of your life.
What if your relationships, career, spiritual practices, and physical activities all contributed to a deeper sense of well-being?
This holistic approach to nourishment can transform how you live each day, and in this blog post I want to explore how you can cultivate this kind of balance and thrive, not just survive.
So, recently I had a conversation with a client about nourishment, and we touched on the idea that food is not our only source of nourishment (and why the Nourished Woman Collective is not just about food).
This concept can look at nourishment as Primary Foods and Secondary Foods - and in this post I want to explore Primary Foods with you.
I enjoy shopping at farmers markets or in a well-stocked fruity & vegetable section, I love preparing, cooking and sharing food with others. Food nourishes me in many ways, but if we only consider food as nourishment then we are missing out on the nourishment that comes from all of the other areas of our lives.
Primary Foods encompass:
Relationships
Career
Spiritual practice (whatever this means to you personally)
Physical activity
Hobbies and creativity
Personal development
Community
When any of these areas feel unfulfilled, it impacts our overall wellbeing.
It's essential to find what works for us individually and what we need within these areas to feel fulfilled and nourished.
The most profound growth often comes from self-reflection and understanding what these areas mean to us. This involves learning how to communicate with our partners, pursuing work or hobbies we are passionate about, cultivating soul-nourishing relationships, gathering in community with like-minded humans, having a self-care practice and ensuring we have time for ourselves regularly.
I had to go through my own journey to understand these concepts and apply them. When I was married I realised I was terrible at communicating. No one had taught me how to feel and process emotions, how to speak vulnerably and feel secure doing so.
When that relationship ended, and even before it had ended, I made it a mission to become better at communicating, identifying and addressing my needs. That took me down many uncomfortable paths, learning quantum language in NLP (neuro linguistic programming), how to reframe my thoughts and words to change my language towards how I wanted to feel or be felt.
I also took in another step further with somatic embodiment, and learning how to feel those subtle sensations in my body. If you had of told 16 year old me that this was where I would end up, she would never believe you.
I also would never have believed I would have a spiritual practice, although as a teen I did explore different religions out of curiosity, I wouldn't have expected that I would have cultivated a relationship with the Angels and had a spiritual view of humanity in the way I do now.
And this is a great example of exploring the Primary Foods - being open to learning what we enjoy, being opening to trying new things and being compassionate with ourselves as we begin to change from the old ways of thinking and behaving.
It really gets to be a simplified approach, and changing your focus to explore what inspires you, what makes you feel creative, what makes you feel calm, what fires you up and gives you energy or passion or purpose, and importantly, what grounds you when you feel heightened or overwhelmed by life.
Often I find that a walk outside, no phone or headphones, being present with nature and my breath is a great way to burn up some cortisol and feel more grounded and in my body. Maybe you have a meditation practice or a journal or a book, think about what works for you so you can remember to turn to these practices when you need them.
It's important to remove any need to strive for perfection. Life is a juggling act, balancing both Primary and Secondary Foods.
We need a balance of many things to thrive, but when you feel like life is taking you on a path that feels more like survival, the first thing I recommend is to double down on self-care! Baths, wholefoods, water, less caffeine, more sleep - you know the drill!
As you have been reading this, you might have identified areas in your life that need attention or that you want to give a little focus to, or maybe it has given you some food for thought on areas you haven't yet prioritised.
My recommendation is to start with one thing.
It can be exciting to add a whole bunch of new things to our list, but really by Wednesday we are just back to what we know we can do easily and the new stuff falls to the side, so choose just one area to focus on at a time.
And remember to create time to stop, reflect and assess how it makes you feel. We rush through life so often, and we don't even realise that something is creating a positive impact, so having a nightly (my recommendation to my clients is a nighttime reflection journal session), or at least weekly look at how life is going will make a huge difference and give you a chance to 'course-correct' or adjust as you go.
Lastly, remember that achieving true wellness goes beyond just diet and exercise. It involves nurturing all aspects of your life, from your relationships to your career and spiritual practices. Embracing a holistic approach to nourishment can significantly enhance your overall wellbeing and happiness. You can discover more on how you can integrate these principles into your life by joining us in the Nourished Woman Collective, where you'll find a supportive community and resources to help you thrive.
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