Is Nourishment Bigger Than Your Plate?

If nourishment is only our plate, what feeds us when the plate is empty? Food for thought.

I've spent nine years focused on food as my whole nourishment. And while I eat whole foods, food is not the whole of nourishment. Not even close.

If you're a regular BEauty and read my newsletters, you already know where I stand on nutrition and Mindful Mouthfuls. We are, as in me and you, my dear BEauties, on the same page, or shall I say the same plate. So let's talk about the importance of BEing nourished in every other area of your life.

One of the BEautiful things about BEing in midlife is that the Universe steps in and puts a magnifying glass on every aspect of your life, to see which parts are bringing fulfillment and which parts are depriving you. Hard truths. Uncomfortable realizations.

When we look at our relationships, the work we do in the world, how we move our bodies, and how we feed ourselves mentally, spiritually, and through self-care, are we feeling nourished or mal-nourished?

Our sweet, BEautiful bodies. Some days we love it, some days we are frustrated with it, and other days we just want to hide it. Are we getting fulfillment with how we are moving it, are we depleting it dry after a workout, adding necessary ingredients to pump it up and make it feel alive, or are we resting it like a warm piece of meat so that it can be in optimal condition for the next thing? There is no one answer. There is only the answer that's fulfilling to you.

However, when it comes to movement, I used to think that I only got the good stuff, the dessert if you will, if I pushed it to the extremes with intense workouts and very little fuel. Nourishment? No. That was just subsistence. Now, nourishing movement to me is pushing my body to perform not out of efforting, but BEcause it fills me up. BE that weights or walking, cycling or yoga, it's done with excitement and anticipation, not for earning and punishment.

Nourishment is also related to our own spiritual and mental growth. For me, that's journaling and manifestation work, both of which are non-negotiables for me in the morning, along with an early walk. If my day doesn't begin with these, my energy is off all day. Does it leave you famished? How are you taking time to nourish your mind and soul? It's such a key part of a nourishing life and so often we push it aside to focus on all the "to-do's." Think about if you fill your own cup first, how much you'd have to fill the other cups xxxx

When I'm connecting with others, the conversation inevitably leads to the work that we are doing. Some are happy and feel completely on purpose with the work they're putting out in the world. Some feel deeply dissatisfied and want to change. It seems that weekly, I hear about more friends who have shut down their businesses, changed jobs, started working again, or had a complete career flip. And it always comes back to: am I feeling fulfilled and lit up by the work that I'm putting out into this world? Do I feel proud of what I do? Do I feel nourished in those late nights or early mornings when work is calling?

I can tell you that, as a business owner, that answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. It's a thread that I continue to pull and sew into different fabrics to see how I can get it right to fit me. I know that there are days where I feel deeply nourished by the work that I do and that it feels like something bigger than me is pulling me forward. There are days in which I am starved for more. Maybe it's all about balancing our plate, but maybe it's about putting all the different ingredients on top of the plate that are consistently going to nourish you and keep you satisfied.

And finally, this is the area that I think I've seen the most ego deaths with during mid-life, and that's relationships. Spouses, partnerships, business partnerships, friendships, family dynamics, all shifting into more nourishing forms of relating or, peacefully and also not-so-peacefully, dissolving. Who we spend time with and how they fill us, challenge us, deepen us, it either nourishes our soul, or it depletes all our energy and resources. It either has all the juice, aliveness, silliness, all the depth, or it feels flat, strained and surface-level.

Sometimes it's the people who make you laugh and giggle, and that is deeply nourishing.

Sometimes it's the ones you have the deep conversations with.

Sometimes it's the ones who consistently have you upleveling.

Sometimes it's the ones that make you really question parts of yourself that you know you need to heal.

But it always has to be a relationship that brings you closer and closer to yourself.

Here's how I'll leave you BEauties. We are given one life. Your plate can be infinitely full. There's no limit to how large and nourishing it can be. But equally, like everything in life there's polarity, it can also be very very empty, leaving you deeply under-nourished. Take a nourishment review and ask yourself what areas in life are leaving you deeply satiated and which ones are starved.

BE Well, 

Jen xxx