Nourish yourself.
“You gotta nourish, to flourish.”
What is nourish?
To live, be healthy, develop, grow stronger.
Let’s break this down.
To live is to exist and to remain alive. To be healthy is to have vigorous mentality and physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. To develop is to grow. To grow is to increase and change.
Why is nourishment important?
We are always so willing to give to everyone else, but the second we stop to give to ourselves we might feel things like guilt and shame. Isn’t this horrible? I don’t really understand why it’s like this, but what I do know is it makes us more susceptible to things like depression and anxiety. Statistically speaking, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 16.1 million adults have been diagnosed with major depression and 6.8 million adults have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety. Those numbers are high when you realize that America is made approximately of 325 million adults, per the United States Census Bureau. THIS is an example of why nourishing yourself is vital for well-being. It’s ok to be compassionate and giving, but have you heard of the expression “you can’t pour from an empty cup?”
How can I nourish myself?
One way is with self-care. While working with my clients, I assess the four areas of self-care (emotional, physical, spiritual and mental) to determine what they are already doing daily to help care for themselves and build from there. I would suggest you incorporate these four areas every day to ensure balance. For example, I journal to care for my emotional self, walk the dogs for physical, yoga and meditation for spiritual and work on this blog for mental. I like to think of self-care as a shield.
Let’s wrap it up…
- To nourish yourself would mean you find time daily to take care of all parts of yourself so you can exist. Doing so will allow you to flourish into your best self.
Live mindfully, hopeful and persevere.
Until next time!
Claudia Stanley, LMSW
Flourish with Hope 