Nourish Your Body … and Your Soul ✨

It’s August, and our new theme this month is “Your Body Is a Temple.” When you treat your body like a temple, with the respect and reverence it deserves, the benefits can be great – increased life expectancy, fewer health issues, improved mental health, and greater vitality, to name a few. Of course, those are exactly the types of outcomes that we want to achieve through our focus on self-care.

Much of the time, our discussions on self-care focus on topics related to the nourishment of our soul, but nourishing our body is also important, and that’s our topic for this week. Our physical health has a strong impact on our mental and emotional health, and proper nourishment can help us maintain our energy level, keep our mind and memory sharp, improve our mood, and make it easier to tackle the challenges that come our way.

When it comes to physical nourishment, there are many positive changes we can make in our daily routines that can benefit our physical and mental health. These include eating at regular times during the day; limiting refined sugars and processed foods; eating more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables; including healthy proteins in every meal; drinking plenty of fluids, especially water; eating the “rainbow” (the more color on your plate, the more high-nutrition items you have chosen); limiting caffeine and alcohol intake; and getting some sort of physical exercise every day.

But I like to think about things other than food that provide energy and health to the body. Nourishing the body involves much more than just healthy eating. We also get nourishment from movement and exercise … from our connections with others … from spending time in nature … from creative expression … from rest, rejuvenation, and sleep … and from many other activities and pursuits that provide fulfillment for our mind, body, and soul.

In other words, we can nourish our bodies by doing whatever it is that fills our souls. Our souls need a healthy diet, too.

And when you prioritize nourishment, both for your body and your soul, you set the groundwork for better self-care, resulting in higher energy, a more positive outlook, stronger relationships, and even reduced pain and illness.

YOU are worth this effort! Treat it as a gift to yourself. And when your physical, emotional, and cognitive health are good, these are also gifts to the people you love.