Nurturing Ourselves November 16, 2008
Posted by bodhidude in : Healing, Psychology, Spirituality , trackbackI was spending time with a friend this evening and we were talking about nurturing ourselves and it occurred to me that nurturing myself has become a core practice. It seems that so often discontent and suffering comes from seeking to be nurtured from an external source rather than an internal one. Not that other people, things and situations cannot be nurturing but they really aren’t that satisfying if we aren’t first nurturing ourselves. So what do I mean by nurturing? I guess I mean taking responsibility for my own happiness, peace and well being and doing things to cultivate that in my life. Seeing that ultimately these things comes from within, others can share them and reflect them but cannot give them to us if we are not in touch with them in ourselves. In fact if we are not nurturing ourselves then we may seek it from others which makes our relationships problematic because we’re seeking things from people that they cannot give us and seeing them through the filter of our needs. That results in not being able to be in relationship with them fully as individuals and is quite unfulfilling.
I find that nurturing is a good way to look at each moment because in each moment I can ask myself the question, am I nurturing myself in this moment? Is what I’m doing right now serving my highest good. If I’m not I then have the opportunity to look at what I’m doing and refocus my attention in a new direction. It brings up the question of if anything in our lives does not nurture us why do we make it a part of our life. If my job does not bring me happiness, peace and well-being why am I there? Do I really need to be in a job that doesn’t. If a relationship doesn’t nurture me why am I in it? What am I getting out of such a relationship and what am I offering to the other person? I think if we nurture ourselves then we will draw in jobs, relationships, living situations and other things that nurture us because those external things will reflect what we are already doing for ourselves internally. This goes along with the idea that if you want to create something externally you must first make it a reality inside. The external world reflects the internal.
I was talking to my client today about keeping things really simple in working with our minds and I realized that nurturing ourselves is ultimately very simple because to do so all we really have to do is stop and become present, enter the now and touch the fullness, beauty and power of LIFE and we will realize that we’ve never been anything but nurtured. So maybe you could say its more like remembering our true nurtured self. I’m loving the simplicity.
Comments»
I am trying to Nurture myself, and beyond meditation and present thinking, Yoga, organic foods. What can I do to nurture myself and stay on a healthy, happy path? I need specifics. I guess this is a personal thing specific to each person. Not into candles and baths anymore, exercise is good. I always seem to do well for a while then I fall back into old patterns. I am going to a fear workshop tonight. I guess I will have to look inside…..
Thanks for the post.
Hey Kathy
Thanks for the comment. I think you hit the nail on the head at the end of your comment…..”look inside”. Look inside with acceptance for what you find there, with compassion for what you find there. Allow both the pleasant and the unpleasant, say yes to life in every moment just as it is. To live fully in the present moment with total acceptance is to be completely in touch with the power of life…..completely nurtured………..not always easy or pleasant to be sure but very much worthwhile if you ask me……
peace