Nourish Your Soul

Nourish- to feed or sustain with substances necessary for life or growth; to promote growth; to maintain or support; to nurture.

Soul- the immaterial essence, animating principle or actuating cause of an individual; the spiritual principle embodied in human beings, all rational and spiritual beings or the universe; a person’s total self.

The holistic health field abounds with articles and books all teaching a variety of ways to nurture our souls. What exactly does all this mean and why is so important?

The soul being the very essence of whom and what we are is our life force and therefore it needs food on a regular basis to sustain us and prevent us from becoming stagnant and unfulfilled with life.

So what is nourishing to the soul? The things that make you feel whole, alive, and one with the universe (or God) is your soul food. This will vary from individual to individual, as our souls are very unique and complex, although many of us have some commonalities. Some common sources of soul food are nature, music, dancing, deep relationships, meditation, walking, prayer and many more.

My most important source of soul food is nature and time with my son. Doing things like spending time by the lake, taking walks, country rides, admiring the cloud formations, feeding and watching the birds, feeding a stray cat, gazing at the stars and moon and spending time with my son is what is most nourishing me. Nature is my lifeline. It rejuvenates me and helps me to go on. It makes me feel alive, full of life and connected to the universe. There is nothing more nourishing to me than spending a day on a blanket by my favorite lake and being intimate with nature, especially on a warm fall day when the leaves are bursting with color. Spending it with someone I love and engaging in deep conversation is even better. Writing, reading, certain types of music and singing along, dancing, deep relationships and prayer also nurture me.

You can discover your soul food by listening to the yearnings of your soul, by being still and tuning into your deepest voice within. Your soul will guide you to what it needs. Don’t ignore it and don’t put it off. Once you learn what you need, nourish it on a regular basis. If you neglect your soul then it becomes hungry and searches for food in the wrong places, which is destructive to your life and zaps you of your life sustaining energy.

After years and years of neglect one becomes disconnected from their soul and gets lost. Our world is sadly full of people who neglect their souls and the consequences of this are seen all around us in the level of addictions, violence, crime, depression, suicide, lack of compassion and respect for one another, divorce and destruction of our planet exhibited in our society. Our culture has not been very good at teaching us how to avoid this, perhaps because we were unaware for a long period of time, but slowly this is changing one by one.

Don’t neglect your soul! Listen to it, nourish it, and feed it everyday. It is as important as feeding your hungry stomach. If you have neglected your soul, it is never too late to start again. The soul has an amazing ability to recover and flourish in splendor once again.