Nurturing your Body, Mind & Soul
Nurturing your body, mind and soul is imperative to living a life of alignment, empowerment, nourishment, abundance, joy and love. I believe that we need to look at our body and life as a whole and ensure we have the tools to help ourselves when we get a little off track.
Here are my top 5 ways that I nurture my body, mind and spirit. I hope these suggestions inspire you to nurture yourself.
My Top 5 tips on Nurturing your Body, Mind & Soul
1. Breathwork + Meditation
This has been a game-changer for me. I have dabbled with meditation before but diving deep into a breathwork practice and incorporating that with my mediation has been so powerful. By practising breathwork and meditation I can tap into my intuition, it brings me back into my physical body and the present as well as having an impact on our mental health and move us from being in a sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) to our parasympathetic nervous system (rest + digest).
Try sitting with your breath, guiding your breath into your belly, ribs and chest and then slowly exhaling out, gradually extending both your inhale and exhale. Sama Vritti Pranayama otherwise known as equal ratio breathing is perfect for beginners. Spending 5 minutes daily is enough to have a profound effect on you.
Sama Vritti Pranayama would look something like this:
Inhale 5 counts: Hold 5 counts: Exhale 5 Counts: Hold 5 counts and repeat.
If 5 counts are too much to start with, try 3 counts and gradually work your way up. The idea of this is to help increase your lung capacity with each hold. If you are new to breathwork and mediation the app ‘Insight Timer’ is wonderful. There are guided meditations you can follow or a simple timer so you can sit in silence.
I am working on recording my own breathwork and meditation audios very soon for you to enjoy. So watch this space.
2. Yoga
My favourite way of moving my body is through my yoga practice. There are so many different types of yoga and I have moved through many styles over the last 6 years of practising. Yoga helps connect me with my physical body and is like a moving meditation. And before you say “I’m not flexible enough for yoga” – You do not need to be, you just need an able body and an open mind.
Yoga is so beneficial for our physical body, building strength, reducing physical discomforts, boosting our immune system, digestive system and so much more.
My beautiful friend Steph Bartlett has kindly gifted me a code JANA2021 for you to use for her Online Yoga platform. This is perfect for beginners to the more experienced, and you can do this from anywhere, at any time! You can see Steph’s beautiful offerings via this link - https://www.stephbartlett.com/online-yoga-studio
3. Nourishing my body
Fueling my body with wholefoods is something that I love to do and knowing I am benefiting my body from the inside out and how good it makes me feel is the most important thing.
Eating wholefoods will provide you with the nutrients you need so that your digestion functions at its best, boosts your immune system, is also better for the environment, as we are reducing plastics & toxins.
Ensuring you get a variety of macronutrients (fats, proteins and carbohydrates) is a great place to start.
There are no one-size-fits-all when it comes to food and what is best for you, but what I will say is eating as close to nature as possible is a great place to start. If you are unsure reach out to a professional – Dietitian, Naturopath, Nutritionist or your GP to chat further about your nutrition.
4. Creating a morning or evening routine
Creating a ritual or routine that incorporates things that you can do to fill your cup up are vital. It means you are starting and ending your day with a positive intention.
I make my routines fluid, so each day may be different so that it doesn’t become mundane or just another thing to tick off my to-do list.
My routines look a little something like this:
Morning: Breathwork, Meditation, Journaling, Card pull, Coffee and a Nutritious Breakfast.
Evening: Yoga, Breathwork & Reading
I can guarantee that the time I have for my morning and evening routine, is just for me, a time to connect back in, even if the rest of my day doesn’t go as planned.
5. Connection
Connecting with like-minded people, who share similar interests, outlook, goals and finding connections that have you feeling filled to the brim is super important.
Reach out to someone with who you resonate and start a conversation – you never know where this may lead you. This may be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Connection to self is super important. It can build our self-trust, our self-worth, increase joy, compassion and have you operating from a place of love. Or spend time connecting with someone you haven’t for a while. Practise being present with them taking the time to listen and be. These small acts of connection help us build our empathy and kindness towards others.
Remember you are worthy, you are enough and you are deserving of all the dreams you desire.
Much love, Jana x