Imagine that you’re walking home from the market with a couple of bags full of fresh groceries, but unknown to you, the bags have holes in bottoms of them.

So you’re walking along quite happily, thinking about what you’ll cook with your spinach and pork chops (maybe pork chops with spinach?), blissfully unaware of the trail of things behind you.  When you get home you unpack what’s left and ask, ‘Didn’t I have more than this?‘

Nourishment is about plugging those holes in your life and making sure you have things in your life that keep you feeling nourished.

Why is nourishment so important?  Because you won’t be able play your best game unless you’re sufficiently nourished.  I’ve learned this first hand — many times over — and I’m currently prioritising my own nourishment over other activities because of my whole post viral thang.  The point is that you’re responsible for your life, and that means that it’s also your responsibility to make sure you’re okay during everything that happens in it.

That doesn’t mean that it’s easy, particularly when things are stupidly busy.  I’ve just started freelancing at an ad agency I was at last year, and it’s so crazily busy that I’m having to make some key decisions about what stays and what goes.  I’m going to bed at 10pm during the week to ensure I get 8 hours sleep, and if the stupid pace doesn’t slow next month I’m willing to make the choice to get outa there.

Even when things are crazy busy you have to make room for nourishment, because that’s when you need to be double sure that your reserve tank is topped up.

You can’t give away what you don’t have, and can’t spend energy you’ve already spent.

Taking care of yourself has to be a real priority, because everything you do to nourish yourself feeds your self-esteem and self-confidence, sending yourself the message that you’re good enough to take great care of.

Nourishment means that you’re connected to yourself and thinking purposefully, rather than spiralling around in the middle of everything.

Nourish Your Head
Nourish your head by keeping yourself challenged, by keeping yourself thinking, learning and growing.  Read books or blogs, take a class, learn or hone a skill, take on a big project or challenge yourself to understand something about yourself.

Nourish Your Heart
Nourish your heart by having things in your life that return you to what you love the most, things that make you smile from the inside and things that make you feel like you again.  Listen to your favourite music, spend time in the company of people you love, take an afternoon nap in your armchair, go for a walk through the park or write about something you love.

Nourish Your Body
Nourish your body by taking care of yourself physically. You’re a living, breathing, massively complex organism and your body needs the right things to keep going.  Neglect that and nothing else matters.  Hit the gym, take in a yoga class, get some extra sleep, have a healthy breakfast or take a walk during your lunch break.

What I’ve learned is that nourishment starts with recognising the fact that you’re important enough to spend time taking care of, and it ends with you feeling nourished and being primed to play at your best.  There’s no downside here.

You’re the only one of you there is, so it’s your responsibility to make sure you’re okay.

Sitting there, right now, how well nourished are you?