This morning, as I was doing my regular Yoga with Adrienne Home practice, the nurture theme came up. It was exactly the theme I needed to concentrate on and share in this newsletter. I find the word nurture has such a loving vibration. The definition of nurture is “to care for and protect (someone or something) while they are growing.”
Usually, we nurture others: pets, plants, partners, etc., but we forget to nurture ourselves. We care for something or someone while they are growing, which is beautiful since we create a fertile ground for love to blossom. Yet the question remains: who is taking care of us while we grow? And here, I would like to change “growing” to mean “spiritually evolving,” and that is our Soul—our Higher Self, if we let it, of course.
Nurturing others is loving, but not nurturing yourself is harmful and depletes you. So let me ask you this: Are you nurturing yourself, or are you juggling too many balls, and trying to nurture everyone perfectly? Is it working? Probably not, because trying to do everything perfectly is exhausting and gives you no inner peace. Sometimes we don’t realize how much we’re caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, making it normal to keep on going without taking a breather or giving ourselves a break. This pattern of living from the will has become so ingrained that we do not know who we are if we are not pushing through or working hard at life. There is almost a sense of guilt when life flows easily without the struggle. Ease and flow are unknown to our system and so we choose for that what is familar.
We often demand so much from ourselves, pushing our limits, and it’s not just us who do this. Society fosters these unrealistic roles of women having to be beautiful, be perfect partners, maintain great careers, be doting wives, and be loving mothers, causing us to lose sight of our true selves. I find myself in this bind when I am trying too hard in life: Trying to give my puppy undevoted attention
(and trying to be very patient when he play bites me with his razor-sharp puppy teeth. My scratched-up nose has already fallen victim to him! ) and being present for my son, running a household and a business. And so I keep it all in until I break down and lash out in frustration at my son and my puppy. Finally, realizing I am not myself. Right here, the shift happens. and I can be open to my guidance again, which speaks through Yoga with Adrienne, “Oh, so that’s why I went off the rails again. my well is depleted . “
I gently acknowledge my lack of nurturing myself and put myself on the rails again with no judgment, no shame, no feelings of loss or failure. I am perfect the way I am, and I am allowed to lose it and not like my puppy in this very instant. Giving myself permission to be angry and frustrated opens me up for softness and my body to relax and be a mess.
So, if pushing ourselves by living from our will is not the way to go, why do we keep on doing this? Does it have to do with our need to compensate for our feelings of deep unworthiness.-Perhaps or that we equate life with suffering? which, by the way, is false programming. Why are we so prone to listening to our Ego and repeating our patterns? Because change takes time, and letting go of non-serving patterns is a process that does not have a deadline.
We are learning about balance, Balancing our hearts with our minds, balancing our divinity with our humanity. Yes, we are divine but we are also humans with raw emotions that need to be felt. So be kind to yourself, your emotions, and your frustrations, Allow them to be. Allow yourself to be a mess and then pick yourself up again, knowing this too shall pass and you are not doing anything wrong but expressing the shadow within you that is asking to be nurtured with love.
I leave you with Kaleo’s beautiful, nurturing voice:
