Nourishment
The things I really need are simpler than I thought
I often think of the not-so-invisible pressure to have all my affairs in order by midnight. The fun outings that need to be scheduled, the work stuff I took home and didn’t complete, the fact that I haven’t washed my hair in many days.
Lately, though, I have yielded a sword against the incessant lists in my head, and that word is nourishment. That word alone acts like a candle in a dim room; it is an anchor that reminds me to listen to my body and my spirit for what I truly need.
Sometimes what I need is simple. It can be a glass of water I keep pushing off because I am in the middle of attempting to fold all the laundry in one sitting. Sometimes, it is five minutes on the mat repeating a mantra I love, the one that scans the chakras of my body.
Image by Joanna Kosinska - Unsplash
“El cuerpo pide lo que necesita” my abuelita used to tell me. The body asks for what it needs. My grandma was talking about cravings that time, but I also relate it to simple daily sustenance- air, water, nutritional food and rest.
A few weeks ago I was reading the Sunday paper and an 1interview with the former president of Uruguay stood out to me, particularly this line:
“You are free when you escape the law of necessity- when you spend the time of your life on what you desire… Humans can create infinite needs.”
- Jose Mujica
I sat with the words, “infinite needs”, and I understood them as this: all the things that do not nourish me in the moment but are disguised as things I can’t live without. Admittedly, it is hard to pull from my subconscious what these things are but let’s just say that my house does not need to be clean at all hours, my ego does not need to replay certain scenes from my work day, and I don’t need to add another ten things on my to do list.
The mind needs not to be fed all the time, every thought does not need an immediate action. The body, on the other hand, it is in constant need of air, and the more we pay mind to this need and the deeper we breathe, the more we can calm an anxious heart.
The distractions of what was and what awaits, keeps me out of the present state of what is. Nourishment brings me to the present, by begging me to step inside my body and listen to it. It happens that after I respond to basic needs for sustenance and even connection with others (the sort of emotional nutrition that hugs bring for me), that I find myself in the mood to engage with my keyboard and write.
We don’t need to create “infinite needs” implored Mujica, an armchair philosopher himself. This realization, readers, is indeed freeing.
What does your body need at this moment?
Can you stop and give it your attention?
Through the writing of this blog I continue to learn about myself and to challenge myself with inward contemplation. If my sharing resonate with you, please subscribe, comment or share. I will end with a reminder to take what you like and leave the rest. Thank you for being here.
This sparked my realisation that our true needs and desires are felt by, and come from the body, and any "needs" communicated to us by the mind are, in a way, ego-driven compulsions disguised as needs. It reminded me of this quote by the Zen teacher Taisen Deshimaru - "Think with your whole body", which is an idea that inspires both my mentoring work and my writing, and that I've been contemplating again recently. Thank you, Helen, for always getting the most profound thoughts to really land for me through your words and reflections! <3
“The mind needs not to be fed all the time, every thought does not need an immediate action. The body, on the other hand, it is in constant need of air.”
This spoke to me especially. I read this post earlier this morning and throughout the day I kept coming back to this whenever I wanted to reach for my phone. The mind is over-fed to our detriment, I think.
Thank you for sharing 💕 Your posts have a way of lingering in my mind days after I read them.