Happy November.
I can’t believe we only have two months left in year 2022! 🤯
This month I want to focus on wholeness. So, over the next four weeks, I’m going to share from my heart what these four practices/postures/disciplines/rhythms mean to me.
1. A nourished body (care)
2. A renewed mind (clarity)
3. An awakened heart (courage)
4. A purified/realigned soul (compassion)
Let’s begin.
For the past two months, I have been focusing more intentionally on nourishing the body. You know the saying “junk in junk out”? Well the older I get, the less energy I seem to have. And so, I’m relearning that what we put inside our body has a lot to do with the output produced by our bodies.
I think I mentioned in September that I was going to go on a food journey. It was called
30 days to Healthy Living by Arbonne. Every day, I started with a detox tea, a pea protein smoothie, and a scoop of greens, collagen and gut health yippee. It’s amazing how different you feel when you give your body the proper fuel to activate it. I have been cooking more with rice, beans, proteins and veggies. The kids are eating it as well, and it actually seems like they are less moody.
Being a good steward of our vessel is biblical:
No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.
-Luke 11:33-36 NKJV
I am learning that our skin’s brightness and texture has a direct correlation to our gut health. Have you ever been talking to someone and it’s almost like they have a shadow over them? As the verse above mentions, the lamp of the body is the eye. If our eyes are consuming too much of things that have no life in them (such as junk food, drugs, alcohol, social media, movies, and even porn, if we are really going to go there today), the light within starts to dim. However, eating cleaner, taking walks to pray, exercising, making time to breathe deep, and limiting TV time will not only give light back into your face, but give time back into your day. PREACH! I have noticed that with just two minutes of deep breathing it can change my mood and give me back clarity to finish my day too. 😀
What does nourish mean? Google says….
1. provide with the food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition.
2. keep (a feeling or belief) in one's mind, typically for a long time.
How do we get through the storms of this life?
I asked myself this question, and this was my response: By creating a blueprint that helps one lean into the storms with intention/conviction and courage to not only survive it but to take that storms energy as momentum and ride it on through to the other side.
I hope this original quote resonates with you.
Part one of this blueprint is body work, for taking care of our vessel is critical to being able to weather the storms that are ahead. If you have nourishing practices set in your schedule every day, then when the going gets tough, the old vices are not able to be resurrected as coping mechanisms, which is our common sabotage tendencies. Body care is hard work, and it takes a determined mind to awaken and rejuvenate the soul. So, please take care of your heart, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Let’s be a people who not only speak life, but eat live foods too.
Let’s end with a little melody.
This Little Light of Mine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.T his little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, oh let it shine.
Ev'rywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine. Ev'rywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine. Ev'rywhere I go,I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, oh let it shine.
Jesus gave it to me, I'm gonna let it shine. Jesus gave it to me, I'm gonna let it shine. Jesus gave it to me, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, oh let it shine.
(Source: One in Faith #874)
I hope this song brings back a moment of remembrance that causes joy to erupt in your heart with reverence.
Stay tuned next week for the awakened mind!
Until next time,
Stay Tender
Connect to the Mender
Be a Sender
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