We usually only think of nutrients in terms of tangible elements contained in food. However, we can be deeply nourished with nutrients that have a huge impact on our physical bodies even though they are not physical.
No matter what your health goals are, the following 8 nutrients are absolutely essential for balanced health and a rich and happy life.
These nutrients are essential in that we need them if we want to thrive. Yes, we can live without them but we cannot be our best without paying attention to each and every one of them.
And I believe that when you see the following nutrients you will think, “Oh yes, those ARE nutrients for my body!” So maybe you did know after all?
I admit to borrowing this list of nutrients from a wonderful little book called “The Slow Down Diet” by Marc David. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in mindful eating or just overall being healthy.
These wonderful, magical 8 nutrients are:
- Love
- Faith
- Courage
- Compassion
- Forgiveness
- Truth
- Commitment
- Surrender
And below I suggest some ways how they can relate to mindful and nutritious eating and living. But of course each person will have their own interpretation of the value of each of these, and how they might benefit from some introspection into each of these areas to see where some “supplementation” might be helpful.
Love
Self-love is of paramount importance when it comes to taking the time, effort, and money to care for your one and only physical body. The more you lavish yourself with love and appreciation, the more inclined you will be to make those sacrifices for your own sweet benefit.
Faith
Sometimes we can’t muster faith in ourselves. We may look to the past to determine how we will behave in the future. We may feel that so many things are out of our control. However, faith in ourselves and faith in our ability to change and be better are crucial elements for taking care of ourselves. If you have goals for your health, you must have faith you can achieve those goals. If you don’t then I suggest you “fake it till you make it.”
Courage
Frankly it takes a lot of courage to say out loud that you love yourself. It takes courage to be that person that is prioritizing your health in a crowd of people that don’t seem to care. It takes courage to move beyond past failures and doubts.
Compassion
If you are not nice to yourself, who will be? Why not give yourself the same love and compassion you give to your dog or some stranger on Kickstarter. Compassion opens doors to surrender, love, faith, forgiveness, and courage.
Forgiveness
If you could just forgive yourself, like for real, you could move on from so many past transgressions and failures. The amazing thing about this is that when you do that, you open the door to change. You also open the door to courage; courage to yet again try something you have previously failed at. And this opens the door to faith. Oh boy, this is good stuff!!
Truth
What is your truth? Is your truth that you want to be different from how you are now? Is your truth that you don’t believe you can be different? Is your truth that you don’t feel you are worth it? No way! Those are just stories. Tell the story you want to hear and make it your truth. Your truth is what you deem it to be. And no outside person can tell you differently (as long as you don’t let them). Be true to who you are but remember that who you are is who you say you are. Say it out loud and make it your truth. Tell the story you want to hear.
Commitment
Commitment means that you are willing to go the extra mile. Commitment is about doing what you set out to do even when it’s hard. I do believe that commitment is a muscle that we can strengthen with practice, BUT only when we are clear on our “why”. Find your “why” and you will find your commitment. No matter your health goal, if you dig deep enough you will find there is a strong reason why you want to reach that goal. That is your “why”. Find it and then start flexing your commitment muscles.
Surrender
Ah….surrender. Sometimes this is the hardest nutrient to find. And it is especially important for those of us that want to be in control at all times. To surrender to “what is” means to allow and accept what comes to you without always trying to control and manage things. The beauty of surrender is that it opens you up to anything. Whether you believe in god or the universe, destiny or Karma (or all of the above), with each of those beliefs there is an inherent “letting go” to a higher power. If you don’t believe in any of those things then you might say, “it is what it is”. This is one of my favorite quotes. No matter your belief, it is incredibly freeing to just allow things to be as they are. When you fight against what comes at you, it only seems to come harder. When you allow and accept what is coming, you magically open up to solutions, answers, and previously undetected paths. Try it and see.
All of these nutrients are absolutely vital for physical health. Your physical body is not separate from your emotional world. Mind both and you will be well on your way to true health.
I suggest journaling about each of these nutrients.
Where are you on each of these? Go explore.
