When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.
~ Jean Shinoda Bolen
What feeds your soul? What nourishes you without putting a single morsel in your mouth?
It’s interesting. I talk about feeding your soul all the time, but when it comes to
defining what that means, it is a bit tough. Although our human body needs food to survive and thrive, our soul—the essence of who we are—needs nothing of actual substance to nourish it. Instead, it is usually the immaterial that sustains us as we grow and evolve.
To me, feeding your soul means that we identify and engage with the things, people, and activities that enhance and supplement us from deep within—something that always makes our inner light shine more brightly. When we experience this nourishment, we are satiated without food and we feel satisfied in a way that no substance can provide.
In fact, when we over-indulge in something that doesn’t feed our soul we often become sick. Our body rebels.
When we feed our soul, we nourish ourselves in such a way that our need for other less satisfying or healthy things actually diminishes. For instance, if someone who struggles with emotional eating learns to feed their inner ally, their relationship with food changes in a positive way. We cannot overindulge in something that feeds our soul like we do with foods, drugs, television or so on. Instead, we tend to savor the things that nourish our inner ally instead of overdoing whatever it is that feeds us.
When we feed our soul, we nourish ourselves in such a way that our need for other less satisfying or healthy things actually diminishes. For instance, if someone who struggles with emotional eating learns to feed their inner ally, their relationship with food changes in a positive way. We cannot overindulge in something that feeds our soul like we do with foods, drugs, television or so on. Instead, we tend to savor the things that nourish our inner ally instead of overdoing whatever it is that feeds us.
In preparation to write my upcoming book, I have interviewed dozens of
healthcare providers from around the country. I introduced my Soul Health Model to each of them, and several took the concept of Soul Health to heart, immediately adopting ways to rebalance their lives. One provider noted that the idea of feeding his soul was new to him, but that once understood, it changed everything about how he would lead his life moving forward. He made immediate changes at work, in his lifestyle, in his personal life and is working on eliminating anything that does not align with the path before him.
Many of you have heard or read my three questions of what I will call “Spiritual Discernment for Radiant Living”. They are the three queries everyone should make in order to lead a more fulfilling and soulful life:
- Is it meaningful?
- Is it necessary?
- Does it feed your soul?
What does “Meaningful” really mean? Webster’s dictionary defines this as “having a serious, important, or useful quality or purpose”. While we may think things are meaningful, once you apply this definition to the things you do or have in your life, you may decide to choose differently. Also, what was once meaningful may have changed. This is part of evolution. Because of this, it is important to periodically assess the quality or purpose of the things, people, and activities with which we choose to engage in case something has shifted or changed.
What is Necessary? The dictionary says that what is necessary is “something to be done or achieved or something that is present, needed and essential”. For the sake of the soul, this question is tricky. Our human condition and ego—the part of our being that mediates between consciousness and the unconscious—often denies what our soul needs in order to maintain our personal identity. For instance, we may think we need to do a million things to be a good person, partner, or employee, while our soul is screaming to get us to balance our lives and slow down. In this case, our sense of or need for importance overrides the needs of our soul and we end up tired, frustrated, resentful, and sick. Our ego tends to exaggerate what we think we need, wanting “more” of something, when in fact, we need less. This applies to love, work, social interactions, material objects, and so on. However, if you apply whether something is meaningful and feeds your soul to the question of “Is it necessary?”, this helps to answer the question in a much clearer way.
Does it feed your soul? Does the “it” nourish you in such a way that it brightens your inner light rather than drain or dampen it? Does the thing, person, or activity fill you up and sustain you even through the most stressful times? Do you feel sustained and supported when other parts of life are getting you down? Does that which feeds your soul keep you afloat even when you feel you are dunking under?
Travel is one of the things that feeds my soul. My trips to Bhutan, Nepal, and the Galapagos Islands in November and December of 2019 sustained me throughout the pandemic so far. I was deeply fed by each country in different, but related ways, so I haven’t really felt deprived or depleted in the last year. My recent visit to the beach also filled me in a way that will carry me through until I feel comfortable flying again.
My daily walks in nature, silent time to myself, playing with my dogs, spiritual reading and practices, fun with friends and many other things all satiate my inner ally. I intentionally create space for these activities on a daily basis, knowing that the drain I feel during the week will always be restored if I make certain to engage in the things that fill me up.
Learning to feed your soul takes both consciousness and discernment, which is why I call these questions the Spiritual Questions of Discernment for Radiant Living. Without conscious awareness and inquiry about what nourishes you deeply, you will likely not lead a life that offers constant and consistent fulfillment. You will not be guaranteed Soul Health.
After considering these questions, think about the following:
- What would be different if you led your life by these three inquiries?
- What would you eliminate from your life?
- What would you add?
- Would feeding your soul help you to eliminate unhealthy behaviors?
- What would be different about you overall if your soul was well fed?
I have long lived life saying I wanted to minimize regret. These questions allow me to do this and help me to clean out and adjust my “tree of life” (my personal tree of soul health) so that I can shed what no longer serves me while filling myself up with only things that will enhance my inner light. As I work to align my own tree for radiant living, I can then serve as an example to you in order to do the same.
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