Nourishing Life

Nourishing Life │ 養生

Rest

Move

Connect

Nourish

Create

Your daily choices nourish your life.

Nourishing life, or 養生 yang shen, is foundational to healthy-living in Chinese culture. Here are five important yet simple tenets of nourishing life that guide my lifestyle recommendations. I hope this structure supports your choices, illuminating areas where you can weave more stability into the basket of your life.

Rest

Nourish yourself with quality sleep, restful solo time, and rejuvenating breaks throughout your work day.

Quality sleep

Honor your optimal sleep and wake time
Start winding down your day at least 1 hour before your desired bedtime with a peaceful evening ritual. Turn off your phone/ computer, then do something relaxing, such as stretching, reading, journaling, or listening to soothing music
Sleep hygiene: create a restful space for sleeping

Restful Solo Time

Meditation/ reflection/ “simply being” in silence
Schedule in at least one unscheduled “day of rest” each week

Take Breaks

Take 5-minute work breaks at least once an hour, such as stretching or walking

Move

Move everyday in fun ways that feel delicious for you, alternating active strength-building movements with relaxing muscle-lengthening stretches.

10-minute daily walk (at least)
Daily morning/ evening movement practice
Yoga (i.e. 3 sets of sun salutations every morning, or yin/ restorative yoga every evening)
Swimming is a wonderful low-impact full-systems exercise. Also consider dance, jogging, biking, surfing, hiking, etc.

Connect

Deeply connect with yourself, nature, and community through meaningful work, time outdoors everyday, and nourishing relationships.

Self-Connection

Meaningful work that aligns your gifts, values, and interests, offers opportunities for growth, and benefits your community and our planet
Sense of purpose & progression towards goals
Balancing work + play= Prioritizing values + Time management

Community-Connection

Reciprocity in nourishing family & intimate relationships
Mentoring and being mentored
Rituals and celebrations

Nature-Connection

Time outdoors (ie. walking, sit spot, adventures)
Relationship with place. Cultivating gratitude.
Gardening (ie. house plants, mints, air plants, succulents)

Nourish

Eat a local and seasonal whole foods diet that’s appropriate for your body and lifestyle, with well-balanced colorful meals, integrated herbs and spices, and intentional eating times and practices.

Simple home-cooked meals
Reduce processed foods, sugars, trans fats
Intentional “brain food” with information intake
Eat slowly and gratefully. Enjoy the process, and notice nuance!
Eat at regular times
Stop eating at least 2 hours before bedtime

Create

Regularly reflect on your life through organic creative practices: writing, drawing, movement, and/ or vocalization.

“Morning Pages”: 1-3 pages of freeform writing/ drawing every morning
Ritual reflection & manifestation: weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly
Shape & stillness

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