What Is 'Spiritual Nutrition'? The Answer May Change Your Life

What exactly is spiritual nutrition? A guest post from Gina Martini at Full On Happiness

Hi, Wellness Rookie Readers! I’m so excited to be making an appearance over here in this amazing community Cass has created, and I’m so honored to be blogger and health coaching pals with her. I write over at Full On Happiness where I talk a lot about the different spiritual practices that have greatly impacted my own health journey. Cass is sweet enough to let me share a little bit about them here along with some of my story...

I believe in something I like to call spiritual nutrition. Say what!? Those two words seem like odd ones to pair together, don’t they? So, let’s break it down...

What is spiritual nutrition?

First of all, spirituality in itself can have a lot of different interpretations, but I see it as the belief in something bigger, whatever that ‘something’ means to you. It could be God, the Universe, the Divine, Spirit, Energy, Source, a Higher Power. The beauty is that you get to decide. The theme threaded throughout the act of being spiritual, is that the belief in something ‘bigger’ (whatever you define that to be) evokes a deeper connection within yourself and gives your life greater meaning.  

Things don’t become so purposeless and drab. Instead, you tap into something that makes you feel protected, safe, and nourished. When we are spiritual beings, we consistently honor the spirit inside each of us that knows what it needs to feel complete.

How does this connect to nutrition, you might be thinking…?

Well, I believe that nutrition can help us cultivate a deeper sense of love and connection to ourselves and the divine. Nutrition can quite literally nourish our soul.

We can either view food as fuel, which has a very mechanical, rough, and cold feeling to it. Or, we can view food as love and nourishment, which has a warm and supportive feeling to it. The word nourish is derived from the Latin word nutrire meaning ‘to feed and to cherish.’ So, you see, eating becomes a way for us to cherish who we are.

Game-changer, right?

Eating and nutrition become a way for us to support ourselves. To help us thrive. To help us feel good in our own skin. To show up as our best selves. To  be present. To accomplish what we want to do in a day. To achieve our dreams.

I didn’t always believe in this. In fact, I used to be a major diet-binger who would totally abuse food and feel like I had to count calories and burn them off after I ate them. Moreover, I always noticed I didn’t feel as connected or creative or happy when I would overeat or overdrink. In fact, I felt weighed down and completely outside of myself... like I didn’t believe in me.

And, when you don’t believe in yourself, that means you don’t really believe in something bigger either. Not to mention you probably just generally feel very down.

You see, you and spirit, you work together as a team. And one way to strengthen that connection is through nutrition.

Once I sunk into this concept, my relationship with food, myself, and my body forever changed. I wanted to choose foods that would make me feel more connected, that would increase my vibration, and make me feel more alive and light and happy and free.

Another piece of spiritual nutrition is thinking about your body as a physical place of worship that you come to every day and pay homage to. Think of it like a church or a temple or an altar. Your body is a magical place full of so many miracles. It’s working really hard for you. So, take time to thank it, and honor it for all that it does for you.

I want to leave you with 3 small shifts you can begin to make in your own life to cultivate a deeper spiritual connection, especially as it relates to your relationship to food.

1. Treat eating as a spiritual practice.

   Create little rituals for yourself around meals instead of looking at them as chores. If you like to make a morning smoothie, turn this into a spiritual act. Slow down, take your time. Reflect on the good things you are about to put into your body and how they are going to nourish your soul. And don’t forget to thank them for doing so!

2. Find time to get quiet.

   It’s so important to not have a zillion distractions while you eat. Trust me, I know how hard this one is. Think of it this way: just like if you were to go to church you wouldn’t be in front of your computer screen checking emails, watching TV, or chatting on the phone. You’d be quiet and present. Try that out when you’re consuming a meal.

3. Pray.

   Start the dialogue. It doesn’t have to be out loud. Choose whatever form of prayer feels right for you. This could be through journaling or quietly in your head while on a walk. Better yet, pray before a meal. Silently express gratitude for all of the things (like the sun, air, rain, animals) and people (farmers, drivers, merchandisers) that made it possible for this food to be on your plate.

Hopefully you’ve learned something new to incorporate into your own life from this perspective on spiritual nutrition.  I hope to see you around here again sometime soon!

Until then, be well.

xo

Gina

Gina is a Certified Transformational Nutrition Coach and the founder of Full On Happiness, a coaching practice and lifestyle platform based in San Diego, CA. It’s here where she coaches women – both virtually and in person – through their issues with food; guiding them to uncover the roots of the behaviors that do not serve them and instead, discover what makes them ‘full on happiness.’ You can usually find her taking beach walks, at pilates, or using her Vitamix. Read a lot of what she writes over at www.fullonhappiness.com or follow her on Instagram @fullonhappiness for daily soul-nourishing inspiration!