What Does It Really Mean to Be NOURISHed?
- Paulina Hupka
- May 5
- 7 min read
The word nourishment is usually used in the context of nutrition and food. But throughout life, you might have learned that nourishment goes beyond food.
Your nervous system, mind, emotions, rhythm and rest need nourishment too.
If you are someone who notices the small, subtle things in your surroundings, if you are someone who is easily touched emotionally by beauty, music and nature, you might be a highly-sensitive person or more sensitive.
Nourishment for sensitive people is even more important.
Small changes affect their nervous system more quickly. Other people might not even notice these things.
In this article, I explore what it really means to be NOURISHed in more depth, I focused on general aspects but also on highly sensitive people and why I think that returning to a life in rhythmic alignment of the seasons and nature provides grounded NOURISHment.
Physical Nourishment
Physical well-being and health are what most people associate with physical nourishment. And that’s exactly what it is.
Food nourishes your body and ensures your survival.
The food we harvest is filled with energy. It nourishes every part of you – from your tiniest cells to your muscles, blood and brain.
True nourishment feels
satiating
pleasantly filling
energy-giving.
It supports you throughout the day by ensuring your body has the necessary energy to accomplish your tasks, care for your loved ones, create artistic projects, build the life that feels enriching.
Your body is a majestic, sacred and unique organism. It requires certain nutrients to sustain the demands of the day.
Stress, rigid diets and nutrient-poor foods deplete your body.
They starve your body: either your cells and organs don’t receive enough fuel, or your system burns through nutrients faster than you can replenish.
Interestingly, the way nature designed your physical being, it knows exactly what it needs to thrive.
Your body naturally aims to return to equilibrium: a flow of nutrients that ensures your body’s balance, so that a minor imbalance ignites a reaction to return to balance.
Movement is a great example. You probably know that movement is absolutely important for your physical well-being. Walking, gentle stretching or weight lifting – they all support your body.
But think about what happens when you do too much. Your body gets sore and hurts.
While this aggravation also stimulates growth and strength, it also causes minimal injuries to your body.
This means that your body asks for nourishing, physical support. That can be a warming bath, the right nutrients or simply rest.
This is your body’s natural rhythm from demand to rest to nourishment to energy.
Physical NOURISHment is like the warming sun on a beautiful summer day.
Your body is active, digesting and energized, strong and nurtured to hold your sensitivity through highly demanding days.
Emotional Nourishment
Just like your body needs food, your emotions need care.
Every time we talk about emotions, we keep our physical well-being in mind. Emotions without a physical body are impossible.
You feel and sense emotions in your body.
A well-nourished body strengthens your entire being and ensures that emotions can be felt exactly as they are.
If you like science like I do, you then know that it’s valuable to understand the nuanced interplay of our nerves.
Your nervous system consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.
The peripheral Nervous system is made of the cranial nerves and spinal nerves.
It’s further divided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
The Autonomic nervous system is made of the Enteric, Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous systems.
While the nerve cells look different depending on their location and function, they all have axon terminals, myelin sheaths, the soma, nucleus and dendrites.
The healthier and stronger your neurons, aka your nervous system, the better you sense stimuli and respond with emotions that lead to a certain action.
To nourish your nervous system, focus on a balanced diet high in good quality foods, rich in healthy fats, minerals, protein and complex carbohydrates.
This ensures that your body works just like it is supposed to, and you can physically feel the sensations in your body known as emotions.
This is the foundation for true emotional nourishment.
To attend to your emotions further, you can do what feels good and nourishing.
As a highly sensitive person, this might be a quiet morning in nature, a cozy space at home or a quiet ritual in peaceful surroundings that soothes and steadies your emotional body.
As you perceive more details and subtle changes, overly stimulating surroundings aggravate your nervous system and drain your energy.
So, emotional nourishment is like spring rain: quiet, soft and life-giving.
Mindfulness and rest support your mind to connect with your body.
This body-mind connection is essential.
It allows you to fully and truly sense, name, listen to, and respond to your emotions, rather than numb or dismiss them.
I will later talk about resilience, stress, and why a rested nervous system is the foundation for stressful events.
Mental Nourishment
Now, let’s talk about the mind, where nourishment often gets overlooked.
I already mentioned the body-mind connection.
This is the bridge between your body having sensations and your mind translating those sensations, free of any judgment or guilt, into appropriate reactions.
When we talk about our mind, we usually assume it to be our brain. Our physical brain needs proper physical nourishment to function as it is intended to. A healthy brain can house a strong and sensitive mind that listens fully, interprets judgment-free and derives actions reasonably.
To nourish your mind deeply, it’s important to understand how and what you think.
A thought journal can be a great start to nourishing your mind. By putting thoughts onto paper, you free your mind from overthinking and decluttering inner dialogues.
This helps you make sense of your thoughts and relieves the tension that disconnects you from your body.
When your mind is overloaded, it’s easy to forget your body and emotions entirely.
For instance, some people are so focused on work that they forget to eat.
For a nourished mind, you need both Focus and Unfocus.
This is an interplay between rest and action.
Give your brain, your mind time to rest and wander. Daydreaming, colouring or taking a shower are activities that keep your mind engaged enough, yet it gets rest by being on “default mode”.
This is usually when you process subconscious thoughts or make creative connections.
But Mental Nourishment can also be something more challenging, like learning something new and meaningful.
This is not about mastering a new productivity hack. It’s about engaging your mind to build new connections in ways that align with your values and invite reflection, not mental pressure.
And yes, the line can be thin when you get frustrated that your learning curve doesn’t grow as fast as you would like. Patience is your best virtue here.
Resting your mind is like the soil in the Winter – lying unplanted, fallow and seedless, so that what’s meant to grow next spring can root itself more deeply.
Spiritual Nourishment
Beyond body and mind, there is something deeper: NOURISHment of your soul.
Spirituality is often confused with religion. You can be spiritual AND religious, and you can be either or.
I define spiritual nourishment as something that connects you deeply to “something greater,” something beyond the visible, something that you can only sense and that guides your soul and purpose unconsciously with deep, meaningful beliefs and values.
Words like meaning, awe, connection, longing, beauty or curiosity can help to put those deep inner sensations into more tangible verses.
Spiritual Nourishment is something unique and personal. It is yours.
However, it usually connects to the idea of peace, freedom, connection and being in tune with yourself or your community.
It is easy to believe that cults with harmful rituals are considered spiritual.
True spirituality allows the soul to live freely, in peace, in community and in connection.
Pressure to conform or physical, mental or emotional abuse – even when it is disguised as a welcoming ritual or initiation – is still abuse.
Praying or connecting to bring harm to other living beings, or sacrificing living beings, are used to manipulate, conform and create a harmful hierarchy of power that usually only empowers the individual at the top of the pyramid.
True spirituality is unique, like in autumn, let go of the known, nurture in what’s below and transform it into renewed NOURISHMENT of your soul.
Summary
Being truly NOURISHed, connects these 4 areas.
Each one influences the other and cannot exist without the other.
So, to deeply NOURISH yourself, I encourage you to invest time, energy and effort into each area. It can be something tiny like rest or a glass of water.
Each small act of care nourishes your sensitive self and builds the resilience and presence needed to embody who you truly are.
We are all interdependent beings on this planet guided by moon cycles, nature’s seasons and the natural rhythm of life.
Many people seem to see themselves as a different entity from nature.
But I see myself as part of nature.
I see us humans as part of nature.
There is no hierarchy.
Yes, humans have turned to disruptive measures to rule over nature.
But I think it’s time to return to our natural rhythm and embrace the seasons just like we embrace the seasons of our lives.
If that resonates with you, I invite you to sign up for my newsletter or stay tuned for my first Seasonal Gathering, where we explore nature’s rhythm and connect it to our sensitive souls.
Thank you for reading this far, and I hope to connect with you soon 🤍
Truthfully,
Paulina
