You nourish yourselves and others in so many ways; naturally through food, water, rest. But you also nourish with time alone and time together. You nourish with love, grieving together, listening, witnessing, sharing, and being present. You nourish on physical, energetic, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. You may know your tools, bandwidth, capacity AND it’s common to feel like your full Self still needs more care.
I know for myself, I have felt a deep level of nourishment lately with such simple acts. It has felt incredibly therapeutic and grounding to get this care. I would like to share more today as a place of inspiration for this next month.
Last week I heard from a former teacher trainee that they had moved and wanted to donate their remaining 23 classes to someone. To see this kindness in the world was humbling. It inspired me to follow up with folx who haven’t been to Yess in a while to remind them that they still have classes left to their name. Background: our class passes never expire. In the email sent, I mentioned that if the passes weren’t going to be used, they could be donated to another person in our community. The email went out, and I assumed there would be a few that reached out. Instead I heard from dozens of people from the past 12 years of Yess Yoga being a studio!
People who have moved to Wisconsin, New Jersey, Colorado, and more. People expressing their limited availability or their new stage of life. What they had in common was the desire to share a pass or 10 to another person. I sat in awe of this sincere generosity. Not one of them needed a personal thank you, they just wanted to give to another. It was almost like everyone knew that collectively we could use a boost right now, a little surprise win, some nourishment in an unexpected way.
Later that week, I announced on social media that I had classes to share thanks to other participants. Low and behold there were people who could use a “pick me up”. They didn’t have to share why. They didn’t have to “like” or follow Yess on social media. They didn’t have to come to Yess hundreds of times. They just had to message us that they would like a pass. We gave away over 100 classes that week. It was magick.
It was true nourishment to my soul. The part that felt like I couldn’t fill enough. It was the simple act of humans needing and humans giving in the wild. My spirit so desperately needed to remember that this form of care was still alive. I know this world is challenging (that’s MN comfort for downright depressing). I feel so many things daily and you all nourished me in such a monumental way. Thank you for sharing your sincere gratitude, love, and joy.
I hope you get time this month to nourish the inner realms of your heart, mind, body, and soul. The parts that need communal nourishment with simple acts. As my friend Katrina says, “in romancing the daily life”, not just the beauty but the real parts of life that remind you that you are alive.
“not everything you do has
to be self-improving
you are not a machine
you are a person
without rest
your work can never be full
without play
your mind can never be nourished”
-balance
Rupi Kaur, Home Body