The best gift you could ever give yourself

The best gift you could ever give yourself is feeling the gift of:

• self-care
• self-nourishment
• self-love
• self-compassion

Because the more you can love and care for yourself, the more that energy radiates out, to those around you.

But it’s not always such an easy gift to give yourself.

At least it wasn’t for me!

I was so caught up in high-expectations – an ideal of what I should look like and who I should be – that I could NOT give myself the gift of self-kindness. No way!

Getting dressed every day was an exercise in self-hatred and self-criticism…the exact opposite of what I needed.

But today, I look in the mirror as I get dressed…I see all my “imperfections.” Please don’t be fooled by my professionally taken pics (and selfies) – my hair is not always perfectly qoiffed – and I have a womanly, curvy body. I’m not super slim or athletic…I’m a real person.

I see all of that as I look in the mirror – still treat myself with kindness – and I feed myself food that supports and energizes me.

So how did that happen?!

Here are 2 important keys to how I gave myself the best gift ever – my own kindness.

1. Holistic Professional Support

I put that word “holistic” before professional support, because let me tell you I had reached out for a lot of other kinds of professional support for my food and body issues. For years, I tried many well known and ‘reputable’ diets. I tried Weight Watchers, the Scarsdale diet (what Paleo was called years ago), watermelon cleanses, and so much more. But nothing stuck – and nothing got to the deeper issues of my painful body image – because I wasn’t looking at my food and body issues as a whole-person issue. I was thinking it was just an ‘eat-less-and-move-more’ problem.

When I finally started to work with my food and body issues as connected to how I was being nourished in my entire life – as well as how I was being nourished with food – then things really started to shift.

I worked with a psychotherapist who understood food issues and a health coach that factored in mindset issues. I sprinkled in some of my deeply practical tendencies and cooked up a wonderful recipe of support that helped me make changes on the food level, lifestyle level, and the mindset/emotional levels of nourishment.

When we make changes on all three levels of nourishment at once, then we can really step into healthy habits that stick.

Seeing that I really needed support in this holistic way – working with all 3 aspects of the nourishment dynamic – is what made me able to create a healthy and positive relationship with my body. It’s also what’s helped the women I work with step into a body they love!

2. Personal Support

When it comes to personal support – it’s all about you being on your own side – It’s about you giving yourself permission to be supported.

I often hear women say that they find it hard to invest in themselves because everyone else’s needs come first. Stepping into personal support means saying to yourself “I’ve got my own back! I want to get the support I need, because I deserve it! I’m going to be my own best friend and ask for the help I would recommend to a dear friend!”

This brings you right back to getting holistic, professional support.

Who says that just because you’re a giving woman, that you should automatically know how to nourish yourself? It’s a big myth!!! Often it’s the women who do so much – and care so much – who are the worst at self-care.

Please stop trying to do it all yourself…give yourself the gift of personal support! Hold yourself by the hand, tell yourself you’re worth it – and get help!

If you are looking for a way to get started, I’d like to invite you to the Nourished Woman Intensive. It’s 28 days that will step you into both personal and holistic, professional support. You can learn more about it here.

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Nina Manolson, MA, CHC, certified Health Coach and Psychology of Eating Coach believes that every women deserves to feel good in their own body. She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life!  She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and NourishedWomanNation.com 

She helps busy women look and feel their best, and helps them feed their kids well in a world that doesn’t.

She’s the author of “Feed Your Kids Well In A World That Doesn’t: an everyday guide to make healthy food happen in your home and beyond”. She’s also the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

To get your F.R.E.E. Video Series “What to do now, when everything you’ve done hasn’t worked” by mail and receive her healthy recipes and wellness tips click here.