Relearning How to Receive Nurturing

Before I had my first child, I would have told you that I allowed myself to receive and give nurturing to all aspects of my life and the Beings in it.

Yet, during a quiet moment of looking at my infant daughter 17 years ago, I had a heart-wrenching realization that I was actually living in various states of cutting myself off from the soul-level medicine of nurturing and nourishing. Instead of truly allowing myself to be or give nurturing, I was acting from a place of performance and “shoulds”. As a result, I was cut off from the love and compassion that would naturally be available to me and others if I were willing to engage from my heart, not my mind.  

Shedding the Armor We Didn’t Know We Were Wearing

The awareness I gained from Spirit in that tender moment let me clearly see how protective patterns and programs were creating a suite of body armor that was slowly cutting me off from everything and limiting the way I could move in my connections and life. As a result of this protective armor, I wasn’t allowing myself to receive nourishment or feel nurtured by the amazing aspects of my life, including the love I wanted to give to my daughter and the love I wanted to receive from having her in my life.  

A simple question came from Spirit as I rocked her, “Are you willing to let go of the protective armor around your heart and let yourself be nourished by life?” 

Almost every part of me answered, “YES!” However, there were a few parts of me that were wrapped in waves of fear and serious doubt. These aspects of me truly believed that if I let myself feel nourished by life, I would be opening myself up to more pain and disappointment. 

Yet, my desire to change my relationship with nurturing so that I could offer a real heart-led connection to my daughter was greater than my fears. I wanted to be able to break the cycles of generational trauma and teach my daughter that it is safe to let yourself be nourished by life.

Cultivating Nourishment Through Simple Shifts

Spirit lovingly helped me realize that having an expectation that from that moment on I would be absolutely open to receiving and giving nourishment to myself and life was a little unkind and setting myself up to feel like a failure, thus locking myself in a cycle of shame and unrealistic perfectionism. To help me avoid that tricky trip, Spirit gave me a daily practice that I could do to start cultivating the ability to work with the medicine of nurturing in simple and playful ways, such as: 

• Giving myself the gift of lingering with my morning tea/coffee. Instead of multi-tasking or working on my to-do list for the day, I let all that go for five beautiful minutes and be present with myself, my breath, my body. 
• Pausing between clients or work tasks to tune into my body and see what it might need to try to give it the best I could – a stretch, some water, a quick walk, or regrounding. 
• Putting on music more often and letting myself move, dance, and sing with the music, during meal prep, morning prep, and a few minutes at lunch. 
• Self-Reiki sessions in the morning and at night – granting myself permission to give myself three to five minutes of quiet attunement and reflection to receive.
• Lingering for a few moments on the couch with my daughter, not doing anything, simply being with.

To my surprise, every little moment of nurturing that Spirit helped me connect was dissolving the different protective shields I had created to survive my past, but no longer served. 

Little by little, I started to seek ways that I could nourish myself, my family and friends, my career, everything!

A Gentle Practice to Begin

Let’s try it! This week, set up a daily intention to attune to the Soul Medicine of Nurturing: 

Today, I set the intention open to the whispers of Spirit to help guide me in the simple ways I can nurture myself and my life. 

I ask for Reiki energy to support me in guiding my attention to moments where I can:

• Linger in connections that I might pass over,
• Soften my habitual movements that are governed by subtle fears and productivity, 
• And ways that I’m withholding grace or blessings from myself, my life, or another.

In these moments of awareness, I ask for Reiki energy to help me engage in the act of nurturing and nourishing. Help me pause and change my actions, thoughts, and perceptions so that I can move with love.

Nurturing Happens in Connection

If it feels good to you, share this intention with a friend and together see what little shifts and soulful magic your intention begins to call forward for you. Journal on the impact that taking small shifts has on you to help unwind, heal, and dissolve the old protective mechanisms of the past. Remember, nourishing yourself, your life, and others happens one little moment at a time. 

Offering you light love and JOY on your journey!

TAKE ACTION: Want to go deeper with soulful practices like this one? Michelle shares additional Reiki practices and healing insights on the Soulful Practices Podcast, a free resource designed to support a Soul-led life. She also offers a deeply personal story in the bestselling anthology Sacred Bonds: Heartfelt Stories of Mothers and the Lives They Shape, exploring motherhood as a powerful container for healing and transformation.