EATON — February really flew by, I hope you gave and received plenty of love! February’s theme of Love helps feed this month’s theme of Nourishment. In January we focused on self-care, which helps feed our current theme as well. I just love how these themes are connecting to one another!
What does nourishment mean? It is food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition. We know what food is, but what does it mean by ‘substances’? Well the best general definition is “a particular kind of matter with uniform properties.” Angelina Zimmerman from the article “The 4 Essential Paths to Personal Nourishment” says that “Nourishment means utilizing internal and external sources to fill our life with love, support, and guidance form ourselves and interactions with others. It is all about fulfilling our basic need as humans, to find deep connection and meaning, live purposefully, and feel a sense of belonging. As we mature and go through various life experiences, the type of frequency of the nourishment we seek, inevitably changes and is different for men and women.”
Well I’d say we’ve had a running start on this since the beginning of the year. Self-care can count as a substance – you took time out for yourself – giving yourself some nourishment. Maybe you completed something on your ‘to do’ list, you took a walk, or called someone. Maybe you did something out of your normal routine, no matter what you did, you provided yourself with nourishment. In February, you learned how to love yourself and others – the different types of love – how to communicate it – that is also a way of providing nourishment.
Laughter is a very important part of nourishment. Did you know:
• A healthy laughter can help you to reduce pain and prevent infections
• It has been proven that there is a considerable drop in the levels of stress hormones after a good laughing session.
• Heavy laughter every day can strengthen your immune system!
• It helps in releasing endorphins which can bring positive changes to the mindset of a person.
• A heavy laughter brings in much more oxygen to the lungs than normal breathing would do.
• Laughter reduces the risk of heart diseases
• Fifteen minutes of laughing a day can make you lose weight
• It has been scientifically proven that laughter can be contagious
• Gelotology is the study of laughing, and its effects on the human body
• The maximum laughter happens over social responses which means that only 10 – 15 percent of it is actually due to jokes
• Laughter is a sound which does not have any language
• Humans are not the only creatures who laugh. Animals, like dogs and cats also laugh
• A child of the age of six years laughs about three times more than an adult
• The average person laughs about thirteen times in a single day
As you can see nourishment is so much more than food. So eat good food, and take a deep breath, meditate, mantras (positive self-talk and compassion), prayer, declutter, audit the people around you – whether they are helping or hurting you, go for a walk in nature, create a bedtime ritual, read something you find interesting, listen to an audiobook, aromatherapy, light candles, listen to music, take a bath, stretch, learn something new, or even practice your favorite hobby. Anything that helps our bodies, our minds, our souls, will be beneficial and you’ll be so glad you did it. Nourish your mind, body, and soul.
All activities are located at the Senior Activities Center at 800 East St. Clair St. in Eaton, unless otherwise mentioned in the post. Like our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/preblecountycouncilonaging/ or give us a call at 937-456-4947. Visit our website at www.PrebleSeniorCenter.org. Membership at the Senior Center is $10 a year. In addition to other benefits, members automatically receive our bi-monthly “Senior Scene” newsletter that features all our latest news and activities.
