Recipe for a Nourishing Day
God, you know how I love retreat! Last week we had our staff retreat in Point
Reyes; combining three of my favorite things in life; Point Reyes, retreat and
the chaplains, joined together for a holy day.
CJ, bless her, created a reflection for us
to develop a recipe for nourishment. We were
encouraged to design a recipe for a nourishing day, a good day’s work or even a
recipe for sanity! The possibilities are
endless. (I have included it at the end
of this posting).
I was inspired to choose essential
ingredients I love; being mindful of what I need
in that moment, keeping it simple and balancing
the flavors. (I recognized that the
balance for me is almost always between reflection-solitude and
activity-connection with others.)
I was blessed not only with a care-free
day with the chaplains, but also with an opportunity to stay overnight in the cottage
and enjoy the whole next day in my beloved Point Reyes.
My sweetie came up to join me for the
evening and left in the early morning, leaving a pretty wine glass with three
sprigs of lavender in a pool of sunlight on the kitchen table, plus a loving
note to start my day. I nestled in with my
coffee, blankets and pillows on the couch in front of the fire, (it was cold,
even in August!), and sat for a long time gazing at the fire and the treetops
out the surrounding windows. After a
while, I was inspired to develop my own recipe for a nourishing day.
Ingredients for a Nourishing Day
Morning
Morning
T I
M E
Fireplace
or candles
Books,
journal
Rich
coffee
Baked
good
Picture
of me and my sweetie and the cat family
Windows – flowers – tree tops
Fluffy
robe
Memories
and reflections of a sweet day with the chaplains
Noonish
T I
M E
Movement!
Hiking
boots
Water
Camera!
Trail
map
Amber
lens prescription sunglasses (brings out the greens)
Wildlife!
Hike
through the trees and meadows of Point Reyes
Lunch in my pack to be savored in a pretty place
T I
M E
Drive
back through the golden hills of Marin County
Red
Miata – Rockette – Little Red with her top down!
Rock
and roll!
East
Bay frontage road by the water to avoid traffic
Later Afternoon
Later Afternoon
Lots
of pets for Pablo and Toby
Cool
shower – take my time
Grooming
ritual - get cleaned up for the girls at the Restaurant Ramble
Evening
T I
M E
Good
friends
Good food
Laughter
Stories
Getting
real
Affection bubbling from my heart
Affection bubbling from my heart
Later Evening
T I
M E
Being
home in our sanctuary with my sweetie
Loving
and knowing that I am loved
Pablo,
Toby, safety, sweetness, savoring home.
High,
semi-firm pillow top mattress
Clean
cotton sheets
Four
posters
Lots
of pillows
Good
novel or rock biography or Paris history
My
sweetie lying next to me
Meeting
him in my dreams.
I realized after
reading over my recipe that except for the hot tub and the cow, that I didn’t have to be on
retreat or in a special place to “make” this recipe. I could have a day like this right at home,
creating the very spirit of Vacation at
Home. (And I don’t need a hot
tub! There’s always a lavender scented
bath.)
I also realized that T
I M E is
the most essential ingredient for true nourishment for me. That is why it is included at the first of
list of ingredients for a nourishing day, any time of day, any activity.
And here dear reader, is CJ Hast's Recipe for Nourishment.
Design your own!
And here dear reader, is CJ Hast's Recipe for Nourishment.
Design your own!
Recipe for Nourishment
~ Designing Your
Recipe ~
Below are
some suggested steps in creating your own personal Recipe for Nourishment. Please
feel free to adapt these in any way that you like in order to make this inquiry
most useful (and fun!) for you. Some recipes contain sub-recipes. You may find
this to be true for yours. You may also like to develop other recipes in different
categories. For example, your Recipe for Sanity, or Recipe for a Good Day’s
Work, or Recipe for ???. The possibilities are endless!
On the
reverse side of this page you will find some Springboards to help you kindle
your nourishment recipe thinking.
NAME- Give your recipe a descriptive title that inspires you.
INGREDIENTS- What are the essential ingredients in your nourishment recipe? Include measurements- amount and/or duration
and how often.
PREPARATION STEPS- Clearly describe how the ingredients should be
utilized.
TEST & REVISE- Recipes are rarely perfect on the first draft. Test & revise, test
and revise, test & revise as an on-going nourishment practice.
TIPS:
Don’t use any more ingredients than necessary.
Go for a balance of “flavors.”
Allow for substitutions wherever possible.
Consider what is “in season” during the different
seasons and cycles of your nourishment practice.
Experiment. Explore. Enjoy.
©
2012 www.contemPLAYtions.com
Nourishment Recipe Springboards
SEASONS & CYCLES
Might you have some season specific
nourishment ingredients?
Summer-
Fall-
Winter-
Spring-
Time specific? Morning-Mid-Day-Mid-Afternoon-Evening-Night
THE FIVE SENSES
Hearing - Sight - Touch - Smell - Taste
How do you nourish your senses? How do your
senses nourish you?
PEOPLE
Who do you feel nourished with/by? Think here
of specific people and also in general
of the types of people you are nourished by. What qualities do they possess?
SANCTUARY
In what settings do you feel nourished? (Both interiorly and exteriorly.)
PLAY
What makes you laugh?
MEDIA
What form/s of media are nourishing to you? Books/Television/Music/Internet
IMAGES
What theological or metaphorical images come to mind when you think of nourishment?
What theological or metaphorical images come to mind when you think of nourishment?
HEROES
Who are your nourishment heroes? What about them inspires you in the area of
Experiment.
Explore. Enjoy.
© 2012 www.contemPLAYtions.com
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