To me, to be nurtured is to feel warmth, to be somewhere with people who love you, to have homemade food, some gentle organised chaos around you, people talking, listening to or playing music you love, and gardening. Nurturing involves all the messiness of real life.

It’s not this idea of calm and quiet, where everyone is so pressured trying to stay calm that they become more stressed. It’s not where you drink green smoothies all day, when in fact your body needs and is craving warming stews. To be nurtured, or to nurture, isn’t academic. There is no one-size-fits-all doctrine. It’s just real - and it changes as your needs change. The shape it takes will grow with you, as your needs grow, as the needs of those around you grow. Just like nature.

And just like like nature, it is necessary to maintain a sense of balance. It is not only important to be nurtured and to nurture others, but also to nurture ourselves. Nurturing ourselves can be as simple as embracing what we do have - appreciating and cherishing that. In other words, allowing ourselves to be content. In villages around the world where people are known to live over 100 years of age, there was an appearance of lack, but a reality of abundance. People had little in terms of material possessions, but actually they had more than they needed and they also give generously. They were content. Now that is the good life!

Of course, there is some merit to the ‘eat a restricted healthy diet with moderate exercise’ argument. It’s just not the whole story. It’s not so much about food, but how we view food, how we share food.

To nurture is our nature. We need to be nurtured, and we need to nurture. When we all function together, it’s like a perfect little circle. A moving circle, just like dancing with nature. This dance is crucial to thriving health, happiness and a long and fulfilled life.