Episode 23: Soul Food, Practices That Nourish Your Inner Being
Feeling Empty Despite Doing Everything Right?
Maybe you've felt it too - that restless feeling that there has to be more than just checking boxes and getting through your days. Maybe you've found yourself standing in your kitchen at 2 PM, feeling completely empty despite having accomplished everything on your to-do list. Or maybe you've caught yourself staring out the window, wondering when you stopped feeling truly alive and started just surviving.
You're not alone.
In midlife, many of us discover a deep, gnawing hunger that has nothing to do with what's on our plates. It's a hunger for meaning, for depth, for connection to the person we're becoming. We've been so busy feeding everyone else - our children, our partners, our careers, our aging parents - that we've forgotten how to feed ourselves.
And I don't mean the surface-level self-care of bubble baths and pedicures (as lovely as those can be). I'm talking about the practices that truly nourish your inner being, that make you feel like you're coming home to yourself after years of living in roles that felt necessary but somehow constraining.
What You'll Discover in This Episode:
What Soul Food Really Means
It's not about what you "should" do. It's about sustenance that goes beyond survival - the practices that reconnect you to your own inner authority and make you feel real, not performed.
How Your Inner Needs Evolve in Midlife
Understanding the profound shifts that happen:
From external validation to internal knowing
From fixing yourself to accepting yourself
From adding more to subtracting what doesn't serve
From future-focused to present-centered
From busy to still
From holding it together to allowing yourself to fall apart
Seven Categories of Soul Nourishment
With concrete, actionable practices for each:
Making Peace with Your Past - Finally dealing with what you've been carrying so you can put it down
Listening to Your Body Again - Feeling at home in your skin through this profound physical transition
Finding Your Real Voice - Speaking your truth without apology or over-explanation
Sitting with the Big Questions - Not rushing to answers, but honoring your own wondering
Feeling Good in Your Own Skin - Reconnecting with joy, pleasure, and feeling fully alive
Understanding Where You Come From - Healing ancestral patterns and deciding what stops with you
Getting Honest About Time - Spending your precious days like they matter
How to Tell the Difference: Surface vs. Soul
Learn to distinguish between what sounds like it "should" nourish you and what actually does - using language patterns, body wisdom, and real results over time.
The Myths That Keep Us Starving
I’m busting the biggest misconceptions:
"Self-care is supposed to feel good" (Real nourishment can be uncomfortable)
"I need to be calm and zen" (Your anger matters too)
"I need to heal before I can move forward" (You can be healing AND living)
"I should be able to do this alone" (Asking for help is strength)
How to Actually Begin (Without Overwhelm)
Practical strategies that actually work:
Start stupid small (we're talking 2 conscious breaths small)
Anchor to existing routines
Pick ONE thing for 30 days
Schedule it like it matters
Use your resistance as information
Drop the perfectionism
My Own Messy Journey
I'm sharing my real, imperfect practices - from meditation struggles to workout evolution - because none of us have this perfectly figured out, and that's exactly how it should be.
This Episode Is For You If:
✓ You're accomplishing everything but feeling empty inside
✓ You're tired of just surviving and ready to feel alive again
✓ You're craving meaning and depth, not just more productivity
✓ You're ready to stop waiting for permission to want more
✓ You're willing to be messy and imperfect in your journey
✓ You're done with spiritual bypassing and ready for real transformation
Key Takeaways:
"Soul food is often found in the sacred ordinary. It's not necessarily about grand spiritual experiences - it's about the small, consistent practices that reconnect us to our own inner authority."
"The kind of nourishment we need in midlife is fundamentally different from what we needed in our younger years. We stop waiting for permission from the outside world and start learning to give it to ourselves."
"You do not need to be 'fixed' or 'complete' to live a full and meaningful life. You can be healing AND living at the same time. The journey IS the destination."
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Practices to Try:
Unsent letter writing and burning ritual
Three-times-daily body scan check-ins
Morning pages (10 minutes, stream of consciousness)
Speaking your truth out loud practice
Three simple pleasures daily
Ancestral pattern release ritual
Weekly life inventory questions
Ready to Go
Deeper?
If this episode resonated with you and you're ready for more personalized support in nourishing your soul and navigating this midlife transition, I'd love to work with you. Book a free chat to learn more!
This episode is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional mental health treatment.
🔥 CONNECT WITH NICOLE:
Website: https://www.nicolehate.com
Instagram/Threads/TikTok: @iamnicolehate
Sign up for the mailing list for women done shrinking, silencing, and staying stuck. https://www.nicolehate.com/free-opt-in
Join The Facebook Page
SUBSCRIBE for weekly episodes that excavate the real you
LIKE if you're done being the Nice Woman
SHARE with the woman whose voice is burning to be free
DISCLAIMER: This podcast may cause sudden outbreaks of truth-telling, boundary-setting, and unapologetic self-expression. Side effects include losing people who preferred you silent.
