Hexagram 27 · Nourishment

In Practice

Nourishment shows thunder below a mountain: the still peak above, movement below — an image of the mouth, which takes in and is held. It is the hexagram of how we sustain ourselves, in two senses at once: what we feed the body, and what we feed the mind through words. The teaching is to watch what you take in and what you put out — the nourishment you seek, and the words you speak to nourish or poison others. Sustain yourself from the right sources, and speak to sustain, not to wound.

In love

Notice what you are feeding the relationship — kindness or criticism, attention or neglect. And notice what you take in from it. A bond is nourished or starved by daily habits. Choose words that feed the other, not words that erode them.

In career

Feed your growth from the right sources — good mentors, useful knowledge, honest feedback. And watch what you speak into your team: words of encouragement nourish; words of contempt poison. Sustain what you want to grow.

In money

Attend to the sources of your income and spending — the nourishment and the drain. A healthy financial life feeds itself from sound sources and does not leak into waste. Audit both what comes in and what goes out.

Guidance

Watch what you take in — food, information, influence — and what you give out in words. Nourish yourself from worthy sources, and let your speech nourish others rather than wound them.

Watch out

Feeding on the wrong things starves the soul, and careless words poison what you meant to nourish. Tend both your intake and your speech with the same care.