Deep Level Self Care Series: Your Starting Point

Last week I talked about how After I had a stroke at 39 from stress I had to learn how to care for myself at a deep level in order to survive. What I didn’t talk about is the 11 Deep-Level Self Care practices I used to get there but I’m not just surviving, I’m thriving! 

My biggest lesson and message I share is that when you learn that deep-level self-care is NOT selfish, putting yourself first is NOT selfish. It serves everyone. 

That statement might trigger a few people. I know it would have me triggered years ago because I based my worth on how I cared for others and how much I could do for others. 

Basing your worth on something outside of yourself is a recipe for disaster. Depending on another person or situation to make you feel good, happy, and fulfilled in life will always leave you feeling unsatisfied and puts unneeded pressure on all of your relationships. The only person that can do those things for yourself is you. 

By using these self-care practices my intention at the time was to stay alive for my kids. But the outcome was far greater than that. It led to an amazing, difficult at times, journey where I reconnected with my authentic self, empowered her, and took care of her at the highest level. This creates an amazing life that moves with grace and flow. 

Is my life perfect, far from, this is a practice where my life ebbs and flows with daily lessons, ups and downs, just like everyone else. It’s the way I approach these things that has changed and when you change your perspective, you change your outcome. 

In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing with you the 11 practices that have helped me the most, I’ll share one per week. I hope these practices will help you as much as they have helped me. 

These practices will help you reset the mind, body, and soul.

Practice one, the beginning step, is acknowledging your starting point. Just like when you use a GPS to start a trip from one destination to another. You need a starting point and a destination. You don’t usually worry about the in-between stuff too much. You know you’ll get the directions as you go. Life is the same way. So to start us off it's important to acknowledge where you are in all the areas of your life. How are you doing in each area? Now you all know me pretty well by now to know that this is a journal prompt. So write it out. Write out how you're doing in each area of your life. Your health, fitness, relationships, career. Do all the areas of importance to you. No judgment now. Just Acknowledge where you are with love and acceptance of how far you’ve come knowing you are always trying to live into that best and healthiest version of yourself (The Destination).

Next, you have to decide the destination. What do you want? Now I know there are a lot of people who may feel stuck and would say, I just don’t know what I want. So to this I say, let’s dream a little bit. Go back to those areas that you looked at. In each area, if you had no limitations, what would that area look like for you? See what comes up and write it down. This will be your starting point. You don’t need to know the how. Just your starting point and a destination. 

Can the destination change? Absolutely. As you move forward toward what you want and have experiences along the way, you change. So yes, sometimes the destination will change. That doesn’t mean you're lost or a failure. This just means you're on a journey and this is really what life is all about. It’s not about some kind of grand endpoint that we reach. It’s about the experiences we have along the way!

One of the things this exercise does that's very important is it will point you in a direction instead of just reacting to whatever life puts in front of you. 

Even if you don’t take any conscious steps toward these things you want to experience. Just making the decision, the statement of what you want will make your brain, and your subconscious focus on bringing those things into your life. You just have to be open and willing to see the opportunities as they show up. Now does it work better when you actually take intentional action? Of course. But making the declaration is an important first step and knowing that if you can dream it, imagine it, then you can create it. If someone else has done it, so can you! 

So this week's Deep-Level action step is to look at where you are today, acknowledge it, and then decide where you want to go and declare it on paper. Then pay attention when anything related to those things comes into your life and embrace them. 

I noticed in my life when I want something really bad, I’ll start seeing other people have the success that I want. This used to make me so mad and jealous. But what I didn’t realize was this was the universe's way of saying this thing you want, it’s possible, you’re getting closer and this is what it looks like. Now when I see this, I get excited. I say to myself, yes! Look what she has or she did, and usually this person is close to me so the synchronicity is just amazing. Then I know, I’m getting close, and I always am. So I will celebrate her wins always! Mine is coming soon to a theater near me!

So I tell you that story so that you pay attention to the way things show up in your life. The things that are put in your path and learn from them, embrace them, our dreams, goals, and wishes don’t always show up exactly the way we expect. It’s usually different for a reason and it’s usually better, for our best interest. 

I go deeper into all of these lessons in my signature Bootcamp. The Soul Aligned Self Care Bootcamp. So if you want to go deep into these practices and master them, then this is the place to do it. Registration is coming up soon in December so be sure to get on the waitlist. This next start of the Bootcamp is going to be epic. I have something different and special planned!

Get on the list here: https://www.tinastinson.com/aligned-worthy-ps

Xo, T