Understanding Self-Care and Self-Love: Definitions, Benefits, and Getting Started

>>Listen to the podcast here<<

Hey there, lovely soul! Let's dive into two essential concepts for a happier, healthier you: self-care and self-love. 

I call myself a self-care & mindset coach, but I have to say, I believe self-care and self-love go hand and hand and you can’t really have one without the other.  

This is why I believe they share many common benefits. One of the actions that I believe come under the definition of both self-care and self-love is boundaries. I always say that boundaries are the foundation for self-care and without it, all the wonderful self-care you do for yourself will not stick or have a profound effect on your life. Boundaries are deep-level self-care and an act of deep self-love. 

When I transitioned from professional people pleaser to boundary badass, this is when things really shifted for me. I used to adjust myself, my...

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is how to put myself first and why this is so important. I was a top-notch people-pleaser for most of my life including a large portion of my adult life. A lot of this came from just the average run-of-the-mill conditioning by society with the expectation of women to take care of everyone at their own expense, to always put everyone else first and don’t complain about it either because if you do you would be labeled selfish. I’m glad I see a bit of a shift in this conditioning. Women are waking up and realizing they have been getting shafted for quite a while. 

One of the most important things I’ve learned is that putting yourself first is not selfish. It serves us, our families, and our communities as a whole. You see when we put ourselves first and take care of ourselves at the highest levels. Rest when we are tired and sick, spend time doing things that bring us joy, and help us expand and grow. We then...

This morning I was reading one of my favorite books about wildcrafting, Wild Remedies by Rosalee de la Foret. It's a great beginning book about herbalism and this is the third time I’m reading it. There was a part where she is talking about having a sitting spot to observe nature and I started to think about it, I’ve always had a sitting spot. When I was a kid it was at the shore of Long Island at the peer on Cedar Beach. When I lived near Syracuse NY it was at the shore of a lake in a town park. Now where I live also in upstate NY it’s right on my family's property. We have it all, fields, woods, ponds, creeks, and an abundance of wildlife. 

The Author goes on to talk about how to observe nature and watch how everything is connected and how they all serve each other, support one another, and live in this perfect dance called nature. 

I love sitting on this little bench we have next to the creek on our property and a beautiful garden where we sprinkled my...

6 Coaches & Healers Share Their Top Self-Care Practices

We all know that self-care is important for our well-being, our health, and our happiness. Yet many of us don't take the time to add these practices into our daily lives.

 In this special guest blog post, 6 coaches and healers, including myself,  share some of our favorite self-care practices that you can start using today. I hope you enjoy!

Let's get started.

 Tina Stinson

One of my favorite most powerful deep-level self-care practices is bringing myself back into the present moment.

When I’m feeling stressed or anxious it's usually coming from a thought or a feeling from the past or a worry about something in the future. 

These are two things that don’t exist and we have complete control over how they affect us.

All I do is, as soon as I’m feeling that stressed anxious feeling, take a few deep breaths to ground myself in my body. I acknowledge how I’m feeling and ask myself...

Every single thing in the world has a certain vibration and to put it super simple, some things are high vibe (more on the positive side) and some are low vibe (more on the negative side) and then there are a bunch of different vibrations in between.

So why should we want to vibrate at a high vibration? Because this is when we feel great, we are feeling love and joy and ease in our lives.

Now, I understand, we can’t be super positive all the time. We have ups and downs throughout our lives and when we feel something we need to feel it, experience it, and then process it. 

The key is not to stay there and keep repeating the negative thought or feelings in your head and body. 

If we experience something crappy we need to feel it, process it, and then maybe learn from it or adjust our path and then move forward. 

Just having the mindset that every experience is here to teach us or adjust our path brings you into a higher...

Today I'll be sharing parts 4 and 5 of the things I want to leave behind as we move into the new year.

Before I get started I wanted to share with you that I have probably 20 things I would like to leave behind and I will leave behind but I feel that would be too long and drawn out.

I encourage you to not have a new year resolution but to just reflect on the last year and have a plan to get closer to your goals and dreams. 

Plan is the keyword here because if you don't really know what you want and you don't have a vision or a plan to get what you want when you figure it out then you most likely won't get there.

So moving on.

The last two things I'm leaving behind are connected to each other. 

One is a hustle mentality, and the other is not making time, a lot of time for my self-care.

You see I figured out that when I take the time to treat myself well, take care of myself, I get things done quicker.

Not just quicker, but also better. I have better creativity and...

Happy Monday!

For this next week, I'll be talking bout 5 things I plan on leaving behind so that I can have an epic year in 2022.

I'll be covering one thing each day I might at some point do a live about it on Instagram. As long as I get my somewhat normal voice back. 

I've had a bit of a cold and have trouble talking without coughing.

So make sure to follow me on Instagram > @tinastinsoncoach

I am on FB but kinda want to move off of this platform but you can check it out here>> TinaStinsonWellness

 So let's get started.

The first thing I plan on leaving behind as this year comes to an end is judgment. 

Judgment of myself and also, the judgment of other people.

Yes, even people I feel I can judge. Which is basically just my opinion.

You see the one thing I've noticed is that the people of this country and even the world are completely divided right now. 

The more I look at this situation the more silly it seems. 

I truly believe...

This week for Step 11 in the Life Purpose series we will be talking about gratitude and the benefits of having a gratitude practice.

Gratitude is scientifically proven to improve relationships, physical health, psychological health, empathy, and self-esteem. It also can reduce anger.

Let's not forget that like attracts like so it's a great place to get started when you're trying to improve your energy and vibe and the outcome of anything in your life.

When you're starting to make your daily gratitude list or journal you might be thinking, what am I grateful for? Some people struggle at first to come up with things. 

Remember to start small. Think of all those small things that are just so great. Your morning coffee, Your puppy or your cat, the sunrise, someone who made a kind remark to you the other day. These things make a big difference in our lives and it’s important to acknowledge them. 

The more we acknowledge them the more they will show up in our lives!

...

It is not healthy for us as humans to stand still and to be stagnant. Remember, movement is life. It's human nature to want to learn and grow throughout our entire life and this should never stop. It is your job to feed and nourish this desire and keep your mind and imagination alive. Right now, let's focus on reigniting our desire to learn new things and have fun doing them.

I once watched a Ted Talk where the guy talked about an experiment he did where he tried something new every 30 days.

I thought, that sounds like fun, I’m going to do that!

The first thing I did was start eating plant-based cold turkey! It was an amazing experience and something I had been thinking about for a while. By the way, I’m still plant-based today and it’s been around 12 years! I also coach other people who want to transition over so give me a shout-out if this is you.

Don't worry about being good at something or looking good. Right now, just focus on moving forward, learning...