The self-care industry often overlooks systemic barriers, causing distress and hopelessness.
Practicing effective self-care involves wisdom, self-trust, and aligned action, not just seeking pleasure.
Deep dives
The Disillusionment of the Self-Care Industry
The podcast episode delves into the disillusionment surrounding the self-care industry. It highlights how the focus on consumerism within the industry fails to consider people's diverse backgrounds, privileges, and systemic barriers that impact their ability to engage in self-care practices.
Intersectional Perspective on Self-Care
The discussion introduces the unique perspective of a Black woman, Taylor Elise Morrison, in the context of self-care. It explores the challenges of promoting self-care in the face of systemic inequalities and offers insights on validating individuals' struggles and addressing systemic issues while still finding ways to practice self-care.
Ecosystems of Care and Agency
Taylor Morrison emphasizes the concept of ecosystems of care, highlighting the importance of self-care within personal and communal environments. By focusing on one's agency and ability to make small empowering choices within their immediate sphere of influence, individuals can navigate feelings of hopelessness and work towards holistic well-being.
Wisdom as Self-Care and Curiosity
The episode discusses the dimension of wisdom as a vital aspect of self-care, emphasizing the importance of trusting one's inner knowing and taking aligned actions. It explores the power of curiosity in self-care, encouraging individuals to be curious about their choices, values, and responses to foster growth and self-compassion.
Self-care is a term we hear EVERYWHERE right now, and you’ve heard me talk about it over and over again. Today’s discussion is around the disillusionment of the self-care industry that I’m feeling, along with many others. I’m joined by Taylor Elyse Morrison, the author of Inner Workout: Strengthening Self-Care Practices for Healing Body, Soul, and Mind. Taylor is a founder, facilitator, coach, and serial entrepreneur, and she uses her coaching, mindfulness, and movement training to meet people where they are and offer actionable steps toward avoiding burnout. I’m putting Taylor on the spot by asking questions and picking her brain about common self-care struggles, and she is up for the challenge! Let’s see how this turns out!
Show Highlights:
How the consumeristic quality of today’s self-care movement ignores the marginalizations and barriers that many people experience that bring distress and hopelessness
Why Taylor urges us to ask, “Is it the Self, or is it the System?”
Why Taylor created a self-care assessment to give people “practical starting points”
How Taylor’s self-care assessment is based on the five yogic dimensions
Why self-care is often confused with pleasure as the hard work of self-care is overlooked
Why part of self-care is holding onto yourself in the presence of other people
Why wisdom is a part of self-care, along with the components of presence, self-trust, and aligned action
How curiosity and self-compassion play into effective self-care
Why Taylor is satisfied with the feedback she is getting from her book
Resources and Links:
Connect with Taylor: Website, (Buy her book, take the free self-care assessment, and join her newsletter group.) TikTok, and Instagram.
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