Jun 8, 2022
“Caring for your body, mind, and spirit is your greatest and grandest responsibility. It’s about listening to the needs of your soul and then honoring them.” ~ Kristi Ling
Guest Introduction:
Welcome to another episode of Exploring the Seasons of Life, a podcast for women with a big heart on a spiritual journey. I’m your host Cindy MacMillan and I’m joined today by Suzie DeVaughn.
Each week, I interview coaches and spiritual explorers from all walks of life about beginnings, endings and the messy bits in-between. Self-love, well-being, and mindset are at the heart of our conversations because once you change the inside, the outside will begin to change as well.
In our hectic modern world, many of the women I talk to feel stressed, they feel overscheduled, and they feel overwhelmed racing from one meeting to the next, planning this or worrying about that.
My solution is self-care.
I know, I know, you are rolling your eyes and saying I can’t do one more thing but what the world thinks is self-care is just scratching the surface.
I’m inviting you into a deeper understanding of self-care…to have a different perspective…to reconnect with YOU.
This interview is part of a self-care series called, “Self-care is more than a buzzword. It’s personal.”
All right, my friends. I hope you enjoy every minute of this episode. Let me introduce my special guest today.
licensed master social worker
Suzie DeVaughn, LMSW, REV is an author, speaker, psychotherapist, and healing facilitator who has expertly guided thousands of clients to their innermost pain, transforming wounds into wisdom through compassion, love and insight. She founded Self-Care Specialists and Blossoming Heart Center to serve those interested in personal growth through therapy, energy healing, uplifting workshops and retreats. Suzie is the author of "Mastering Self-Care: Building Resiliency Through Healthy and Mindful Living."
Here’s a glimpse of our conversation:
Suzie, I'm SUPER excited you are here and today we are talking about Comprehensive Self-Care to Uplift Your Body, Mind and Soul.
3:25 (Suzie DeVaughn) I really appreciate the metaphor that you just used or shared, relating to a bouquet of flowers or to that flower and the petals. Because self-care truly is like a lotus flower that continually unfolds and the deeper that you go into your self-care and the deeper you go into yourself; the more beauty you find.
9:39 (Suzie DeVaughn) I started turning to alternative practitioners doing acupuncture, kinesiology, there were just different practices that I did, which made a big difference. So yes, that was the nudge, I was on my knees, and I knew I had to do something. And I realized that health is wealth. If you don't have your health, nothing else matters, I had all kinds of beauty and positive things in my life. But I didn't feel well.
12:34 (Suzie DeVaughn) A lot of people have really forgotten themselves in the mix of it all. So, they focus so much on other people, on their family, on their friends, on their clients, on their work, that they don't even consider themselves. And what we really need is a paradigm shift, where we recognize that we too are worthy, we are important, and we matter.
17:14 (Suzie DeVaughn) That's a question that I believe we, we can ask ourselves, often throughout the day, and especially when we're feeling a little out of balance, then that's a really good time to ask the question. But starting your day with self-care is a beautiful way to start the day, and whatever that looks like for you. So maybe your self-care starts off with a walk in the morning.
21:09 (Suzie DeVaughn) How often do we really make a commitment to ourselves; a devotion to ourselves. Sometimes not often enough, it's like we get what's left, instead of doing what makes sense for you.
22:09 (Suzie DeVaughn) When you start with yourself, when you take care of yourself, the little self-care needs and the bigger stuff. We haven't really gotten into that too much. But it really has to do with unpacking the baggage, the emotional stuff that you've accumulated, we all have to dust our shelves. But how often do we do the internal dusting, and the deep cleaning. And that's really important to working with our beliefs with releasing energies and emotions that don't serve us - changing patterns, habits. And doing the deeper inner work helps to make that all a lot easier and make it more of a reality you can move towards the reality that you want to create. But it starts inside of you.
48:30 (Suzie DeVaughn) There is a quote that I like very much and it's a quote by Buddha. And it's “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete." So never forget about yourself in the mix. You are unique to your core. We need every one of us. We all matter. We're all unique and different, like snowflakes. And the more you peel back the layers of that which is not you, you get closer and closer and closer to accessing the true authentic you that you that your Divine Self and how to change the world is by being the very best version of ourselves; by being ourselves.
YOU CAN FIND SUZIE DEVAUGHN AT:
If you LOVED this conversation with Suzie DeVaughn you’ll also love the conversations I had with:
Jill Krzyzanowicz on Living out Loud + Self-Loyalty
What is Your Choice Today with Amy Gonzalez-Nelsen
Through the Lens of Yoga and Mindfulness with Elizabeth Savage
Balance and the Benefits of Gratitude with Lisa Zawrotny
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode and you’d like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media, or head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate, and leave a review. I would love to hear your favorite part of the conversation.
Over the next few weeks, I will be announcing a 12-week one-on-one coaching program. It’s for women who are ready to make a change, finally let go of the past and stop waiting for permission to step into their big, beautiful lives. Whatever that big, beautiful life looks like for them.
It's called Journey of the Heart: An Inner Revolution.
Until next time live inspired!