Is Self-Care a Radical Act?

Episode 114

Brodie Welch

Our podcast guest Brodie Welch is saying without a doubt in her mind that self-care is a radical act!

Why should we believe her?

Because Brodie knows her stuff! She has studied and worked in the health field for over 20 years and has helped countless people to take that step towards better health.

Here is Brodie Welch’s bio

Brodie Welch is a Licensed Acupuncturist, board-certified herbalist, Chinese Medicine expert, group coach, and self-care strategist. She’s the founder of Life in Balance Acupuncture in Corvallis, Oregon, where she has been treating patients since 2003.

In addition to her clinical practice, Brodie helps caring, high-achieving, women put themselves on their own to-do lists so they can trade stress and burnout for energy, joy, and vibrant health. She has helped thousands of clients improve their digestion, sleep, and mood; dial in a regular bodymind practice, and step into the next version of themselves. She’s also the creator and host of A Healthy Curiosity: the podcast that explores what it takes to be well in a busy world.

Now that you know Brodie’s credentials, let me tell you some about our interview. To get all that Brodie shared, you do have to listen to the podcast. You can click on the player above or subscribe via your favorite podcatcher.

Self-Care – A Radical Act

Why is that a true statement?

Self-care requires the radical act to care about yourself enough to do it!!

Breath that in and sit with it for a little bit. What does that mean?

Let’s take one example many of us can relate to. Good health requires a certain amount of hours of sleep. Actually, Brodie explains that we need to be asleep at 11 pm for our body to be able to its work of restoring and detoxing. But more about that later.

We need sleep. But there is a pile of work waiting to be done. Maybe there is a deadline looming. A paper or a report is due.

Do you choose your health and go to bed? Or do you stay up until the early morning hours, finish that project and get only a few hours of sleep?

If you are like me, you stay up and finish. Then pay for it the next few days with being tired and distracted.

So, in this case, radical self-care could mean that you go to bed, don’t do the work which needed to be done and deal with the consequences.

That probably backfires a bit. For one, it is doubtful you get a good nights sleep and the consequences might have a long-term effect.

That means we have to approach this differently. We stay up late for this one time and then figure out how to be able to meet that need – sleep – in the future.

I am sure that most of you that the solution is simply time management. And that is part of it.

The Whole System Approach

But how about looking at the problem, if we want to call it such, through a whole system approach.

Is our mind functioning clearly so we don’t over commit in the first place?
Are we tired all the time and don’t get enough done during our waking hours?
Is our body feeling strong and healthy?
Do we feel happy about our life or are we overwhelmed?

All of this doesn’t seem to have much to do with an unmet deadline. But it does.

The ancient wisdom system, as Brodie calls them, Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, look at the whole person – not the symptoms or specific actions.

Let’s look into that a bit more before we come back to the missed deadline. If you do a quick google search on the definition of Ayurveda, you might find this:

“Ayurveda’s fundamental approach to well-being is that you must reach your unique state of balance in your whole being—body, mind, and spirit.”

or this

“The foundation of Ayurvedic nutrition is based on the idea that you are the result of what, when, where, how and why you eat.”

or this

“Ayurveda is a holistic healing science which comprises of two words, Ayu and Veda. Ayu means life and Veda means knowledge or science.”

If you google Chinese Medicine you find this:

“Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) originated in ancient China and has evolved over thousands of years. TCM practitioners use herbal medicines and various mind and body practices, such as acupuncture and tai chi , to treat or prevent health problems.”

or this

“TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine, is a profound pathway to create the life you truly want to live, the life you were born to live.”

or this

“Chinese medicine treatments address imbalances using food therapy/diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies, Chinese exercise, and meditation.”

Just reading these few statements makes it clear that both systems address the whole being. There is far more to creating the life we want than finding the right pill or herb or getting a better time management plan.

Everything we do, including perpetually being overworked, late on projects or tired, are an expression of something in us being out of balance.

Brodie’s Courses

When I set out to do this interview, I just knew that Brodie’s expertise fits right into our theme of Inner Sustainability and Health as an important part of sustainable living.

Then I found out that Brodie is teaching online courses people can participate in from anywhere in the world.

The more we talked, the more I got excited about her courses, and I asked Brodie if she can offer a discount to you, our listeners and readers. And she did!!

I am so happy that you all can get a 15% discount on her 12 Treasures Qigong and Basics of Chinese Medicine courses.

I wanted to tell you this right now because I know that not everyone is reading to the end of blog posts.

Highlights of Our Conversation

Let me share some highlights of our conversation with you.

Self-care requires the radical step of valuing it enough to do it. It becomes the solid foundation from which you can stand strongly on this platform from which you can do your work in the world with clarity and efficiency.

Remember that looming deadline? When we function well, we don’t overcommit and can do the work required in a minimum of time and still produce excellent results.

Here is an example which makes this point even clearer. If you cut a tree and have a dull saw, it might take all day to finish the job. But if you take the time to sharpen the saw, or even better, sharpen the saw before starting to work on the tree, the job will be done in no time.

So, spending the time to take care of ourselves is time well spent. It is not a selfish act. It is a necessity.

Here is a hack to become an expert in self-care: Schedule your you time early in the day! Something will always come up if you wait for later.

Sounds easy, right? We can go with the Nike slogan “Just Do It!”

Change and Habits

But change is not easy. Creating a new habit or letting go of one which no longer serves us requires effort and the will to do it.

Brodie explains this in the following way.

Habits have a circuit.

A trigger or cue
The habit or behavior
Rewards you get from doing that behavior

These are the 5 most common cues or triggers.

Time of the day
Place
The Person you are with
Preceding action
Emotional state

The key to change is finding out the reward or the result. Then ask the question: What can I do instead?

One of the prerequisites to change is a deep desire and being in alignment with the person you want to be next year.

To keep yourself on track to give birth to the next version of yourself requires attention to who you are now and who you are becoming.

This can take a lot of courage! How many of us are making excuses for gaining those extra 20 lbs, or eating food we know is not really good for us. And how many of us haven’t really looked in the mirror for many years.

[clickToTweet tweet=”The key to #change is finding out the reward or the result. Then ask the question: What can I do instead?@ahcuriosity” quote=”The key to change is finding out the reward or the result. Then ask the question: What can I do instead?” theme=”style1″]

Changing habits, giving birth to the self we want to be, requires to really be honest with ourselves. We have to figure out who we are and also who we want to be. That can be so difficult. We are all products, to some extent, of fulfilling expectations others have on us.

Mediation can be an excellent tool to come to that clarity. To figure out who we want to be. Brodie offers a free breath medication which I did right before our interview and really liked.

Change is hard for the person wanting to change. But for people around that person, it can be outright scary! Often, the best friend or the husband/wife can become the worst saboteurs! Watch out for that!!

[clickToTweet tweet=”Changing habits, giving birth to the self we want to be, requires to really be honest with ourselves. #podcast” quote=”Changing habits, giving birth to the self we want to be, requires to really be honest with ourselves.” theme=”style1″]

So, if you undertake a shift in your life, make sure you surround yourself with a support system. Meetup can be a great place to find in-person support – there is a group for just about anything including self-care.

Social media can be a useful as well. When we did the Gerson Therapy, the daily interaction in a private Facebook group with people on the same path helped me through many difficult days.

Or join a paid in person or online community.

Brodie offers programs like that starting next month. And, as I said, she is offering you a 15% discount (In case you are wondering, we do not earn anything on this. We asked for this for you!)

The discount is offered for the 12 Treasures Qigong and Basics of Chinese Medicine.

Use the coupon code “SUSTAIN” for 15% off

Brodie’s website: http://brodiewelch.com

We also talked about plastic and the impact on our health. Brodie has a 15-minute mini-class on how to help your Liver (from a Chinese and allopathic perspective) which addresses detoxing the xenoestrogens stored in our fat.

http://brodiewelch.com/22-ways-love-liver-sync-spring-opt-page-2/

If you are ready to get serious about self-care, check out what Brodie has to offer us.