Self-Care and the Art of Authenticity

For many women, self-care happens at the edges of our lives : after work, on the weekend, once the kids are in bed, when we’re on vacation.  But many of us work from home, which often means that the workday never really ends.  Our devices keep us connected, and even the most disciplined among us struggles with unplugging from the interwebs and plugging back into ourselves.

Lynn Baldwin-Rhoades is a Seattle entrepreneur who coaches women business owners.  In her words, she helps them “…build purpose-based businesses that feel good, inspire change and sustain them in every way — financially, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.”

Her background in business and marketing helps her add strategic value to her client’s businesses, but it’s her insistence on authenticity that largely informs her coaching.  As she says:

My whole-person approach arises from a single sweet fact: Who you are in life is who you are at work.



Only by integrating inner strengths, priorities and personality into your business can it serve you — deeply, holistically and for a very long time.   



We recently spoke with Lynn about connection, self-care and business.  Read on for her thoughtful answers to the questions that drive her to walk her talk every single day:

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Lynn, you work from home and are online or on the phone much of the time.  How do you restore energy when you feel over-connected with clients and the web?


Great question – being over-connected catalyzes chaos for sure! 



I’m a fan of pre-loading energy … fueling up, so to speak, which I do by spending taking 30 minutes of quiet time every morning. In past years, my alarm meant speed showering and racing to a corporate job, so rare is daybreak when I don’t feel thankful for leisurely coffee time, reflection and chickadees chirping outside.



I try to keep client meetings to three days a week, although to be honest, these calls energize rather than drain me. I totally love helping women do meaningful work and have to bring myself down after sessions rather than re-fuel.



It’s the online interaction that zaps me – that, and feeling Velcroed to my laptop. Social media, endless email, sitting for centuries (in a single day no less) is super tiring.



What helps is working in blocks of time – an hour, usually – and making sure I get up, move my booty, take a walk, get food or whatever. This is simple but big, too. It’s so weird how others’ energy leaches lifeblood right through a computer screen! 


What does self-care look like to you?


Paying attention to my senses. All five of them.



I may be writing a blog post or working on a new online course but I’ve also lit a lemongrass soy candle, put a few daffodils in a small Mason jar, and am drinking water. 



When I stress out, I grab my lavender essential oil and sniff away, sometimes to excess (I swoon for the scent). When my mind edges toward mayhem, I close my laptop and leave the house – if only for a 5-minute walk.  



And I practice meditation in short spurts through out the day. Conscious breathing — even ten breaths — brings me to a more centered and sane space. Meditation is insta-help, and free to boot. Love me a deal!

You write often about vulnerability and authenticity.  What’s the impact of showing up "without your armor" in your life?  What has it necessitated in terms of self-care?


For me, showing up with vulnerability means feeling safe, plain and simple. 


Safe within myself and safe with a few trusted others. Only then can I have the courage to open the hinges of my heart to the wider community, whether through writing, facilitating a women’s circle or speaking to a group.



One of my favorite things to do is to hold space for others — to create a nourishing place of empathy and acceptance. And yes, I mean this in the professional arena, because despite the fact that I help people with business strategy, this creates a foundation of trust. To help others be real, I need to feel safe and centered myself. 


All the self-care practices I’ve established over the last couple of years have helped me find courage to be vulnerable and open to others.




Who are your self-care role models? 


From Pema Chödrön, I learn to extend gentle kindness towards the aspects of myself I’d rather not cop to. She writes, “Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves, all those imperfections that we don't even want to look at." 



From Brene Brown, I learn that fear keeps me safe, which keeps me cut off. Opening up to my own fragile and powerful humanity nearly undoes me for how it evokes aching love for others.



Connecting to compassion and this sense of expansion, both are the essence of caring for others.


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Now over to you : how do you invite self-care into your work/life balance?  What does being authentic look like for you, and how do you support yourself to consistently show up authentically?

To learn more about Lynn, please check out her website at www.powerchicksinternational.com.