Self-Care Planning as a Tool for Creating a Lifestyle of Self-Care with Alexis Overstreet

I cannot say this enough, self-care is not bubble baths, massages, and alone time. Those things are great but they do not make up the entirety of what it means to care for yourself. Alexis Overstreet is a licensed psychotherapist who has transitioned into helping business owners connect with their bodies and create real self-care plans to bolster their lifestyles.

Alexis began her career in clinical practice and absolutely loved what she did, but as things started shifting just before the pandemic, she realized her purpose was shifting. Beyond the mental load of the stress of the pandemic was this overarching trend toward a true neglect of the self that she was seeing in her patients and in herself.

So much of our anxiety and our stress stems from our bodily reaction to outside stressors, but if our body is not being well cared for, then it cannot properly respond. Additionally, this modern world is full of stressors. We are constantly in a state of fight or flight and our bodies can no longer instinctively determine when we are in harm’s way or simply reacting to something happening in the world.

All of these things have helped Alexis create a new way to approach health and wellness, by planning self-care as part of the overall lifestyle.

She shares so many amazing tips and advice for how to do this, but one of my favorites, and one that I didn’t realize impacted our overall mental health as much as it does, is hydration. Getting and staying properly hydrated makes a world of difference for our brains.

One way she recommends staying hydrated is having more than one water bottle on hand at all times. That way when one runs out, you always have a backup. And when you just can’t drink anymore water, remember that there are tons of foods out there that are naturally high in liquid.

Listen as she shares more about why she’s so passionate about true self-care and ways you can start implementing self-care planning in your own life. Which is your favorite tip or trick?

In This Episode:

[02:00] Meet Alexis Overstreet and listen as she shares a bit about her story.

[04:50] How you can plan your self-care as a tool for your lifestyle.

[07:39] Self-care is so much more than the skin deep things that the marketing gurus would have you believe.

[08:52] What can business owners do when they have stressors and triggers in the middle of their day?

[11:02] Stress is an internal reaction, not an external situation.

[12:57] Alexis shares how she works with her clients to become more aware of their own stress and stressors.

[15:20] Just because you’ve found your dream job, you’ll still experience stress.

[18:20] What constitutes overall hydration?

[19:46] Learn what fascia is and why we need to pay attention to it in self-care.

[21:40] Ways you can address stress and stressors in the middle of the day.

[24:43] Why having more than one water bottle around is one piece of self-care planning.

[27:22] Good foods to eat that increase your hydration.

[30:59] Take it easy on yourself. It’s hard work to run a business, so give yourself grace and know that health, wellness, and self-care is not all or nothing.

[32:39] Use the MELT system to help you release tension.

[33:24] One actionable tip to take away from this conversation is to pay attention to your body.

[34:23] Alexis answers the three rapid fire questions for the day.

[39:31] Connect with Alexis.