Creative Self Care with Crystal McLain

Hey, friend. It’s been a long freaking time since I’ve talked to you here from Blog Land. I’ve been…busy. Between maintaining my own self care, creating workshops for organizations who work with with trauma victims (SAY WHAT?!), and building a self-guided online course, I haven’t had much energy for anything outside of the essentials. But, in light of recent events, and with November creeping up on us rather quickly, I’ve been struck by a new found energy and compulsion to jump back in with the blog and podcast. I’ve also decided to stop worrying about whether or not the online...

Have you ever told yourself that you suck at self care? Or have you told yourself that it’s something that just isn’t accessible to you? If so, I’m so glad you’re here because I get to be the one to tell you that that is bullshit. Here’s the thing, you’re actually really good at self care. And I’ll tell you why in a minute. The problem isn’t with you or your aptitude or accessibility to self care, it’s the belief systems you have about it, and the habits you’ve created around that's causing you to believe that you're bad at it....

Just about every morning I sit alone in the wee, dark hours of the day, cuddled next to my dog, drinking coffee, and spilling my heart and ideas into a notebook. This has become an important part of my self care practice. Not only does it give me space to process what's going on in my head, but it also seems to help release my anxieties so I can get on with life. And if that wasn't awesome enough, it also seems to spark a lot content ideas. A lot of times what ends up on the pages of my...

  In a culture where toxic positivity is confused with confidence, optimism and resilience, the concept of having a positive mindset was something I had to challenge before I got on board.  One of the most destructive things we can do is to gloss over the very real feelings and challenges we face in life. But, on the other hand, one of the most empowering things we can do is to believe in something better.  So, today I want to hash out the difference between practical optimism and toxic positivity, so we can process our emotions and move through our challenges in a...

  I don't know about you, but there have been (admittedly, many) times when I've felt numb or empty inside. Like there's no joy, meaning, or pleasure in life. It's the same ol' thing, day in and day out, while you try to keep up with life's demands as you watch the world crumble around you.  Sorry. That got rather dark, rather quickly. Anyway, a lot of us try to compensate with things like alcohol, shopping, gambling, gaming, binge-eating, social media scrolling or some other pleasure stimulant. And while these things do feel pretty good in the moment, they typically leave us feeling just...