Janine is one special woman. Besides being one of my closest dearest friends. She's one of the people in my life who have the most light, love, beauty and joy radiating from their hearts. Her life is dedicated to service and giving back, and her influence on my life has just been radical.

Our conversation today covers so many topics. We get to hear a bit of her childhood and story growing up in Argentina, her personal spirituality, how she finds happiness, and her words of wisdom on beauty standards and body image.

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

This was truly such an illuminating conversation for me, on Christianity, spirituality, and a personal relationship with the divine.

I just ask that you keep an open mind throughout the whole conversation, and trust that whether you believe the same beliefs Catlin has or not, take it from me, he is one of the most giving, kind people I know so lets tune in and listen to what he has to say.

I think the takeaway from this episode is, there are many roads that we can take on our spiritual journey, and most of them lead to the same place of unity, love, service and humility. And it's not about saying that one is right or the other is wrong, more about finding which one resonates with you, or maybe even forging your own unique path.

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

Today I wanted to chat with you guys about the importance of being wary of the vocabulary we use. I've been working on specifically eliminating the word "should" and also apologizing incessantly when I've done nothing at fault. These seemingly frivolous words can actually trickle down and inform the way we subconsciously value ourselves.

I'd love to know what you guys think about this topic!

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

Episode #8

Today I explore the interplay between how patience informs self love and self love allows patience. I also touch on my personal experiences of losing the plot and losing myself in social media, and how to maybe avoid doing what I did ahha. But mostly I'm still hanging out in this theme of practicing this way of being where we are more loving, kind and compassionate with ourselves.

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

Truly no words for this episode, just blessed.

Firstly, meet my incredible friend Akeem aka @akeemo.therapy on Instagram. I have nothing but pure gratitude to have this human in my life, he is full of genuine joy and gratitude like I've never seen in anyone else, he's also humble, giving, inspiring and so creative. But the first word that comes to mind when I think of Akeem is, playful. He's like an enlightened child in the best way possible.

In this episode we went to all the places and got to all the feels ahah. The theme of this episode was definitely self love, and his perspective on self love was so unique and beautiful, I loved it! But I also just got to hear about Akeem' story, how he got to this place of spirituality, from his depression to this now high vibrational living and how intuition has been has guiding compass all along. It's such a wonderful conversation, and I would even go as far as to say it's my favorite episode yet. Just so full of energy, love, inspiration, and story telling. PLUS Akeem Freestyle raps for us, so..... DEFFS listen till the end! haha.

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

Episode #6 - Four Things I Wish I'd Known:

Today I go in depth and personal into 4 of the many many things I wish I'd known when I was struggling. This is not to say that I regret one second of my life, but just to shed some light on what could have helped me in retrospect so that maybe some of you can be able to learn from my mistakes or take something from the quotes and experiences I chat about in this episode!

1. Patience

2. I am Enough

3. Being Lost Isn't a Bad Thing

4. Vulnerability is The Only Authentic State

Quotes:

“Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Have the patience to wait! Be still and allow the mud to settle.” 
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

“Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.” 
― Alan W. Watts

“Vulnerability is the only authentic state. Being vulnerable means being open, for wounding, but also for pleasure. Being open to the wounds of life means also being open to the bounty and beauty. Don’t mask or deny your vulnerability: it is your greatest asset. Be vulnerable: quake and shake in your boots with it. the new goodness that is coming to you, in the form of people, situations, and things can only come to you when you are vulnerable, i.e. open.” 
― Stephen Russell

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

I spoke at an event on Monday called Project Fearless, and I was so inspired and also shocked by how often my misinterpretation and rejection of fear has caused me to struggle to feel loved, to feel enough, to feel accepted by others and myself. So today on the podcast I share what I learnt from that experience.

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

Love,

Steph.

Today I sat down with Brian from @carew_movement, to chat about well... life. He shared his story of moving from thinking to feeling, we talked about our own insecurities, our own struggles, and what we've learnt about detachment, trusting, love, and beauty.

I enjoyed this conversation so much, Brian is just such a genuine wonderful human, and being able to share our conversation with you all brings me so much joy. It's a long one but listen till the end, there's some awesome nuggets of truth that I would love you all to hear.

Thank you all so much for listening, and as always, let me know your feedback by sending me a message on instagram @happyandhealthy96, or leaving a review on Itunes.

Love,

Steph.

This is my story, vulnerable, honest, authentic and very personal. I'll be honest, it was extremely nerve wracking for me to post this because it is so raw and honest but I hope that it can inspire just one of you to open up and tell your story. And realize the beauty in your scars and how they've been the roadmap to helping you get here right now, in this present moment, and what a beautiful (and messy) thing that is.

I do talk a lot about personal family matters, I just want to say that, all families have their dysfunctions, I just happened to voice mine here on air, but I know that my parents love me and just tried to do the best they could with their own struggles and difficulties and hurts that they've experienced in their lives. And I can honestly say that, today, I love both of my parents with all my heart, and have so much compassion and understanding for them. Wasn't always that way of course, but I'm learning to love and forgive more everyday.

For the show notes check out my site: stephyu.com

And don't forget to write a review or send me a message on Instagram @happyandhealthy96

In this episode, I chat about why the podcast is called "A Beautiful Mess," dealing with weight gain and "hate" from others, and some of philosophies/books that have helped me through this difficult season in my life.

Hope you enjoy, let me know what you guys think.

Much Love,

Steph.X