Our self-worth is reflected in how we treat ourselves. Do we practice self-love and self-care? Or are we often shadowed by our negative self-talk, something along the lines of “You are not _____ enough”? We may fill in the blank with “smart”, “successful”, “slim”, “strong”, or simply "Just Not Good Enough”. 

The pursuit of perfection is epidemic. It is not surprising though, as we browse on our social media, we see tons of images of perfect body, wealth, beauty and success. No wonder why so many people suffer different degrees of negative self-image and overlook our body and mind connection. 

For women to feel good and truly well, glowing from inside and out, with a happy smile and soaring spirit, we need a holistic approach. We need to know what really matters to our heart and soul and we need to nourish our body and mind. 

This week I got to speak with Niomi Lindfors, founder of Stella Wellness, who totally walk her talk in a holistic approach on well-being. She has two degrees in psychology and she uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in her practice. Now, here is what I meant by "walk her talk”, she is also a yoga teacher and massage therapist helping her clients to improve their wellness. 

Naomi is originally from London but now lives in a small town in Sweden. She has 4 children and the 5th one is on the way. (At the time of our interview she was about 7 months pregnant!)

Since at a young age, she has been practising meditation and yoga, and they are great tools to reduce anxiety or stress. 

With psychology, it is certainly more focused in the mind and intellectual matters but from her personal experience, it is so important to integrate body, mind and soul together, and that is why she created Stella Wellness, for women to feel good and be truly well in a holistic way.

After she had her first baby, she and her family moved from the busy metropolitan city of London to a quiet little town in Sweden. They wanted a calmer environment for better work-life balance and to bring up the family. But she felt a sense of anxiety that she never had before, perhaps it was the uprooting and moving to a completely different culture,  with a new language to learn, as well as a young baby to care for.

That was the time that she realized yoga, meditation and massage became ever so useful again, and that was the reason behind her finding StellaWellness to help other women. 

So often we put our family, work and everything else first, but forget about taking good care for ourselves. In this modern world, we can have both career and family, but more often than not, as women, we feel we need to sacrifice our self-care and time to do the things that fill our energy tank, inspiration, creativity or simply a pleasure. 

This is perhaps something hard for someone to admit, let alone change.  We may always try to postpone looking after ourselves or putting other things or other people first. But without a healthy and nurtured body, mind and spirit, we won’t be as effective, productive and happy as we can be. 

It was great to chat with Niomi as she reminds me of how important self-love is and how much self-worth is reflected in the way how we talk to ourselves and treat ourselves. 

We can have it all if we choose things wisely. There is always a time and place for everything, and self-love is certainly one of the things we need. 

You can listen to our interview via the podcast above or watch our ...