SelfKind: Conversations in self-care, kindness and compassion for highly sensitive people

I’m thrilled to be joined today by Cat Matson, founder and CEO of Impactful Presenters. But just hang on one sec! If you read the word ‘presenters’ and thought ‘this might not be for me’, think again. In our chat, Cat shares with us the importance of authentic self-expression in various contexts - including our personal interactions with partners, friends, family, children and colleagues. So no, y...

Feeling unmotivated? Self-care just keeps falling off the bottom of your to-do list? This episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that’s me!) invites you to get curious by asking 8 questions that go beyond the surface. These questions are intended to support you in overcoming the common feeling of self-care being too demanding or falling off your priority list.  Curiosity lies at the heart of this ep...

Books! I loooove them. And they really can have a profound impact on your life. In this week's episode of the podcast, SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) I'm sharing five of my favourite non-fiction books that can support you with navigating what it is to be human. From making you feel less alone, to illuminating the dark path of persistent pain, these books are some of the best...

Welcome to this episode of Self Kind with me, Erica Webb. Today I’m sharing some personal stories around the impact of rules-driven thinking on self-care. I’m tying this topic into last week’s episode with guest Sam Sellers, who joined us to talk about religious trauma.  I’m sharing: - my own experiences of guilt and shame that stemmed, at least in part, from my early experiences with religion and...

Welcome to this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that’s me!) where I’m chatting with guest Sam Sellers about religious trauma. Sam, a queer religious trauma therapist and clinical supervisor, shares with us her personal story around experiencing religious trauma and how she has navigated the impact of that on her life and identity.  Within this conversation is a discussion around the importanc...

Another listener’s question in this week’s episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that’s me!). This one’s all about how to support the adults in your life to practice self-kindness without coming across as righteous.  You’ll hear: the importance of not leading with ‘should’ The role of being a self-kind voice for others Why engaging in self-kindness toward yourself can be so useful, even to others A...

Welcome to this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that’s me!). Today I’m responding to a listener's question about self-care activities that can happen in small windows of time - namely, 15 minutes or less.  So, I’ve got 15 things for you to consider (and I reckon we’d easily come up with dozens more than that!). Tune in to hear them all and then share your favourites with me, as well as w...

In this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) I'm sharing a little analogy from the world of plants.  You know how plants orient themselves toward the sun? Well, I think we can learn a whole lot about self-care by considering the question: how do I orient myself toward support? You'll hear: - why it's often easy to orient towards suffering and martyrdom.  - why waiti...

In this episode of SelfKind, Erica Webb sits down with social media self-care coach Misty Johnson to talk all things social media self-care.  Misty shares her experiences of taking consistent and intentional breaks from social media, highlighting the benefits and importance of taking 'JOLO' (joy of living offline) moments for personal well-being.  She discusses the concept of developing...

Hello! Welcome to this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!). In this episode I'm discussing the recent rise in Somatics in all the places and providing some clarity on what it truly means. You will hear: - The origins of the word Somatics - What the SOMA actually is - The difference between somatic practices and somatic exercise - The risks inherent in believing that somatics...

Perfectionism. We end up in the perfectionist loop easily enough ... but what is the true cost? In this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) I'm delving into this subject and talking about how this constant striving for perfection can leave us feeling like we're never enough (and never will be). You will hear: - The impact of cultural expectations and pressures on our ex...

In this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) I'm sharing a personal story about a mistake I made just last week, that illustrates the power of the mind and the narratives that we tell ourselves. While none of us want to make mistakes (it feels yuck, right?) the unavoidable truth is that we will continue to make mistakes until our final days. Why? Because we're human and...

Feel guilty engaging in self-care? Feel bad about having needs, like, at all? Worried that you have more self-care needs than other people? If so, this episode is for you. In this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) I'm exploring those feelings of guilt and shame that arise around self-care and having needs in the first place. The kicker here is that we're bumping up ag...

Welcome to this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!). In this episode I'm talking about the power of moving towards what you want rather than always moving away from what you don't want.  You'll hear: - how your habits and goals can be supported by an acknowlegment of how you want to feel. - why guilt is a poor motivator. - why alleviating guilt by finally doing tha...

In the first episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) for 2024, we're exploring the number one benefit of a slow and mindful movement practice. Moving slowly is not lazy, ineffective or pointless. Far from it! Tune in to hear: - why enhancing your capacity for interoception is as a key advantage of slow movement - how this skill leads to better responsiveness to your physical and...

Comparison - the thief of joy? It sure can be. And who wants that?  The thing is, these human brains of ours are very good at judgment and comparison is judgment wearing a different outfit. So ... what's a human to do? Join me for this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) to hear my thoughts on comparison as a thief of joy (except when it isn't). You'll hear: - The...

Fear the judgment of others? That's understandable - it's deeply uncomfortable to be openly or quietly judged. But we potentially do ourselves a disservice if our strategy for remedying that is to shrink or alter ourselves to avoid others' judgments and make them like us. This is what we're exploring today on SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!). In this episode you will...

DO-ing self-care is the common approach to incorporating self-care into your life. But I'm proposing that BE-ing self-caring is actual the more useful approach. To DO self-care, we have to carve out time to do things that we love. That's not a bad thing at all. But what happens when we don't have the time? What happens when life gets busy or life-y, as it's so prone to do? That...

A quick little follow-on from Episode 241 all about JOYFUL REBELLION. Haven't listened that episode yet? I recommend checking it out. Because today I'm talking about what joyful rebellion has to do with people pleasing behaviour. In this episode you'll hear: The well-meaning instruction I overheard that points to why listening to your own body/desires can be SO HARD What it means to...

Joyful Rebellion. I love the feel of those words. Joyful Rebellion. Let's dive into exploring what this is in this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!). Joyful rebellion is my current favourite way of describing the joy that can come with recognising your capacity for choice, stepping away from reflexive guilt and allowing yourself to connect with your needs, desires and joy....

In this Tuesday Tidbit episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) I'm sharing why always and never thinking could be getting in the way of a kind, compassionate relationship with yourself and with self-care.  This certainly isn't the first time we've talked about all or nothing thinking here on the Podcast, but I think this particular way of framing the idea is helpful -...

Perfectionism. That's just dotting all the i's, crossing all the t's ... order and tidiness, right? Maybe not. In this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!) I'm talking about some of the ways perfectionism can hide in plain view. Why does this matter? Because a relentless pursuit of perfection is also a way of consistently making yourself wrong, bad or a failure...

What if you expected to fail? At self-care; at getting it right (whatever it is)? How could this change your relationship with yourself? In this Tuesday Tidbit episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that's me!), I'm talking about how expecting to fail can be rather free-ing. You'll hear: - how expecting to fail is not the same as not trying - how failing isn't really failure - wh...

Welcome to this episode of SelfKind with Erica Webb (that’s me!) and my very special guest, Movement Educator and Author, Trina Altman. In this episode Trina is sharing her evolution as both a mover and a movement professional. In particular, we talk about the central role strength training now plays for her as a mover and a teacher. Tune in to hear: The transitions Trina has made from competitive...

The inner critic can be incessant. Nothing you do is ever quite right. But here's the thing about your inner critic: left to its own devices, it can create an internal environment that is adding to your experience of stress. The aches, the pains, the overwhelm - all of these things can be impacted by changing the way you relate to your inner critic. So today, I'm sharing one simple tip t...