How Does a Type A Personality Step Into Their Goals with Gentle Passion?

What do I mean by this?

Well, as a Type A person living in a very disruptive world, I’ve come to realize something has to shift in order for me to live and thrive. Since I can’t control the circumstances around me, I’ve learned to change the way I expose myself to those circumstances—and more importantly, how I respond to them.

But here’s the kicker: my nervous system is still on high alert. And while I can manage that with somatic practices, the moment I start pursuing my goals again, I tend to revert back into “stress mode.” This stress used to serve me—it fueled my drive and got results. But now, it pushes me beyond healthy limits.

So how do I move forward in a new way—one that isn’t rooted in outdated Type A habits that no longer serve me?

I know this post won’t resonate with everyone. Some of you aren’t Type A, and might be thinking, “I don’t know what she’s talking about.” But for those of you who do, I...

Piggybacking Off of Last Week's Topic: Living a Slower Life & What That Looks Like for You

(Read last week's Blog HERE.)

I want to share what the title of my blog (Soul Aligned Life) means and why it's so important to me.

Ever since I can remember, from when I was a little girl, I’m talking kindergarten, there was this theme in my life that caused stress or discomfort. The overall theme I needed to experience, and that was most important to me, was freedom.

It never made sense to me in school that we weren’t allowed to be free. Free to go to the bathroom when needed, free to speak our mind, free to ask questions we wanted to ask instead of the questions the teachers wanted to answer, or the only ones they would answer.

Starting at this point in my life, I started to become kind of a little rebel. I was going to do what I wanted, when I wanted. I did it quietly, though, I never wanted to cause too much friction for others.

For example, if my mother wanted me to wear something to s...

For a while now, I've been designing my life around having as much free time as possible. Along with a large portion of the population, the option of "retiring" is not there for me.

I've been intentionally setting my life up to work as intentionally as possible, and as little as possible. I've also been creating passive income for myself. This way, as I get older, I'm still working (which I like doing), but I also have a lot of free time, and my work is not labor-intensive. It's something I can continue to do easily as I age.

I've been doing this for a couple of reasons:

1. I know I can't retire, and I don’t want to live a miserable life working myself to death.

2. The people who represent the healthiest aging part of the population, the ones with the most vitality, don’t retire.

I believe that’s because they love the work they’re doing and they have a purpose. And having a purpose is something we all need as human beings.

To me, this is a healthy way to retire: find som...

Change can be scary. I have to admit, I always fight it. I have these conversations with myself in my head as if I'm talking to a child. Saying things like, "You always fight this, but you know on the other side of change is magic and growth," or "When you fight the change, you always feel stuck." These are the things I say to myself and to anyone else feeling stuck because I know them to be true. I always feel great when I push myself out of my comfort zone.

So, why do we fight it? One thing I know is that the brain is meant to protect you. So, if where you’ve been has been enough to keep you alive (at the very minimum), then your brain says, "Let's stay here—it's safe." Your brain does not give a crap if you're not happy and thriving. Getting yourself out of your comfort zone and moving onto new things can be very difficult because you're going against your own self-preservation instincts. The first step is just noticing this in your own life. One way to know you're doing this is wh...

To start out, I want to make a full disclosure: I am very serious about my self-care. I almost died from a stroke when I was 39, so I feel like self-care is survival for me. It’s a necessity, not a luxury.

I do believe everyone should think of their own self-care this way before they end up in a state of dis-ease like I did. But it is seldom thought of this way by anyone—especially women.

We are taught or programmed from a young age to be the caregivers of others and not ourselves, and putting your self-care first is often looked at as selfish. I do feel a shift coming, though. We are beginning to realize that when we care for ourselves at the deepest, most loving levels, we get to share this version of ourselves with everyone else. We get to show up better.

I start by sharing this with you because I practice a lot of self-care most mornings, and I’ve made this a norm in my life. Some people might think maybe it’s a lot. This blog post is not about following my self-care routine exa...

We’ve all been there, that heavy, sluggish feeling of being stuck. Maybe it’s a creative block, a lack of motivation, or just the sense that life is moving around you while you stand still. When this happens, self-care isn’t just about bubble baths (though those are great too). It’s about gentle, intentional actions that reconnect you with your energy and purpose.

Why We Get Stuck

Stuckness often comes from:

• Overwhelm – Too many options, too much pressure.

• Fear – Of failure, success, or the unknown. We have a lot of this going around

• Disconnection – From our bodies, intuition, or joy. Be unaligned with self.

• Moments of Transformation in Your Life - Sometimes when we go through change in our life it feels difficult and we cannot move through it fast enough, it's uncomfortable and we don't want to be there. So, we feel stuck even if we are moving at a snail's pace.

The key isn’t to force your way out, but to create small openings for movement. Small actions create ...

Do you ever feel like the day is dragging… and it’s only noon?

Maybe something threw you off early on, a rough start, stressful conversation, or just waking up with low energy, and suddenly it feels like your whole day is doomed. If that’s you, you’re not alone. And here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to stay that way.

I believe in the magic of a midday reset, a short, intentional pause that can shift your energy and help you step into the rest of your day with more clarity, calm, and connection.

In this episode of The Soul Aligned Self Care Podcast, I talk about why the afternoon reset is the most “slept on” part of our daily routine. So many of us focus on morning or evening self-care, but what about the middle of the day, when we’re often the most overwhelmed?

Listen to the podcast here: https://www.tinastinson.com/podcasts/soul-aligned-self-care/episodes/2149019663

The truth is, even just 5 minutes can make a huge difference. Here are some quick ideas to help you reset:

✨ A...

We’ve all been there, waking up exhausted, rushing through the morning, and feeling drained before the day even starts. But what if you could flip the script? What if, instead of starting your day in survival mode, you could begin it with intention, energy, and deep self-care?

The truth is, self-care isn’t selfish, it’s survival. Research shows that consistent morning self-care:

✔ Lowers cortisol (the stress hormone)

✔ Boosts focus & productivity

✔ Builds emotional resilience over time.

But here’s the catch: Self-care only works if you do it regularly, not just on weekends or vacations. Just like brushing your teeth, it needs to be daily to truly benefit you.

The truth is, self-care isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Just like brushing your teeth or exercising, a morning self-care routine is a non-negotiable practice that builds resilience, boosts mental clarity, and helps you show up as your best self, not the exhausted, cranky version you become when you neglect your needs.

We've all been there. Nothing is working. Your health is on the fritz, you're not working out and you feel sluggish, every relationship has some kind of tension, work sucks and so does everything else.

So, what do you do?

I'm going to be sharing with you a few ways to get out of this very stuck place. It's pretty simple, but not always easy. The one thing I can say is that it is life changing and you will not regret it!

Reframing - Why is this happening for me and not to me?

Did you ever get stuck in one of those cycles where nothing is working out? You think things can’t get worse and then they do, and again, over and over?

We’ve all been there, right? 

So, what do you do to get out of this horrific cycle? How do you respond and not react to it?

One of the most powerful shifts I’ve made in my life was when I learned to ask myself a question whenever I was in this situation. 

It’s so simple but it’s hard to bounce out of the old mindset into the new. 

Old mindset: OMG Why is ...

Hello Beautiful Souls,

 Life can feel overwhelming, can’t it? Between endless to-do lists, digital noise, and the pressure to "do it all," it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters. That’s why I’m so excited to share these 12 Nordic-inspired rules for simplicity—gentle, practical ways to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and create a life that feels good, not just busy.

Whether you’re craving more calm, stronger boundaries, or just a little more breathing room, these principles (which I recently explored on the Soul Aligned Self-Care Podcast) can help. Let’s walk through them together—with actionable tips to make them stick.

Listen to this episode here: https://www.tinastinson.com/podcasts/soul-aligned-self-care/episodes/2149009866

1. The 888 Rule: Work, Rest, Play, Equally.

Balance isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. Try dividing your day into 8 hours for work, 8 for leisure, and 8 for sleep. (Yes, leisure counts!)

Try This:

• Block time for unapologetic rest, reading, ba

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