This past weekend, I was really taking it easy. I came down with a nasty sinus infection and was still recovering. You know how when you’re sick for a long period and then you finally feel better, you want to do everything? Yeah, that’s where I was. But I knew I still had to rest so that I could get back to Tina Stinson Wellness this week. I’ve been off for two weeks because the week before I got sick, I pulled all the garlic, cleaned it, and hung it to cure. That’s A LOT of work. Then I got sick for a week, and here I am.

Another reason I knew I needed to rest and be by myself? I lost my voice. Still losing it, honestly. And last week I realized I can’t do anything without my voice. So, I hung out solo and didn’t talk too much.

I’m not going to lie, I got a little antsy. I’m not used to sitting still for so long. This is something I’m actively working on when it comes to self-care. Sometimes, when I do nothing and just allow myself to be, I feel guilty. Can anyone relate?

I’ve spen...

Over the course of a year, my life has changed so much. Not really from the outside looking in. I would assume that my life would seem boringly the same as always, and even when people ask me, “What’s new?” I always say, “You know, same old stuff, different day.”

But the change isn’t obvious to others. And it’s also not something easily shared in a casual conversation. I think it’s because most people don’t want to have a deep-level conversation... unfortunately. But also because I might sound a bit crazy.

I’m a little reluctant to share my crazy with most people in my life. So, of course, I’ll be sharing it with you.

If you want to respond by saying or thinking I’m crazy, I do care… a little. But I also know that if I’m listening to my authentic self and I really want to align with what feels right, then I’m on the right path.

That’s something new for me. A trait I wished I always honored, and now have to. And when I say “have to,” I mean HAVE TO. If I try to do something out of a...

There’s a certain excitement when you start working toward a goal or any new pursuit. That momentum can carry you for a little while, until you hit a few snags that slow or even stop your progress. Sometimes, this happens in the planning stage, and you never even get started.

We often believe things need to be a certain way or done in a specific order before we begin. And if we don’t meet those internal rules, we freeze. We get stuck. We enter a kind of paralysis that keeps us from moving forward.

But what if I told you that you don’t need everything to be perfectly aligned to get started, or even to succeed?

If that thought makes you cringe, if the idea of starting before everything is in place feels terrifying, then this post is for you.

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned over the years is this: just start, do it imperfectly. Whether you start when things feel perfect or messy, the same cycle unfolds: you make mistakes, you fail, you learn… and then you keep going.

On...

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...