Self-Care for Extremely Busy Women

Suzanne shares ideas about conscious spending, and creating far more serenity with your money—a fundamental act of self-care.

We open this show with an encouraging little talk about how to stop ‘shoulding’ on yourself, and making yourself wrong. What a way to lose our power. So here are some helpful alternatives.

In a heart to heart talk about money, Suzanne shares what she’s learned about making conscious spending a priority in her life. In moving from being a compulsive spender back to healthy balance with money, she learned some really useful tools she shares here.

They include:

Getting out of denial around money

Where to find help

Why it’s okay to talk to friends about money—and why you must

Tools for actually organizing your finances

Healthy money habits

Where to look to save

Some ideas for increasing your income

An inspiring money story to help you get started if you need mindful money magic

May this bring a little light to a topic often kept in the dark....

RESOURCES

USE THIS LINK: athleticgreens.com/BUSYWOMEN

Get a FREE 1-yearsupply of Vitamin D AND 5 free travel packs with your first purchase

Suzanne’s new book, Free Spirited; How My Daughter Healed Me from the Afterlife

Suzanne’s Blog How to Stop ‘Shoulding’ On Yourself

Debtor’s Anonymous

Business Debtor’s Anonymous

Underearner’s Anonymous

ABOUT SUZANNE

Suzanne Falter is a speaker, writer, podcaster and essayist whose work has been featured in SELF, O, More, Tiny Buddha and The New York Times. She is the host of The Self-Care for Extremely Busy Women and Back to Happy podcasts, and has been heard widely on podcasts and radio including Coast to Coast AM. She’s the author of multiple self-help titles including The Extremely Busy Woman’s Guide to Self-Care (Sourcebooks). Learn more at www.suzannefalter.com

This show begins with my paean to worry, and how I’ve finally learned to let go and not let it run me so much. And it’s a fitting opening for a show that is really, at its heart, about freedom. And simplicity.

For a long time, I’ve wanted to do a show about minimalism—the practice of simplifying life so it’s no longer about stuff, but is rather about mindfulness, presence and calm. What better expert, then, than the lovely Vera from the popular YouTube channel Simple Happy Zen?

Vera had many cogent points to make from her simple, pretty living room in Amsterdam... and I took copious notes! Along the way, I learned:

• What minimalism actually is and how she got started young
• How her own burnout led to Simple Happy Zen
• How minimalism can actually be a self-care practice
• How the pandemic has sparked our own innate minimalism
• Is this the end of FOMO?
• How ‘over production’ complicates our lives
• The connection between minimalism and perfectionism
• How to get started with your own minimalism practice

... and so much more!

May this inspire your own foray into the spare, fresh, simple world of minimalism!

How’s Your Self-Care Free Gift

How I Stopped Worrying and Found My Way to the Light

Vera’s Simple Happy Zen YouTube channel

Vera’s Patreon account

Vera’s Website

ON HER WEBSITE: Vera says, “In 2017 I started Simple Happy Zen, after many months of going back and forth about it in my head. It was an interesting period in my life. Earlier that year I was at home, recovering from my burn-out. My corporate job was making me miserable, I felt empty and I missed feeling a sense of meaning or fulfilment from my job. I started making videos on YouTube as a hobby, wanting to share what I’ve learned with people around the world. Little did I know, that I was embarking on one of the most meaningful, fun and exciting journeys of my life.

Since then, I’ve continued uploading a new video every week, sharing my thoughts on minimalism, intentional living, happiness and self development. The world we live in can be pretty hectic, and we often feel like we have to join this pace if we want to ‘succeed’. With Simple Happy Zen, I wanted to create a place for people to unwind, relax, be themselves and get inspired. Because not only can we all use some of that, we deserve it.

I didn’t expect to fall in love with being an online content creator as much as I did. I had absolutely zero experience with making videos, being on camera, social media or building an online platform. One year after I started, the channel reached 10,000 subscribers. I absolutely loved engaging with people in the comments section (and I still do!) and I knew this was the place for me. I could share my lessons and experiences with people around the world, who in their turn let me know that my videos were helping them to improve their life and their happiness.

Fast forward to today, the channel has passed 100,000 subscribers. I’ve created an e-book, a newsletter and even an online course, which was the most challenging and fulfilling project I’ve ever worked on. I’ve met incredible people and Simple Happy Zen has blossomed into my own online business. I’ve grown so much as a content creator, but also as a person. And I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for all the wonderful things that happened, and all the amazing people around the world who support and encourage me.

I am currently 32 years old and I live in the Netherlands. I’ve been practicing a minimalist lifestyle since 2013. Simple living is one of the best changes I’ve ever made. It has made me experience so much more freedom, happiness, gratitude and adventure. Aside from minimalism, I’ve also been practicing mindfulness and meditation for over 10 years. Though my burn-out was a very challenging time in my life, I still felt happy and optimistic. I’m positive that my lifestyle was what helped me through it, which made me want to share what I’ve learned with the world.

Aside from makin...

Suzanne discusses non-monogamy, also known as polyamory, and gender, sexuality and relationship diversity with sex educator Gigi Engel. Suzanne also talks about the concept of Scarcity Thinking when it comes to time and money. A liberating show!

Our guest today has many liberating viewpoints—but first, I share with you some ideas about the dreaded ‘Scarcity Trap’... it could be tripping you up if you feel like you never have enough time or money. Some liberating thoughts to open your mind about your busy-ness!

Speaking of liberation, do you fully embrace your gender? Would you consider being non-binary, or ‘gender fluid’? Sex Educator Gigi Engel shares some truly enlightening thoughts about the process of finding one’s precise place on the gender spectrum.

Then she moves on to a more in-depth conversation about polyamory, another term for open marriage. This non-monogamy is certainly out there in our culture, though little spoken of, it seems. So we have a chat about it—and I share some of my own experiences about this.

Bottom line: it’s not for everyone. But is it for you?

Among other things, we discussed:

What’s it truly mean to be non-binary

What is the difference between open marriage and non-monogamy

How to find the right therapists if you’re interested in these options

What MUST be present for open marriage to work

First critical steps for those exploring open marriage

What to expect if you open your marriage

This is a particularly info-packed conversation... so dig in and enjoy!

Here’s to you and your personal self-expression—and love!

My best as ever,

Suzanne

RESOURCES

Scarcity; Why Having Too Little Means So Much

Suzanne’s blog, Not Enough Time or Money? Could it Be the Scarcity Trap?

Miss Gigi Engle website

Gigi’s Book, All the F*ing Mistakes; A Guide to Sex, Love and Life

Where to find Sex Educators in US

College of Sex and Relationship Therapists in the UK

Non-Binary Joy book

Trans Sex book

Bi book

OUR GUEST

Gigi Engle is a certified sex educator for 3Fun and award-winning author of All The F*cking Mistakes: a Guide to Sex, Love, and Life. Gigi’s work regularly appears in many publications, including Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle Magazine, Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Women's Health. Her articles have been shared over 150 million times.

In 2019, Gigi was named Journalist of The Year at the Sexual Freedom Awards.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how you can peel yourself up off the couch at the end of the day, and shift things in life to allow for more self-care. But self-care is where the mojo is – and you must know that or you wouldn’t be here. This is where our self-esteem, creativity and personal power all come from.

I begin this show by talking about developing compassion after a crisis – and how life-changing that can be. Especially when it extends to self-compassion. I then go on to share in the main body of the show about how to fit more self-care into a jam packed life.

This is for you if there’s just no-way-no-how you can find time to, say, exercise. Or take a nap. Or get your nails done. Or go on vacation. My friend, it all boils down to willingness.

Are you willing to take good care of you? That’s why we’re here today … so take a listen.

RESOURCES

On Learning to Be Compassionate and Why It Is So Important

ABOUT SUZANNE

Suzanne Falter is an author, speaker, blogger and podcaster who has published both fiction and non-fiction, as well as essays. She also speaks about self-care and the transformational healing of crisis, especially in her own life after the death of her daughter Teal. Her non-fiction books also include How Much Joy Can You Stand? and Surrendering to Joy. Suzanne is also the host of podcast Self-Care for Extremely Busy Women.

Suzanne’s essays have appeared in O Magazine, The New York Times, Elephant Journal, Tiny Buddha and Thrive Global among others. Her fiction titles include the Oaktown Girls series of lesbian romances, and the romantic suspense series, Transformed. Her non-fiction work, blog, podcasts and her online course, Self-Care for Extremely Busy Women, can be found at www.suzannefalter.com and on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.

She lives with her wife in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Even though she was a successful TV commentator who ‘had it all’ Laura Behnke kept waiting for love... and didn’t find her first boyfriend until she was 35. They married when she was 38, and so she had a major realization. Many of us spend our lives waiting for things to happen. As a coach, she has helped many women how to take control of their lives. This became the basis of The Life Actually Company which she runs.

• Why she felt behind even with all of her success
• What took her so long to surrender to love
• How any of us can learn to love ourselves more
• The thinking that trips so many of us up from reaching our goals
• How we know we are lovable now
• Positive proof that you don’t need to be fixed

100 Free or Low Cost Ways to Practice Self-Care

The Little Letting Go Reader

The Life Actually Podcast

Laura Behnke’s website

Laura Behnke on Instagram

Laura Behnke is a writer, speaker, coach, and the creator of The Life Actually CompanyTM. A 16-year TV sports anchor and reporter veteran, Laura left the business in 2017 to pursue her passion for supporting and empowering women in all phases of their lives. Her work helps women put aside the idea of what you should be doing and instead to embrace your unique path. There’s the way you thought your life would go and then there’s your life, actually. It’s the actually that holds all of the possibilities, once you choose to accept it. Laura lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Marc and their labradoodle, Oxford.