Super Self-Care: Christopher Dines on Your Messy Brilliance® Show

I am so humbled and grateful to be bringing you this conversation with my dear friend, Christopher Dines. Christopher is an author and workshop facilitator who helps people reduce stress and enhance their emotional well-being and serenity. He’s also one of the most prolific people I know; the author of eight books, he most recently published his latest book, Super Self Care: How to Find Lasting Freedom from Addiction, Toxic Relationships and Dysfunctional Lifestyles.

I love this book (which I also wrote the Foreword to), because it sums up Christopher’s gentle, loving approach to recovery and deep soul-searching. Christopher has used his own story of addiction to inspire others to explore mindfulness and creative roads to emotional well-being and self-realization. Through his own struggles with anxiety, depression, and numbing out, he has discovered some powerful tools that he has been generous enough to share with his communities—and now, with the Wf1 community.

I hope you enjoy this conversation, which encourages all of us to tap into our vulnerability and find strength and support in unlikely places. 

Time Stamps:

1:30 Christopher’s story of going from rock bottom to where he is today—by gently looking at his shadow and offering support to others 

7:10 How super self-care is about going a step further than doing yoga or taking a bubble bath

9:13: Differentiating between super-self-care and regular self-care—by tending to our emotional/mental/spiritual sides 

11:20 How Christopher learned to process his pain instead of continuing to look for that instant fix

11:50 The range of addictions that can keep us stuck in a state of avoidance

13:00 The most important thing to do when you’re in a rut: Ask for help

16:20 The power of support systems in cracking us open and creating breakthroughs in vulnerability and connection

19:47 Questions in Christopher’s book that help people access greater clarity and awareness 

23:15 What it means to move beyond toxic shame

27:20 Developing a powerful practice of super self-care amid the challenges of 2020

31:00 Why it’s important to access creativity and inspiration, even in the midst of the pain of the world