Why This Life Coach Is Abandoning Her Self-Care Routine

We all have those days. We’re stuck in traffic, our phone battery is at 2%, and we’re late for an appointment. “I used to have a gigantic toolbox for those situations,” says Elli Richter, a transformational life coach and partner of the only meditation studio, Still Soul Studio, in Charleston, South Carolina.

While Richter is a fan of breathing exercises and mantras, in recent years she’s moved away from that handy toolbox of time-intensive practices. “Self-care used to be a second job for me,” she says. Instead, she opts for practices that work on the subconscious part of the mind. “The truth is that as an adult you tend to stress about the same shit over and over again,” says Richter.

When you work on the deeper parts of the mind — using methods like PsychK, Hypnosis, EMDR, and sound healing — you can change your thought pathways and natural tendencies. As she explains it: “I do think self-care has a place but you can’t change a subconscious problem with a conscious method. You can say your affirmation and take your CBD but it doesn’t go to the root.”

This new approach to wellness has benefited her in many ways, but Richter — who owns three businesses — says it’s been particularly helpful when it comes to her career. Subconscious work has helped her overcome her fears and insecurities around being a female entrepreneur, helping her find a type of gentle strength that is both feminine and professional.

It’s also saved her a lot of time. “You don’t need to spend a lot of time on wellness and self-care if you cut right to the chase,” she says.

How To Do it: If you find yourself using the same quick-fix self-care practices over and over again, try turning to a modality that helps you go deeper. Sign up for a sound bath—tons of meditation studios host them—or find a hypnotist in your area and try it out.

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