Author Mia Redrick shares the importance of making time for self-care.
Mia Redrick — a best-selling author and renowned mom strategist — has a knack for self-care. It’s at the heart of what she does daily (supporting millions of mothers to live a full life), and it’s part of what makes her a force to be reckoned with. She shares how practicing “me time” with intention and making it a family value can help you lead from the front and set a strong example, not just for others, but the most important person of all, you.
How did self-care become such a fundamental part of your life?
When I was pregnant with my first son, my mother made me promise to go on a date with myself every week. She was one of those moms that did everything for kids but nothing for herself, and she didn’t want me to repeat that.
I remember thinking, what would I do on a date with myself? Six months into my pregnancy, I joined a mom group. A lot of women that join mom groups already have their baby, but I was just pregnant. All of these moms would say the same thing. They would say; I don’t have time for myself; I don’t feel beautiful anymore; my husband doesn’t want to date me anymore; I don’t know what to do with my life.
I wanted to enter motherhood solving those questions in advance. So I created 90-minute routines every week to always honor myself, and that’s how I started motherhood. I think, ultimately, the most selfish thing we can do as women is to not take care of ourselves. Without it, our loved ones never really get to experience us or know who we truly are.
Making time for yourself is essential to add value to anything in your world.
How do you make time for self-care every day?
I believe ritualistic self-care is the best, which means committing to it with 100-percent intention because that informs everything else you do. My intention every day is never to rush but to make time. You build a business to enjoy your life and then enjoy your family, and that’s the focus for me. My life is the most important part, spending time with my husband and my kids.
On a typical morning, we get up, and we all have breakfast together and talk. I don’t go into the office until about 1 pm every day — my clients know this, and I work from home consulting women on how to package their expertise and experience into a time-rich business — so before then, it’s my time. That’s when I get my vibe on with Tonal or Peloton, and then I usually hit the sauna, which I love to do.
Is the sauna your secret to a glowing face?
That’s probably some good makeup.
How does Tonal fit into your self-care routine?
My whole family loves Tonal — my 15-year old who is doing hybrid schooling, my 22-year old who is in college but taking his classes from home, and my 19-year-old daughter uses it too. My husband, who had a kidney transplant five years ago, never liked working out until we got a Tonal.
On average, I use the Tonal four times a week and love using Coach Allison’s meditations before workouts to get centered. I heart her. I also blinged out the gym and Tonal to create a vibe to make the space feel intentional.
Spending time each day in the gym at home and having my Tonal as a step-by-step solution takes away any excuse not to make time for self-care.
A lot of people feel guilty about taking “me time,” how do you overcome that?
We feel guilty because we don’t know the value of our time and the benefits of taking time for ourselves. One of the things I teach women is to think about who you will become as a result of consistently adding value to your life. When you know yourself better, your kids will understand your life and see it from a different perspective.
Has there ever been a time where you struggled, and how did self-care help you pull through?
The hardest time for us was when my husband developed kidney disease and went on dialysis. My kids were young, and being strong emotionally and otherwise in many areas of our life was really important. We got through it because we had a culture of self-care in our family.
Then, five years ago, my husband got a kidney transplant, and he did exceptionally well through the process. I could see the healing power of our family’s self-care culture in my husband’s life. I think that’s how we got through it, and how we were able to show up for one another, and how we value being strong.
Has being strong evolved for you over the years?
The strongest I’ve ever felt in my entire life was about 11 years ago. I wanted to learn how to swim, but I was really scared. It’s very difficult psychologically to become an adult swimmer. So I signed up for a triathlon and invited 11 other women to join me, and created a team. I had nine months to learn how to swim, not just in a pool but in open water.
I learned a lot about myself in this process and what strength looks like. I hadn’t even swum in the middle of a pool. I would always stick to the outside lane because I could grab the wall. I’ll never forget the day of the race. My coach said, I want you to focus on what you feel and not what you see.
Swimming in a lake was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do and psychologically overcome, but I found a new person on the other side of that lake.
Who did you find on the other side of the lake?
What you realize is the person on the other side is you, and you had the capacity all along. I believe all of us have a capacity that we do not know. You can’t intellectualize facing your fears or what is on the other side of them, but when you face your fears, you get to live with a new gift, and that’s such a powerful lesson. I think about it all the time.
When you face your fears and step into the unknown, you get to meet this whole other person with new superpowers.
What’s something you always want to share but don’t often get a chance to tell people?
I became a mom coach when nobody knew what it was, but it made perfect sense to me. I remember talking to different people about my idea, it made no sense to people not part of my journey, but anyone who became an important part of my journey would always see the brilliance.
Sometimes there’s no evidence that what you want to do will work, but you still lead with it because you have this knowing that you were put here for something great. That greatness might scare you, it might not make sense to anyone else, but if you see it and it nags at you over and over again, there’s a reason for that.
Leading from the front, what have you learned?
We all have something really powerful inside of us. If you have tiny thoughts about powerful gifts, it doesn’t work, but imagine if you had big thoughts about them? In my community, my clients call themselves giants, and I only work with giants. You have to be giant in your mentality and giant in your belief and the possibility of using your gifts.
If you can understand that, and have the courage to step into it, even if you don’t know what it looks like, that’s leading from the front. That’s how you really make a difference and change the lives of others and add value, even with the simple of things that only you know how to do.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Strength Stories is an interview series highlighting individuals from the Tonal community.
