10 Dec Checking in with Yourself

Next month, January 2021—after arguably the roughest year any of us have experienced—comedienne, author and motivational public speaker Tina Levene will celebrate 23 years of recovery.

We spoke with her earlier this year about her journey to establish a recovery high school and touched on the importance of self-care for a woman in recovery. When we reached out this month to ask if she’d be willing to dig a little deeper into that topic, Levene was more than game. She even demonstrated some of her favorite self-care techniques for short-circuiting anxiety in a video for our social media.

As a woman, especially a woman in recovery, Levene said, “I have to keep myself apprised of what’s going on in here,”—pointing to her heart—”and up here,” touching her temple.

Checking in with ourselves is something she’s afraid too few of us remember to do. And she offered an easy reminder with her signature dash of humor: “Check yourself before you wreck yourself,” she said with a laugh.

Levene said maintaining her focus on self-care allows her to live her purpose: “I can’t pour into other people—spiritually, emotionally, physically—until I take care of myself.” None of us can, she said.

In addition to her faith, self-care and wellness management are non-negotiables in life. For Levene, 12-step meetings and therapy, daily devotionals and positive readings and exercise all figure into her self-care program. And if she skips these? “I’m too in my head,” she shared. “I need these things to self-regulate anxiety and ADHD.”

Another tactic includes monitoring “what goes in at the eyes and ears because it comes out through your mouth and affects your body.” Looking ahead to 2021 and how things might be different, Levene plans to “keep working my program” and “pouring positive things into myself and my spirit so I can pour into other people.”

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