On the surface, Elena Lipson's message seems simple. She wants us all to take good care. She's a self-care mentor and strategist who runs programs, courses, and retreats that teach women entrepreneurs how to take care of their most important asset: themselves. But is self-care really that simple? As business people, mothers, and jills-of-all-trades, it is surprising how quickly we can become run down and minimize our own potential. Elena reminds us through her work that if we are in tune with ourselves and meet our own basic needs, we are able to show up and be where we're supposed to be present 100%. Once Elena became a mother, a wife, and started her own business, the philosophy of sharpening yourself, making the best impression on others, and stopping showing up halfhearted, tired, and exhausted, really hit home.She realized that if she was not at her best from the inside out, she couldn't be at her best in her business, and in her family. She began to ask her clients what's self-care meant to them and found that more and more women were unaware of the importance of self-care.

Her philosophy centers on taking daily care of yourself and dedicating a very specific amount of time to doing so at the beginning of the day. For Elena, it is about connectedness. Self-care is about meeting your needs physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. As women, we tend to take care of everybody else. We are disciplined about this, and try to meet the needs of our clients, our children, and our other family members. Elena says that things changed for her when she realized that discipline was not something that was imposed on her, but that it's something that she could make into a practice. She started out slow with the morning routine of yoga and meditation, and the routine and the discipline slowly expanded and grew in time. She started to not see it as a task, but as something she really wanted to and needed to do at the beginning of each day. A lot had to do with being honest and authentic with herself, because THAT is self-care as well. It is important to set your day up intentionally, to start your day with a rhythm of turning on an inner fire with some body movement, with setting your mind up and connecting it to the divine. There are opportunities all around us, all day long, says Elena. If we show up to the day feeling our best, we are more likely to see those opportunities and to be able to act on them. In business, long hours are pretty much expected, and even revered, and it is a status symbol to run until you can run no further. It is very easy to feel trapped within the cycles of societal expectation. That is why it is important to recognize your own flow of energy, understand how you work best, and what you need to do to care for yourself so that you don't burn out.

 Because of Elena, we begin to ask ourselves things like:

-Am I giving everybody but myself my energy and my best? -Do I feel energized daily to be at my best and show up 100%, or am I running on coffee fumes and barely hanging on? -How do I go about improving my life physically, emotionally, and spiritually? How much time and how much commitment does it take? -How can a daily self-care regimen improve my business and help me thrive? -What does self-care mean to me?

And as always the case on Money Morsels, Elena’s practice of self-care extends to our financials as well. If you show up and are respectful of your own time and energy, you will be the kind of entrepreneur who is worth what they're getting paid. You will be able to respect your client and show up fully, with full integrity. In turn, the client will respect you and your time as well. Elena's holistic approach and dedication to her daily practice allow her to fully show up and be present at her best in any situation, personal or professional. She guarantees that even with a small start of 10 minutes a day, you too can be healthier, happier, and more present in your own life. She hosts retreats and has an ongoing 21 days of self-care program, and the information for both is available on her website, www.ElenaLipson.com.