Welcome back to Modern Routines! One of our Self-Care Tenets as a company is that self-care looks different for everyone. The intention behind this series is to share how others' self-care routines can inspire, spark ideas, and sometimes provide just the right motivation to take the time for yourself. I hope you’ll read on and maybe find a little inspiration here too.

Meet Kathryn

Kathryn Evans is a healing-centered coach, facilitator, writer, and dancer. She is President of Rooted Strategy which she founded to provide support and encouragement to organizations that seek to improve the lives of people. She works at the intersection of social justice, systems change, and consciously shaping culture toward equity and liberation. 

As a writer, she explores intersecting themes of motherhood, beloved community, complex human emotion, transitions, and the liminal space between where we are as a society and where she aspires for us to be. She practices truth and reconciliation in liberated relationships with her family, friends, neighbors and clients. Kathryn’s ancestral home is the Mississippi Delta region and she currently lives in Kansas City with her spouse and daughter, who was born on the morning of Election Day in 2016. 

How do you incorporate purposeful self-care into your life? 

I have learned to make self-care a daily habit, mostly practiced in the morning when I first wake up. I either exercise, write my morning pages, meditate - or some combination of them. When I prioritize this practice I feel very balanced and settled in my body, which helps me to show up fully in my family, community, and work.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

I always have a nice rotation of fiction, nonfiction, and self-development books at the ready. I need the variety to motivate me and keep me engaged. Currently that list includes: When Women Were Dragons, The Artist’s Way, Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, and Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative.

What is the most impactful quote you live by?

Brene Brown said “You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness”, which is a powerful reminder for me that keeps me accountable to my truth as a writer, mother, facilitator, and Black woman. Also, as a serial napper, I like to say “You miss every nap you don’t take”. Rest is self-care!

What does an ideal evening in look like?

My ideal evening includes a delicious, nourishing dinner with my family and neighbors, followed by some quality time with my daughter. I love taking relaxing baths using luxurious, natural body care products in the evening when my house is quiet, then tucking into bed with a favorite book until it’s time to go to sleep. A warm cup of tea with fresh ginger, lemon, and honey is the perfect nightcap.