Mary’s Cup of Tea: the Self-Love Podcast for Women

#200: A Self-Love Gift for YOU!

Celebrating 200 episodes with sips of tea and a heart full of gratitude. Thank you, my self-lover, for listening to this podcast and giving yourself the gift of self-love.

Get my list of 200 Reasons to Choose Self-Love: https://maryscupoftea.myflodesk.com/200

From my heart to yours,
Mary

Mentioned in this episode:
- The Gift of Self-Love: https://maryscupoftea.com/gift-of-self-love. This is a self-love workbook that will help you build confidence, recognize your worth, and learn to finally love yourself.
- 100 Days of Self-Love: maryscupoftea.com/journal. This is a guided journal with 100 prompts to help you calm self-criticism and learn to love who you are.
- Hibiscus Heart Tea: maryscupoftea.com/tea

#199: Celebrating 1 Year Married w/ Husband!

My husband and I are celebrating 5 years together and 1 year married! To commemorate, we thought we’d answer your burning relationship-related questions while reflecting on the half decade we’ve spent together.

We talk about…
- how being married feels different
- adult friendships and how they’ve changed since our wedding
- our age gap
- advice for dating and finding “the one”
- tips for repairing after a fight
- how to decorate your home together, even if you have different styles
- new things we’ve learned about each other post-marriage

Tune in for hot takes, relationship advice, and just a sweet conversation about couplehood.

And if you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast and @maryscupofteaa

Mentioned In This Episode...
Ep. 157 about Our Wedding Reflections: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0UGsNzalIhBmXyVogGFKFp?si=ylcqFLbIRgGIVZElssJDCQ
101 Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged: https://amzn.to/3ISBSew

#198: Secrets to an Organized Home with Nikki Boyd

Would you consider yourself an organized person? What about those with whom you live with?

In the hustle and bustle of life, households frequently face daily stress, financial hiccups, and time crunches which are often aggravated by a lack of organization in the home.

Professional organizer Nikki Boyd joins us to talk about communication as the ultimate organizing tool for households and well as hacks for keeping your home beautifully organized.

You will learn...
- ways to communicate with those you live with to ensure a more harmonious household flow
- 2 places in one’s home that tend to cause stress
- hacks for organizing your house and making it feel like a sanctuary

Remember: your home should feel like a vacation from the outside world. Why wouldn’t you make it into a place that feels rejuvenating?

Nikki Boyd is a professional organizer and founder of athomewithnikki.com where she helps bring beautiful order in homes around the world with her business, blog and YouTube channel. What began as a hobby is now a successful home organizing business, a popular blog, and YouTube channel, with thousands of readers coming to her site for creative and straightforward ways to beautifully organize their homes. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband and two puppies.

Follow Nikki Boyd on Instagram: @athomewithnikki
Watch Nikki’s helpful YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/@AtHomeWithNikki/
Check out Nikki’s organizing services: https://athomewithnikki.com
Get Nikki's book, Beautifully Organized here: https://amzn.to/3PmyWKS

And if you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast and @athomewithnikki

Mentioned In This Episode...
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert Sapolsky: https://amzn.to/49VkEcl

#197: The Only Way to Conquer Insecurities

Get ready for a pep talk on how to overcome your insecurities and cultivate authentic, true confidence.

You will learn...
- the difference between true confidence vs. pseudo-confidence
- a counterintuitive approach to conquering your insecurities

Remember: the only way to conquer your insecurities is by making them a glorious part of you.

If you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and tag @maryspodcast on social media! And make sure to get Mary's books two on self-love:

- The Gift of Self-Love: https://maryscupoftea.com/gift-of-self-love. This is a self-love workbook that will help you build confidence, recognize your worth, and learn to finally love yourself.

- 100 Days of Self-Love: maryscupoftea.com/journal. This is a guided journal with 100 prompts to help you calm self-criticism and learn to love who you are.

Mentioned In This Episode...
TEDx talk on “how to talk to the worst parts of yourself”: https://youtu.be/gUV5DJb6KGs?si=PolNO_jAa1ElBpbg

#196: Giving Up Fitness and Influencing (a Reverse Interview by Christy Harrison)

Last year, Mary did an interview with Christy Harrison on her podcast, Rethinking Wellness. We are resurfacing that episode here, so you can listen to this “reverse interview” where Mary and Christy talk about how wellness culture coupled with social media algorithms creates a toxic environment for both consumers and creators.

Tune into this deeply personal conversation about...
- Mary’s history as a bikini fitness competitor starting at age 16, and how it both triggered and exacerbated an ED
- how social media algorithms drive us into more extreme diet and wellness content
- why Mary thinking of quitting influencing despite finding much success on social media (and why Christy Harrison has already left Instagram)

Though this episode was recorded 10 months prior, everything Mary said still holds true. Social media seems to be doing more harm than good and with every passing day, Mary is more and more tempted to call it quits.

If you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast and @chr1styharrison

Mentioned In This Episode...
- Ep. 162: When Wellness Becomes BS with Christy Harrison on Mary’s Cup of Tea Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1fhy0aQwPZlgUQ4xANrxwq?si=b1b1cf5962894c9a
- Sign up for Christy Harrison’s newsletter: rethinkingwellness.substack.com
- Get Christy Harrison’s new book, The Wellness Trap: https://amzn.to/3ST99uD
- The Social Dilemma movie: https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
- Rabbit Hole Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rabbit-hole/id1507423923
- “Is There Life After Influencing?” NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/11/style/lee-tilghman-influencer.html

#195: The Most Underrated Emotion

A solo episode where Mary talks about an emotion that’s underrated yet magnetic in other people + how you can channel this emotion to lead a more fulfilling life.

Mary talks about...
- what’s different about this emotion vs. other positive feelings
- how experiencing this feeling is also an act of feminism
- ways to get out of a funk
- how the show Love on the Spectrum is inspiring her

If you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and tag @maryspodcast on social media! And make sure to get Mary's books two on self-love:

- The Gift of Self-Love: https://maryscupoftea.com/gift-of-self-love. This is a self-love workbook that will help you build confidence, recognize your worth, and learn to finally love yourself.

- 100 Days of Self-Love: maryscupoftea.com/journal. This is a guided journal with 100 prompts to help you calm self-criticism and learn to love who you are.

Mentioned In This Episode...
Love on the Spectrum: https://www.netflix.com/title/81338328
The Emotion’s Thesaurus: https://amzn.to/3SQfnvA

#194: How to Love Someone Without Losing Yourself with Dr. Alexandra Solomon

There’s often a disparity between how men and women make sacrifices for their relationship. In a long-term partnership, it’s normal and necessary to compromise, but how do we ensure that said compromises don’t make us lose important parts of ourselves in the process?

Dr. Alexandra Solomon joins us to talk about how to identify, communicate, and retain independent parts of ourselves as we embark on a life journey with someone we love.

We talk about…
- how to keep the “me” within the “we”
- is dating objectively harder now than it was in the past? why or why not?
- should we go through our partner’s phones as a way to ensure honesty?

Remember: when two individuals form a unit, there are parts of their individuality that may be pushed aside. It’s not always a bad thing as long as we acknowledge each other’s individualities within.

Dr. Alexandra H. Solomon, phD, is internationally-recognized as one of today’s most trusted voices in the world of relationships, and her framework of Relational Self-Awarness has resonated with millions. A couples therapist, speaker, author, and professor, Dr. Solomon is passionate about translating cutting-edge research and clinical wisdom into practical tool people can use to bring awareness, curiosity, and authenticity to their relationships. She is on faculty in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University and is a licensed clinical pscychologist at The Family Institute at Northwestern. Her hit podcast, Reimagining Love, features high-profile guests from the worlds of therapy, academia, and pop culture. She is the award-winning author of now 3 books: Taking Sexy Back, Loving Bravely, and Love Every Day.

Follow Dr. Alexandra on Instagram: @dr.alexandra.solomon
Get Dr. Alexandra’s new book, Love Every Day here: https://dralexandrasolomon.com/book/

And if you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast and @dr.alexandra.solomon

Mentioned In This Episode...
Lizzo’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert: https://youtu.be/DFiLdByWIDY?si=KAXcDxpW1aVmA9v2

Ep. 193: I Cry Every Year on My Birthday

Do you ever cry on your birthday? Because I DO. Every year without fail.

Turns out, birthday blues are a real thing. It’s quite normal to feel a mix of emotions as you reflect on the year that’s passed and look forward to the year ahead.

Tune in to learn why “birthday blues” are so common + how to cope with feeling behind in life.

If you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and tag @maryspodcast on social media! And make sure to get Mary's books two on self-love:

- The Gift of Self-Love: https://maryscupoftea.com/gift-of-self-love. This is a self-love workbook that will help you build confidence, recognize your worth, and learn to finally love yourself.

- 100 Days of Self-Love: maryscupoftea.com/journal. This is a guided journal with 100 prompts to help you calm self-criticism and learn to love who you are.

Ep. 192: Debunking Menstruation Misinformation with Dr. Jen Gunter

Dr. Jen Gunter is an OBGYN with 30+ years of experience as a vulvar and vaginal diseases expert. She joins us today to debunk menstruation myths!

Mary asks Dr. Jen questions like...
- is menstruating the body’s way of detoxing?
- what causes menstrual cramps and period poops?
- why/ how is “alternative medicine” harmful?
- do chiropractors really work?
- what’s the purpose and process of menstruating?

Remember: don’t believe baseless claims you see on the internet!

Dr. Jen Gunter is an internationally bestselling author, obstetrician, and gynecologist with more than three decades of experience as a vulvar and vaginal diseases expert. Considered “the world's most famous—and outspoken—gynecologist,” (The Guardian), her New York Times and USA Today bestselling books, The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto, have been translated into 25 languages. And her new book Blood is all about the science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation which you’ll get a taste of in this podcast episode.

Dr. Jen is the host of Jensplaining, a CBC/Amazon Prime video series that highlights the impact of medical misinformation on women, and the recipient of the 2020 NAMS Media Award from The North American Menopause Society. Her 2020 TED Talk, “Why Can’t We Talk About Periods?” received more than two million views in its first six months, leading to the launch of her popular podcast on the TED Audio Collective, “Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter.” Originally from Winnipeg, Canada, she lives with her sons in San Francisco, CA.

Follow Dr. Jen on Instagram: @drjengunter
Get Dr. Jen's new book Blood here: https://amzn.to/3RPBDVS

And if you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and share it on social media! Make sure to tag @maryspodcast and @drjengunter

Mentioned In This Episode...
Dr. Jen’s TED talk “Why Can’t We Talk About Periods?”: https://www.ted.com/talks/jen_gunter_why_can_t_we_talk_about_periods?language=en

Ep. 191: Learning the Difference AKA Discernment (Encore)

I’m out of town for 2 weeks hosting another self-love retreat; this time in southern Portugal with 20 women coming from all over. So in attempts to preserve my energy while still keeping the pod going, I thought it’d be fun to revisit an older episode called “Learning the Difference.”

This episode is about DISCERNMENT: the ability to perceive, judge, and understand things in an empathetic, rational, conscientious way. I believe that many things in life lie on a spectrum with nothing being inherently good or inherently bad in all contexts. That’s why it’s important that we have discernment not to judge others, but rather to know the difference for OURSELVES. Discernment is the act of choosing what’s serving you and releasing what’s not, and doing so with self-compassion. Tune in to learn how to discern!

You will learn…
- how to find balance with food, exercise, work, and other things in your life
- an important question to ask yourself to determine if something is serving you or not
- advice to help you feel more at peace and content

Remember: life is about learning YOUR difference.

If you enjoyed this episode, screenshot it and tag @maryspodcast on social media! And make sure to get Mary's books two on self-love:

- The Gift of Self-Love: https://maryscupoftea.com/gift-of-self-love. This is a self-love workbook that will help you build confidence, recognize your worth, and learn to finally love yourself.

- 100 Days of Self-Love: maryscupoftea.com/journal. This is a guided journal with 100 prompts to help you calm self-criticism and learn to love who you are.