How Movement, Mindfulness & Self-Love Shape a Wellness Lifestyle

Guest: Kat Anselmo – Health Coach, Yoga Teacher, Wellness Guide

In this week's episode of The Daring Well Podcast, Rita Mercer sits down with wellness coach and yoga teacher Kat Anselmo to explore how small daily practices—like movement, mindfulness, intention setting, and self-reflection—can completely transform your mental and emotional wellbeing.

Kat shares her deeply personal healing journey, the moment she realized that life can shift in an instant, and how she rebuilt herself through consistent movement, meditation, and radical self-honesty. You’ll learn mindset tools, wellness habits, and practical strategies you can start today to build confidence, reduce stress, and reconnect with your true self.

Episode Breakdown 

Kat’s Story: Healing, Heartbreak & the Turning Point

Kat shares how her wellness journey began when her boyfriend became ill and yoga unexpectedly became a lifeline. Years later, during her own season of heartbreak, she turned back to those tools and rebuilt her life.

The Power of 10 Minutes: Why Tiny Habits Create Big Change

Kat explains why movement is the foundation of wellness and how her simple “10 minutes a day” rule helped her shift from feeling lost to feeling empowered.

Self-Love & Identity: The Root of Real Success

A powerful conversation on how loving yourself influences relationships, decision-making, purpose, and emotional clarity. Kat explains why most people know others better than they know themselves.

The Book of Life: Creating a Personal Guide to Inner Success

Kat describes how she built her “Book of Life,” which includes goals, values, affirmations, rituals, and her vision board — a living document she updates each year to stay aligned and focused.

Mindset Strategies: Meditation, Affirmations, Nature & Everyday Wellness

Practical, accessible tools for reducing stress, building confidence, and creating a sustainable wellness lifestyle. Kat shares tips for meditation, journaling, nature healing, self-care, and more.

Episode Summary

This episode is a heartfelt guide for anyone feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure where to start on their wellness journey. Kat brings a grounded, compassionate perspective on how movement, mindfulness, and intention can slowly reshape your life from the inside out.

You’ll walk away with tools you can start practicing immediately — 10-minute movements, affirmations, 3-minute meditations, wellness rituals, and journaling prompts — along with the encouragement that healing doesn’t require perfection, only small, consistent steps.

✨ Connect with Kat

Website:  www.katsyoga.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/kat.anselmo/

Transcript

00:00

Personal Healing Journey

Welcome to The Daring Well Podcast with Rita Mercer.

I think if you love yourself, then you get to know where you are. Because most of the people, they don't know who they are. And if you don't know who you are, how do you know what you want in life?

Well, welcome, Kat.

Thank you so much for joining The Daring Well Podcast. I'm so glad to have you today. So for our listeners today, Kat is a health coach.

She's a yoga teacher. She's had almost six years, over six years of working in that field. She's also led in-person and online workshops for companies like Google and for Yelp.

So I'm excited for you to hear her share more about her own story of healing, her own story of filing balance with yoga, and for you also to learn what inspires her to help others, to transform their lives through simple, consistent, mindful

practices and mindset change through inner work. Again, welcome Kat. Thank you so much for joining The Daring Well Podcast.

Thank you very much for inviting me, Rita. I'm really glad to be here with you today. I'm really excited about this podcast.

Awesome, awesome.

So before we get into our conversation today, Kat, can you briefly share about your why? So your story, your backstory about healing, your backstory of what brought you into yoga.

So I'd love to hear how that intersects with this mind and body that we're going to talk about today.

Yeah, sure. So my journey started many years ago when at my dead time boyfriend got sick from one day to the next. So doctor couldn't help.

So we decided to ask Dr. Google. So he typed in.

Dr.

Google.

Yes. I remember that he typed in, how can I find my balance again? And yoga and meditation popped up.

So we were so desperate, so that we gave it a try. So in the moment when he started to practice yoga and meditation, he started to feel differently. So he was laughing again.

He was alive again because he didn't become healthy from one day to the next. It took time, but he was alive again. And after 8 years of being together, we finally decided to separate.

And I was in a really dark place because I thought that the man of my life, but it wasn't. So I thought, okay, if yoga and meditation help him, they will help me too. So I realized as well that life is really short.

Yeah. So one day I was saying, a super fine and the next day, everything can change completely. And for that reason, I decided to quit my at that time job and sign up a contract with myself for one year.

So I was completely lost. I really didn't know what to do next. I just knew I have to change my life because I didn't, I was in a really dark place and I didn't really loved my job.

I just liked it and I wanted to do something that is really meaningful for me and for others and something that makes me happy every day. Yeah, something that I can wake up in the morning and say, yes, yeah, I'm being like happy about that.

So I, as I didn't know what to do next, I asked myself two simple questions, who I want to be and what do I need to become that person. So I wrote all the steps down and I did it for one year and I found myself through this process.

So one of the things that I wrote down was like at least moving for 10 minutes every day, meditating at least one minute a day. And yeah, it really changed my life.

Wow, wow. Thank you for sharing that. And so your story about healing was even just helping your boyfriend at that time.

And so I love the questions you asked like, so who do I want to be and what do I need? And I think a lot of people are in that season at one point in their lives.

And so when they feel lost, like how do people, when you think about feeling lost with barriers, with obstacles, like what do people, how do they find their way? And so just starting with reflection, is that kind of where they would start?

Yeah, I think starting if you, I have many clients, they are lost, they don't have a purpose, they don't know what to do next, they don't have any direction.

5:00

Movement Builds Habits

I always say start to move your body, right? Because at the end, yeah, if you do that, yeah, first, you feel automatically better.

Second, you, it's an act of self-love, and third, you will feel more stronger and confident because you are showing up for yourself.

And if you set this intention, for example, movement, yes, and you do it every day, so you commit to it, then you will see how your body will change.

And you can, and when you see how your body will change, you can apply this to many different areas of your life.

Yeah, like learning a new language, or maybe you are not happy in the country where you are living, moving to a new country, or having a completely new life, you know. So with intention and commitment, you can do everything in life.

Yeah, and yeah, I think 10 minutes a day.

Yes, keeps the doctor away. There you go. I always say, this is really my mantra for the last year since I signed up my contract.

If you sleep 10 minutes more or less, it doesn't matter. But if you move, it matters. Yeah, if you think about it, nothing happens if you sleep 10 minutes more, right?

Nothing will happen. But if you move, as I said, you feel better, your body will change, you'll have more confident, you'll feel stronger because you show up for yourself and you take care about your body, which is our temple, right?

We should take care of our body. Yeah, so this is how I changed because I started actually with, as I said, I was completely lost and I started with 10 minutes. Yeah, really 10 minutes because to be honest, I didn't like yoga.

I just did it because I saw the transformation of my at that time boyfriend. I didn't like meditation. I was absolutely not a spiritual person.

I always when I went with him into the yoga class or meditation, I was like, what the hell I'm doing here? Yeah, I remember one day, I Tishavasana, which is one of the most important poses in yoga, because I was like, no, I have to go now.

So I didn't saw the point of yoga. But I'm not saying that, but Tony Robbins said that people change for two reasons, inspiration or desperation.

Yeah, so yeah, I love this quote and I changed, I think because of both, I was inspired because I saw how he changed. And I was desperate because I wanted to change. I was in a really bad place and I didn't want to be in a bad place.

Because if you see how life can change from one day to the next, and how important it is to be healthy, then you have a completely different perspective of life, right? You appreciate it more.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I like the small movement. I think setting goals small makes it doable.

If we say, hey, you got to do an hour, I don't have time for an hour. You know what I mean? But you, everybody's got 10 minutes.

Like you've got 10 minutes you can squeeze in. So yeah.

Right. And I think that's the point. People think they have to exercise for, this is what I was thinking my whole life.

For that reason, I started, I felt, I started, I felt, I started, I felt. But when I started with the smallest step, I, everything changed, you know?

And the most of the people think I have to exercise for 30 minutes, at least otherwise it doesn't make sense. No, you have to just build a habit.

When you build a habit of 10 minutes, I started with 10 minutes, then 50, then 20, then 30, and then I become a yoga teacher, you know? So, with small steps, you can go really far.

Yeah, yeah. And I love that, Kat. I love that.

9:15

Self-Love for Success

So when you think about success, so success in relationships, success in career, success in just life, how is that tied with loving ourselves first?

Yeah, I think, I mean, if you are successful in your job, if you are making a lot of money, but you don't know, as you don't love yourself, then it's really hard to be happy, yes, because how you see yourself is how people see you.

So if you don't respect yourself, nobody will respect you. If you think you are not pretty enough, nobody will see you as a pretty person. And people don't value you if you don't love yourself.

So everything starts really with us. I think if you love yourself, then you get to know where you are. Because most of the people, they don't know who they are.

And if you don't know who you are, how do you know what you want in life?

That's it.

Yeah, so we know better our best friend than we know ourself. This is what I realize. You know, maybe you had a situation, you were talking with your friend, she's desperate about the topic.

And then you say, do this. And she says, Oh my God, you know me better than I know myself. Yes, it's actually the case.

Most people, they don't know themselves. And yeah, through this process that I did, I got to know myself. And I got, I started to love myself.

I started the person that I become. I love the person that I became.

Yeah.

And I think this is really important. Otherwise, it's really hard to get healthy relationship or being happy in a job.

Yeah. I'm sorry.

Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Because at the end, now the most important relationship is the one that you have in yourself.

Everything will go away. You know, people come and go. Your family will go.

The only people that stays forever is you. So you have to look at the mirror and you have to like what you are seeing, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

11:37

Create Life's Guide

Why do you think it's important, Kat, to create our own Book of Life as we learn to love ourselves?

Yeah. I think the Book of Life is the secret to inner success. You can use it as your guide, as your compass, because nowadays, with all the destructions that are out there, and life gets as well so busy, that we lose ourselves in this process.

But if you have your Book of Life, then you can see your dreams, your goals, your values. I use it as my private Bible. So I always check in with myself, yeah, to see, okay, what do I want?

Where am I to stay focused and to follow my dreams that I have? I mean, I don't know, maybe it happens to you as well.

But for me, it happens all the time that I'm doing something, and then I have a task to do, and then I get destructed, and I totally forget what I was doing. Can you imagine?

I mean, your life passed like this as well, because we are all the time destructed, all the time, especially nowadays with Instagram, and with everything, you always get notification, and we are so addicted to our phone, so we need a book.

We need a masterpiece because our life, it's a masterpiece, right? And we have to create it in a book. So I came with this idea because books inspired me.

When I was working on myself, the books were the inspiration for me. They helped me in so many ways, and I learned so much. Yeah.

And for that reason, I decided, okay, I need my own book. And I have so many things in this book, like favorite quotes, affirmation, and my vision board is there. So it was a process, a process to do this book.

It's not just writing my goals and my vision. There are a lot of more practical ceremony, for example, that you can do, that I wrote down to use it when you feel lost or when you feel sad. Yeah.

So it's like a book of inspiration, a book of your values, a book of things that are made for you.

Yeah.

Yeah. Everything. So everything that I've worked on myself, I put in this book.

I mean, it is well nice. One day you can give it to your grandson and you can do it. You can change it.

I'm doing this every year because things change. You have different goals then or you reached your goals and you see, oh look, I wrote this down in 2014 and so on. So yeah, it's inspiring.

That's super cool.

So it's kind of like a vision board, but it's even deeper because it's got the written pieces of it.

That's cool.

I like that.

Yeah, because the vision board only one page normally, but I have my vision board, a few page with my vision, what I want in life, but as well like my affirmations, I'm saying a prayer in the morning.

So I have this in my book, like there are affirmations that I'm saying to myself every morning, every evening, and yeah, it's like my private Bible, I would say.

That's super cool.

Yeah, with a lot of practical things.

15:30

Practical Wellness Tips

Yeah, and speaking of practical, as we wrap up today, what are some mind-set strategies people can take to overcome stress, doubt, if they're not feeling confident, so they can build more inner strength and confidence?

Okay, what I can tell you from my own experience, what helped me a lot was absolutely meditation.

Yeah, because in meditation, you meet yourself. I think many people avoid meditation because they don't want to stay with themself.

Or it's hard to sit still if they're super anxious.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, but this is something that you can do. As we said already, you don't need to meditate 10 minutes.

Sometimes I started with three minutes. Yeah, I started with three minutes. So because I couldn't stay still, as you said, I think many people can't stay still.

I had to put a timer. I really had to put a timer because for me, three minutes felt like one hour. It was terrible.

For me, it was terrible meditation, really. I absolutely didn't like to stay with myself.

So start small.

Yeah, I started with three minutes every day, every day. Now I'm meditating every day, or at least 10, 20 minutes. I think as well affirmation are so important to say affirmation.

Every morning, I'm doing this really every morning and every evening.

So speak about the affirmations. A lot of people that I work with, they don't believe them. They don't believe that it actually does rewire their brain.

So why do you think it's important for people to use affirmations as a daily practice?

Yeah, because first, it's like an anchor, because we have so many negative thoughts. And if we say positive affirmation, we can't be negative and at the same time positive, right? Yeah.

And with the time, of course, it's not magic. This is something that we have to practice. It's like if you want a six pack, you don't go one time to the gym and then you will get a six pack.

You have to do it often. Right? Otherwise, nothing will happen.

So but if you keep practicing affirmation, as we all know, something will change. Yeah.

What are some other practical steps people can take today if they want to develop a wellness lifestyle? So yoga, meditation, sounds like reflection as well.

Yeah. So it's yoga, meditation, affirmations, and as well like going, I think nature, it's really healing. And I think wellness is as well like going to the spa.

Yeah. Yeah. Going to the sauna, treat yourself at least once a month.

Yeah. Getting a massage or going to the spa, going for a walk in nature. I think wellness is as well because wellness it's at the end mindset, right?

So socializing with people, I think this is a wellness practice too, because we are not supposed to be alone. We are supposed to be around people that inspire us.

Yeah. Yeah, that's so true.

And journaling. Journaling is as well for me a wellness practice. Like we have so many thoughts just put in out in the morning, like everything that it's negative.

You can make a small paper, write all your negative thoughts on it. Like every time you have a negative thoughts, you can write it on paper and then put it in a jar. And then you will see how many negative thoughts you have in a month, right?

So when you see it, you become aware of it. Yeah. So this can help you.

Yeah. Or for example, what I was doing is I really don't like to go for a run. But cardio is important, right?

So I had to do this. So I was running to the beach. And every time I was doing this, I was taking a stone with me as a proof.

Yeah. That I did it. And then I had so many stones that I decorated my balcony with it.

You know, it's like a reminder.

Oh, I like that. Super cool. I like the physical bringing that into the deep inner work.

I like that.

Yeah. Yeah. Because we need a proof.

Yeah. To keep going.

Yeah. That's what gives us that hit of dopamine. Yeah.

Absolutely.

Yeah. Yeah. That is it.

Yeah. The dopamine. This is what we need.

Yeah.

For sure.

20:43

Kat's Resources

Well, thank you for sharing some of those practical strategies. So for listeners that are wanting to go deeper with their wellness lifestyle, how in their inner work, how can they connect with you? What are the ways that you best serve them?

Well, I have a lot of free tools in my home page.

I designed as well a 30 days journey where I will help you to create your own book, Secret to Success. And yeah, it's a step-by-step guide that will help you to create your own book because I think we all need one to be happy and successful in life.

And yeah, this is what I'm doing. So like doing online coaches, but I'm more focused on a journey that takes a while because I think coaching is nice. Yeah, but you forget.

But if you have a course where you can revisit it all the time or a book where you can revisit it all the time, you keep going. Yes.

And then you do the things because yeah, it's like when you coach someone, then you motivate this person, and then it will disappear after one week. But it's different. It's different if you have a journey where you can see it on paper.

So where can people connect with you?

What's your website? What's your social?

Yeah, my website is katsyoga.com with K like Kilo, and my Instagram account is kat.anselmo.

Awesome. Awesome. Still that last name for me?

Yeah, A-N-S-E-L-M-O.

Gotcha.

Sweet.

Sweet.

Well, thank you so much, Kat, for joining The Daring Well Podcast, for sharing more about wellness, for sharing some really practical tips for mindset strategies, for getting moving, for mental health goals.

I'm so, so grateful for you sharing, sharing your heart. Appreciate that.

Thank you so much for inviting me. It was a pleasure to be here. Love your energy.

Thank you.

Ditto. Likewise.

Thank you.

Awesome. All right, guys, that's it for today. Thank you so much for stopping by The Daring Well Podcast.

Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe wherever you're hearing this episode. Wishing you a fabulous day, my dear. Until next time, keep living, keep loving, and keep daring well.

Take care, guys. God bless. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of The Daring Well Podcast.

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Thank you again for being part of the Daring Well Podcast community. Together, let's dare to live well in mind, body, and spirit.