Join The Inner Fitness Revolution

"How can I use today’s gifts and challenges to become the next best version of myself?" An actress, author and empowerment coach has the plan.

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Published February 28, 2025

What’s something you do to stay hopeful, connected and positive? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Tina Lifford, an award-winning actress known for her most recent role in the Hallmark film Heaven Down Here and her portrayal of the beloved character Aunt Vi on the critically acclaimed television drama Queen Sugar, isn’t acting when it comes to inner fitness. She is the Founder and CEO of The Inner Fitness Project, an initiative committed to teaching practical ways to achieve wellbeing.

Following her first title, The Little Book of BIG LIES, published in 2019, Lifford returns with another personal growth book, “The Inner Fitness Revolution.” Lifford’s intentionality toward doing her inner work brought her freedom and joy. Her new book helps guide readers toward the same results. She features essays from women who worked through the author’s fourteen practices to reset their perspectives of themselves, their circumstances, and their lives.

When you look in the mirror each morning, say, I matter. I am worth my time and effort. Telling yourself these two truths is a powerful way of affirming and celebrating yourself.

Fourteen inner fitness practices

These practices guide readers in flexing self-worth muscles and strengthening all that is good within. As Practice 4 states, we can transform! Via the pages of this book, we discover that we already have much of what we need. We simply pinpoint what needs to be strengthened. Other practices guide readers to look outside of ourselves to find inner nourishment. For instance, Practice 14 inspires us to find community. Since you’re here reading Sisters, we know you’ve been working that “we” muscle!

Here’s a preview of Lifford’s full inner workout:

Practice 1: You Are Not Alone

Practice 2: Ask For Assistance

Practice 3: You Are More

Practice 4: You Can Transform

Practice 5: You Can Choose

Practice 6: No More Self-Rejection

Practice 7: Make Peace

Practice 8: Accept Your Self

Practice 9: Forgive Yourself

Practice 10: Parent Yourself

Practice 11: Make Friends with the Truth

Practice 12: Question Your Thoughts

Practice 13: Honor Your Process

Practice 14: Find Your Community

Just as a healthier physical body lies beneath our poor eating habits, flabby muscles, and lack of sleep, a happier, more fulfilled, and resilient Self lies beneath our worries, doubts, fears, harsh self-judgment, limiting beliefs, and unconscious behavior.

Sisters talks with Tina Lifford

What inspired you to write the book?

Although most people may know me as a working actress, my mission for over thirty years has been to make inner fitness as well-understood and actionable as physical fitness. Inner fitness develops and tones our mental, emotional, and spiritual awareness, strength, and resilience.

I come to this work with love in my heart and a fire in my belly because people all over the world yearn to feel, be, and do better. Inner fitness is an exciting advent in our human development because it helps us see a correlation between how we think, feel, and believe and how we relate to ourselves and act or react in the world.

I was inspired to write this book because, although mental and emotional overwhelm appear to be the new normal, an inner fitness revolution will disrupt that trajectory in our personal lives and positively impact society’s future. This idea gets me up in the morning.

Although mental and emotional overwhelm appear to be the new normal, an inner fitness revolution will disrupt that trajectory in our personal lives and positively impact society’s future.

How did your personal experiences shape the content?

The Inner Fitness Revolution is about improving how you see and think about your Self in any situation. This message stems directly from a pivotal moment in my own life.

In 2005, during a spiritual psychology course, my professor shared a profound truth: unhappiness isn’t caused by events but by how we perceive and think about ourselves in response to those events.

That insight instantly brought up memories of watching my godmother, Aunt Pang, suffer from feelings of unworthiness that eventually unraveled her. My professor’s words and those painful memories hit me deeply, so much so that I decided to spend my non-acting time reconnecting with my Self and helping others live their lives with keen Self-awareness, -acceptance, and -respect.

It is often said that the older we get, the more we become stuck in our ways. Is it possible to get unstuck?

We can change at any age. Science tells us that the brain can change throughout our lives up to the very end. This means we are never stuck and don’t have to feel handcuffed to the past, old behavior, unhelpful emotions, or ways of thinking. The book includes essays from women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who felt stuck in their old ways but used the practices to grow into better versions of themselves.

We are never stuck and don’t have to feel handcuffed to the past, old behavior, unhelpful emotions, or ways of thinking.

What is the first step for sisters who may feel overwhelmed and underwhelmed?

For anyone feeling this way, it’s important to acknowledge where you are and that it is possible to feel, do, and be better. Just as a healthier physical body lies beneath our poor eating habits, flabby muscles, and lack of sleep, a happier, more fulfilled, and resilient Self lies beneath our worries, doubts, fears, harsh self-judgment, limiting beliefs, and unconscious behavior.

However, if we don’t have a healthy relationship with our Self, we are screwed. We are left with feelings of not being good enough, tortured by our minds and the idea that everyone else has it together as we flail, trying to figure life out.

So, the first step in your inner fitness journey is acknowledging your disconnection from your Self and the dissatisfaction it causes. Once you recognize where you are, you can adopt strategies and practices to foster connection. The starting point can be as simple as regularly checking in with your Self—naming your thoughts and feelings without judgment and becoming curious about what satisfying change might look like. This behavior is an excellent way of spending quality time with a loved and trusted friend—your Self.

How can sisters maintain our well-being and even celebrate ourselves?

When I was learning to improve my ability to respond to life, I realized that everything important requires ongoing effort. Each of us is important and has an innate purpose and worth. Taking time to regularly explore or challenge our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs keeps us in healthy alignment with our inner Self. Finding a like-minded community helps us remember to honor and thoughtfully engage with our Self.

Maintaining inner well-being and feeling capable, internally aligned, and resilient takes ongoing effort. When we accept this reality, we can teach ourselves to wake up each day asking aloud, how can I use today’s gifts and challenges to become that next best version of myself?  When you look in the mirror each morning, say, I matter. I am worth my time and effort. Telling yourself these two truths is a powerful way of affirming and celebrating yourself.

What do you hope readers will gain from your book?

I hope readers walk away knowing they matter and that greater inner freedom is possible. I understand why many people believe that inner work has to be complicated. But many people also find the journey exciting, liberating, and fun. They feel empowered by the idea that they are innately worthy and capable of thriving no matter how life bumps into them.

What’s something you do to stay hopeful, connected and positive? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Jina DuVernay is an Atlanta-based freelance writer focusing on Black literature and Black joy. Find her on social @goodbookingout.