Self Love
Most of us could benefit from loving ourselves more deeply and deliberately. How much we love or don’t love ourselves affects everything in our lives; our relationships, our work, and for sure our health, well-being and emotions.
If you haven’t already started the journey of self love then here are 7 great places to start
1 ~ Love Yourself With Mindfulness
To be mindful means to be aware of what’s happening in your thoughts, emotions, and actions. It can be a real struggle to remain mindful, as we most often get lost in trails of thought and crazy made up mental scenarios as well as getting absorbed into the drama’s occurring outside of ourselves too. Learning to become mindful is just the beginning of self love. To live in a mindful manner is a step by step, moment to moment practice that goes on for life.
You can begin practicing mindfulness by
- Becoming aware of the present moment. Whatever you are up to, become aware. Focus on remaining in the present moment as you are walking, talking, brushing your teeth, making love, washing the dishes etc
- Regularly take a deep breathe (a ‘mini meditation’ Eckhart Tolle calls that) and become aware of what you are feeling emotionally and physically. Give your self some self loving awareness and attention as you fully notice what’s going on.
- Start off by practising every day. Begin small and let it grow. Choose a time each day when you can practice, like when you wake up or when you go to sleep, or each time your phone rings. Over time your mindfulness will expand. Treat yourself with gentleness when you catch yourself being lost in mind. Bring yourself back with loving awareness.
2 ~ Love Your Body With Nourishment
Take a good look at what you are consuming. Are you eating healthy foods? Do you eat processed, sugary foods? Do you choose organic? Do you have awareness around what you consume and how it impacts your body, mind, emotions and well being? Are there some foods that make you feel tired? Are there foods that make you feel alert and vibrant? Do you care how food impacts you?
It is a huge journey tuning into what foods are our friends, but learning about this and implementing healthier choices can have a radical impact on our overall health and well being.
It is a huge act of self love to become aware of and provide for our bodies the nourishment that it will thrive on. Be patient with yourself as you make changes.
3 ~ Love Your Body With Movement
Every single day find some time to move your body. For me I like to dance. I take myself outside, with my iPod, I find a good spot and I groovy on down to Michael Jackson for a track or two! If I don’t manage this then I bounce on my rebounder for 15 minutes. At the very lest I’ll go for a walk. It doesn’t matter what kind of movement you make, we all prefer different methods, but it is important that you do move, especially if you want to shift your mood or energy. Even if it’s only small deliberate mindful movements you can make, be sure to make time for it each day. When we move we are more ‘body engaged’ and less in our minds. To choose to move, rather than fester, is self love in physical action!
4 ~ Love Your Soul
What are you passionate about? Where do you lose yourself in childhood wonder? What lights you up? What puts you in the flow? Is it music? dancing? writing? painting? laughing? snuggling? cooking? Whatever it is find some time for it every single day. I love doodling and writing and empowering myself and others, so blogging is excellent for me. In fact I get to use all my self loving skills and talents through my online business (more here)
5 ~ Love Yourself With a Self Love List!
Get into the habit of deliberately writing down things about yourself that you love. Get a journal and keep it by your bedside and each night before nodding off write down a couple of things about yourself that you love. If you keep up this practice your self loving awareness will stretch and open and you will become more aware of what you love about yourself. This is quite a transformational process that gets you to looking deeper into yourself, which causes you to find more and more lovable aspects about yourself.
6 ~ Self Care = Self Love
Give yourself your number one priority. Whilst being mindful and paying attention to how you feel also practice giving to yourself what you need, despite who else needs your attention. So, if you notice that you need more rest, make sure to give that to yourself somehow. If you’re feeling hungry be sure to feed yourself. If you’re feeling that you need some space away from others, make sure you allow yourself that time and space for solitude. You have to become a master of your own self care. No one else knows what you need like you do and for sure others aren’t always going to make sure that you get what you need. You have to become aware of your needs and make sure you meet them yourself. Also, make sure you set healthy boundaries by saying ‘no’ to things that you know are going to deplete your energy.
7 ~ Gratitude
In that journal you keep, where you’re writing down the things that you love about yourself, get into the habit of acknowledging your daily achievements and be grateful for everything that you have done for yourself that day. Practising gratitude for ourself helps our self love to snow ball and grow bigger.
In the comments below please feel free to share at least 1 thing that you can do today to kick start your self love practice xx