With Valentines day just around the corner, I thought I would share my top 8 tips for finding and cultivating more self love in your life. These are all practices that I use or have used in the past to continue to grow my relationship and love for myself. So, I hope that these tips and tricks are useful for you. But, before we jump in be sure to follow my Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get more updates from me on my day to day life.
1. Speak Kindly About Yourself
It is too easy to fall into a pattern or negative self talk, and so one of the easiest ways to perform an act of self love is to speak kindly towards yourself. This means being conscious of negative self talk when it happens and making an effort to stop it. Negative self talk could happen in your brain or it may be the way that you talk about yourself to others.
Regardless of whatever it may be, make sure that when you notice yourself speaking negatively to/about yourself you put it to rest. Instead, try to replace any of your negatives with a positive. Maybe you constantly look at yourself in the mirror and think “My nose is so ugly”, instead of this thought replace it with: “My nose allows me to breathe and smell so many amazing scents, I am so grateful for my nose.” I know this may seem silly, but after a while you will start to notice a big difference in how you are thinking/speaking about yourself.
2. Spend Time Everyday Doing Something You Love (without needing a reason to do it)
Far too often we are running around like headless chickens doing things for other people. My kids need to be here, my dog needs to go there, my spouse wants to go out here, etc. It can be easy to get trapped into constantly be doing activities and events that are FOR other people.
So with this tip I challenge you to spend time doing at least one activity per day that is for YOU and only YOU. Don’t do it because it “needs to get done” do it because you want to do this activity that brings you true genuine joy. This may be as simple as taking 10 minutes a day to stretch, write, meditate, or work on a side project. Whatever it may be, do it because YOU love it!
3. Write Out A “Love List”
This tip can be super useful if you are struggling with negative self talk. This trick is fairly simple but it requires you to really spend some time thinking about the things you LOVE about YOURSELF. These may be physical attributes, emotional or mental strengths, habits, attitudes, etc.
I challenge you to make a list of 30 things that you love about yourself. This should be easy, don’t over think it and don’t be too critical of yourself. This list should live somewhere that will be easy for you to access again and again. Put it on your phone, computer and on your desk, so whenever negative self talk strikes you can pull it out and remember all of your amazing attributes.
4. Respect Your Body
Our body is such an amazing vessel that helps to guide us through life, it only makes sense that we respect it. If we are able to give our car enough respect to get a tune up, clean up, and full tank of gas, then we should definitely be able to give our body enough respect. This means fueling your body with good food, enough water, quality sleep, and mouvement. This mouvement doesnt have to be extensive, but some form of mouvement should be apart of your everyday life.
Beyond these simpler ideas, it is also important to stay on top of our hygene and health. This means getting annual (or more) health check ups, going to the dentist, eye doctor, and hair dressers. Whatever it may be, make sure to leave time to take care of your body and give it the respect it deserves.
5. Learn to say “Yes” & “No”
We’ve heard it all, say “no” more, say “yes” more… well which one is it?
I think that it is all about BALANCE. There will be moments in your life where you are hustling and busy. These are the moments where it is important to start to say “no”. Not only for our mental health but for our physical health. There are the moments where you need to step back and evaluate what is important in your life, and what you can put to rest. This may be friendships, activities, hobbies, etc. But, make sure to take stock of these and start to get rid of what no longer serves you.
On the other hand learning to say “yes” is just as important as learning to say “no”. We need to say “no” in order to say “yes” to more things. So start to really pick through what you are allowing into your life. Once you start saying “no” you will have opened up more space to say “yes” to new adventures and new opportunities.
6. Learn something new
It is important to constantly be learning something new to better ourselves and to keep our brain sharp. Self love means taking care of your body and your MIND. So, try to learn something new often. This may be done through online classes, mentors, courses, or even through books. Whatever it may be, make sure that you are continually growing and learning.
7. Book in time alone
Just like any other appointment in your life, it is important to book in our time alone on our calendars. Schedule in self care and me time at least once a week, and remember that me time doesn’t have to be long. it could be mediation a few minutes a day or taking a nice 20-30 minutes to take a shower and do your skin care. Whatever the case may be, PUT IT IN THE CALENDAR and stick to it. You wouldn’t cancel an appointment on a friend, so why would you cancel an appointment with yourself?
8. Make a Self Love Affirmation
A love affirmation can be a great resource to create in order to generate more love towards yourself and towards others in your life. Repeat this affirmation everyday to help strengthen your self love and to bring in more love to your life. I created a self love affirmation down below, so feel free to save this photo and use it for yourself, or take the time to create an affirmation that resonates more with you.
I hope you enjoyed this post and you gained some new tips and tricks to support you on your journey with self love! Remember that no matter where you are along the journey, keep pushing to better your relationship with yourself, but be patient with the process.
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Gutsy Feeling 