10 Ways to Practice Self Love and Self Compassion

It’s Valentine’s day. As we express love to others, have you thought about showing yourself some love? Self-love is a hot topic, but what does that actually mean? How do you even go about loving yourself?

Why do we need to truly love ourselves?

Self-love is…

💚A state of appreciation of oneself that is a seed planted and grows from what we feed ourself. Including thoughts, actions, & feelings that support one’s physical, psychological, & spiritual growth.

💚Taking care own your self needs before taking on others.

💚Holding yourself in high regard for your well~being & happiness.

💚Not sacrificing your well being for others.

💚Trusting & having faith in yourself.

💚Setting healthy boundaries

💚Letting go of judgment, comparing to others, giving yourself grace, being understanding, & showing yourself forgiveness.

💚Getting to know yourself with open acceptance.

💚Gratitude… gratitude… gratitude!

Sometimes loving yourself can feel like an uphill battle. It is natural to love yourself, so why can it feel difficult? Self-love looks different for each individual. Keeping in mind that no one’s journey is the same. It is time to stop searching for the answers outside of ourselves and listen closely to that inner voice within.

Here are some ways to open the door, to seek your own personal prescription of self-love:

💛Practice gratitude. Start your day by saying at least 5 things you are grateful for, perhaps even before you get out of bed or your feet touch the floor. Use gratitude throughout your day, and watch how your frequency shifts to blessings and abundance towards what you are feeling gratitude for.

💛Meditation is a go-to, to really get to know yourself. Starting your day off with a meditation allows you to carry the peace and gratitude you created for yourself throughout your day! It also creates new neural pathways in our brains to break old patterns & form new healthier ones.

💛Speak more loving words about and towards yourself. Look in the mirror and outloud tell yourself the things you love about you. I like art and affirmations, and I write and draw on my mirror to inspire me frequently throughout the day.

💛Move & breathe. Incorporate movement for your body everyday. It doesn’t have to be the same every day. Be playful and follow the flow of your own life! May it be…stretching, yoga, barre, running, lifting, cycling, playing with your kids, or walking the dog. Love yourself with movement. Taking a moment to stop and bring awareness to your breath can reset you in any moment.

💛Listen to the intelligence of your body. It is always communicating with you. Taking 3 deep breaths when you are indecisive about anything or just any time you feel you need to re-center can do wonders for your mind-body connection.

💛Go outside and play. May it be sunbathing or stargazing… fresh air can help give you an energy boost, and Vitamin D boost which will improve that mood. Take a little walk outside to clear your head. It can help when you're feeling anxious, stressed, or overwhelmed.

💛Making healthy eating choices. Ask yourself is this healing or harming my body, only YOU know this answer. Everybody is different. Stop when you feel full. An easy way to do this is to practice mindfulness while we eat. Of course you can indulge “sometimes”, life is all about balance after-all.

💛Put down your electronics and unplug anyway you can. Lift your eyes off the screens and enjoy life happening all around you. Give yourself breaks to step away without judgment. Break free and do something else. Read a book, talk in-person or call a loved one, draw, paint, craft, or spend time with the amazing people in your life.

💛Spend time alone. Give yourself YOU time, and don’t set limits on this. You are amazing and sometimes, all we need is ourselves when others have a tendency to over stimulate our energetic field.

💛Drink more water. This may seem like a simple task, but most of us don't drink enough water. Water is life. Water is intelligent…(more on this in a future blog).

Let’s talk about the why…

Why go through all the trouble to seek our own self-love prescription?
There are some major benefits of self-love, and they can completely change your life.

Here are a few of the benefits of cultivating a self-love practice:

💚Self-love creates a compass to make healthier choices that can benefit you in all the areas of your life you apply it to. It creates higher self~esteem guiding us to make better choices for ourselves helping us avoid disappointments and setbacks.

💚Self-love creates happiness. When we are feeling positive feelings we attract positive things to us like a magnet!

💚Develops stronger resilience & adaptability. Want to handle life’s “challenges”? Self-love influences the way we handle life’s challenges and see ourselves in relation to them. You know you are not your “mistakes”. When we treat ourselves more kindly, we respond to stressful or upsetting events with more flexibility. We develop resilience as we develop self-love. In helping us recover from setbacks, self-love also triggers a “growth mindset” in us. With a growth mindset instead of a “fixed” one, people are more likely to embrace challenges, learn from feedback, and further develop their talents and potential.

💚Need motivation? Want more to be and feel more successful? When you practice self-love, you are open to understanding failure is not a painful indicator of defeat, but a learning opportunity from which growth can follow. Let’s call them “happy accidents” -Bob Ross. When we learn from our “mistakes” we can break old patterns of self destructive behavior.

💚The practice allows you to become more understanding and opens the door to success. Understanding is the gift that keeps on giving… allowing you to develop level-headedness and strong emotional stability. These qualities support a higher sense of well-being, more productivity, and a feeling of success and accomplishment.

💚Cultivating a self-love practice offers you an opportunity to truly know yourself. When we know who we are it is much easier to navigate where we’d like to go, how, and where to put our precious energy! Gifting us the courage to step into our own power, our own life, & our our purpose.

I could go on & on…I’ll just say; Self Love? … Yes Please!

Namaste’

Air Christie, RYT 500