Before we dive into ways to work on the art of loving yourself, let’s understand what self-love is and why it’s important. Self-love is a feeling of admiration for oneself that stems from acts that promote our physical, psychological, and spiritual development. Self-love entails having great regard for one's own pleasure and well-being. Self-love entails taking care of one's own needs rather than sacrificing one's own well-being to please others. Self-love is refusing to accept less than you deserve.
Because we all have various methods of taking care of ourselves, self-love may mean different things to different people. Understanding what self-love looks like for you as an individual is a crucial component of maintaining your mental health. Self-love is talking to and about yourself with love, being nice to yourself, prioritizing yourself, forgiving yourself when you aren’t being true or nice to yourself, giving yourself a break from self-judgment, setting healthy boundaries, trusting yourself, and being true to yourself.
Your heart is your source of power, and when you become the source of love in your own life, everything changes. When you learn to love yourself, your relationships, career, and health all blossom but, while we all know deep down that it's vital to love oneself, we've discovered that the most difficult part for everyone is figuring out how to actually accomplish it. Let's discuss some ways we can love ourselves.
1. To start your self-love journey, introspect. Introspection is looking within you to examine your thoughts and feelings. This is very important because it allows you to know where you are with yourself and things you can work on.
When you look in the mirror, instead of focusing on your shortcomings or what isn't working for you, try to look into your eyes and see the purity in you, allowing yourself to connect to your real self and begin to notice the change in how you feel. Appreciate your journey so far. Be grateful for where you were and where you are now. Tell yourself how great you have been for all the progress you have made so far. Doing positive affirmations in front of the mirror and reminding yourself that you are willing to love and accept yourself is a fantastic approach to begin developing that connection.
2. Set boundaries. The people around can either impact you positively or negatively. You should try to not entertain bad energy or drama from people. It's important to note that your happiness is your priority so staying away from things that disturb your happiness is key.
Knowing and understanding what works best for you and what does not, and as you work deeper on understanding yourself, it is important to start setting healthy boundaries where needed, and also loving yourself comes with giving yourself the ability to say "NO" when needed and respecting and honoring what works for you.
3. Forgiving yourself is an effective way of practicing self-love. In the midst of life's ups and downs, we sometimes carry a lot of guilt and anguish within ourselves in connection to our expectations of ourselves. When we begin to connect with ourselves, it is critical that we also focus on forgiving ourselves and letting go of whatever guilt we harbor inside, just as we would forgive our family or friends. It is always beneficial to focus on forgiving yourself as well.
4. Make room for healthy habits. Begin genuinely caring for yourself by reflecting on what you eat, how you exercise, and what you do with your time. Do things because you care about yourself, not because you "have to" or "have to get it done." Work on changing old habits that are not helpful and incorporate new habits daily that will make you happy.
5. Lastly, Take yourself on a date. Make this the month you go on a date with yourself if you've never done so before. Solo dating is all about spending quality time with yourself and doing something unique for yourself. When it comes to practicing self-love, it is one of the most powerful (and enjoyable) things you can do. By doing something special for yourself – something you'd ordinarily do for someone else - you're giving yourself the love and attention you'd normally offer to others. It's one step towards turning your affection towards yourself.
An advantage of practicing self-love is increased life pleasure. When we love ourselves more, our view of the world shifts. Self-love might even help us have a more optimistic outlook on life. Not to mention how much our mental health loves when we practice self-love. That's part alone should be enough ammunition and consideration for you to be implementing self-love into your life daily. Start with the tips above and work them all into your life. You might even discover your own tips and what works best for you along the way. Enjoy your self-love journey.
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