Loving Yourself is Not Selfish

Do you constantly worry about what other people think about you? Do you overanalyze the decisions you make? Do you find yourself copying others around you? Do you lack confidence?  Are you constantly looking for validation from others?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are lacking in self-love. Self-love effects how you view yourself, how others view you, and the decisions you make. Self-love means giving your body, mind, and spirit what they need to do their best. In this blog post I will be discussing the steps to take to better your self-love, along with some other helpful tips—including practicing affirmations and meditation—to get you on the right track!

We are not the same. Keep in mind that your experiences will shape how you need to love yourself. Learning to love yourself properly can help in times when you are embarrassed, lonely, sad, anxious, or when you are happy, motivated, succeeding, or just “okay.” The point I am trying to make is that there is no better time than the present to learn how to love yourself!

Learning to love yourself helps you to become more in tune with your emotions and reactions to those emotions. There are a few key points to remember when learning to love yourself, including patience, self-forgiveness, practice, belief, and acceptance.

• Patience
  • Patience is key. Learning to truly love yourself takes time. You must have compassion for yourself and understand that healing is not an overnight process.
• Self-forgiveness
  • This means showing empathy to yourself. Accept your behavior and what has happened in your past. Doing this will help you move forward in letting go of any worries associated with these things. If it helps, visualize talking to the child version of yourself.
• Practice
  • You have heard the saying, “Practice makes perfect,” right? This saying definitely applies to your self-love journey. Practice self-love however you see fit. Later on in this post I discuss my two favorite ways to practice self-love, which are affirmations and meditation.
• Belief
  • This is where your affirmations will come in handy. In order to gain self-love, you must understand that you are worthy of self-love.
• Acceptance
  • When it comes down to it, self-love has everything to do with accepting yourself for who you truly are. It is important to let go of any previous judgements of yourself or judgements that other may people have had regarding you. Acceptance comes from having patience, forgiving yourself, practicing self-love, and believing you are worthy of self-love.

Affirmations

Affirmations are statements that help you to think positively and empower yourself. Remember, practice makes perfect. Here are some affirmations you can practice right now. (Seriously, do it!)

1. I love myself, respect myself and accept myself exactly as I am.
2. I deserve to be happy and loved.
3. No success is too small to celebrate, and I revel in the tiny wins today.
4. I recognize the wisdom, strength, and compassion that is within me.
5. It isn’t selfish to be kind to myself.
6. I am grateful to be living in this divine female body.

Meditation

Meditation allows you to check in with yourself and see how you are really doing. It gives you a baseline for your current mental health, and allows you to work through things as well as be present in the moment. Here is a meditation I enjoy using to help relieve any stress I have been holding in my body throughout the day. Meditation not only relaxes my body, but it also allows me to calm my mind.

Other sources for meditation:

Walking meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfPBlRE4RIc&feature=share

Bee Breath: https://www.artofliving.org/us-en/yoga/breathing-techniques/bhramari-pranayama

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/287Sp8JalytKvJxnoOxCbW?si=4fEeg6jQSNSU4w2NSI1LEg

Learning to love yourself takes time. But once you start practicing self-love, you will radiate positive energy, and this will rub off on everyone else in your life. If you remember anything from this post, I want you to take this with you: Once you start practicing self-love, everything else will follow; I promise.

 

Sources:

https://www.thinkup.me/affirmations-for-women/ (affirmations 1-5)

(https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/affirmations-for-women/) (affirmation 6)