How To Practice Self-Love

What is Self-Love?

Self-love, simply put, is prioritising your happiness and overall well being. This means putting your wellness first and not sacrificing your mental state to make others feel better at your expense.

Everyone may have a different meaning of self-love. Spending quality time alone gives you space and time to discover different ways to take care of yourself.

What are your likes?

What are your dislikes?

What are you NOT going to tolerate in your relationships?

For me, self-love means speaking kindling to myself. Constantly trying to overpower negative thoughts that tell me that I am not good enough or worthy of self-love.

Also, it gives you ideas that you can incorporate into your self-care routine. Find time to cater to your mental health.

5 Tips On How To Practice Self Love

One thing I need to really work on is embracing my sexuality. For years, I’ve felt uncomfortable in my skin. Although I have been working out for years and started going to the gym at 18, I don’t feel sexy. And I do believe that is connected to my confidence and self-esteem.

When I was younger, I was bullied for quite some time. Although little was did little to support me emotionally, once I gained an amazing group of friends, I started to feel a bit better about myself.

I began to go to dancing classes which were super fun, and it was a great way to meet new people.

Due to life events, I stopped dancing, and I started to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Part of me still feels like a little girl trapped in that mindset. But another me understands that every day is not going to be all sunshine and rainbows, which is OK.

What has helped me grow my confidence, which is a long term process, is taking pictures.

For some time, I really hated taking pictures as I didn’t like how I looked.

Through working out, it has boosted my confidence tremendously. I’ve started taking progress pictures, and I am amazed at how much my body has changed.

Lifting weights has really helped with my mindset.

Soon, I am going to dress up and take pictures, just for me!

We need to appreciate our bodies. We only have one!

Try some new recipes

During this time at home, I started exploring and trying new recipes. Instagram is a great platform that connects us to people all across the world. On my personal Instagram and my Instagram for my brand, @confidantcandy, I have made food folders and have saved hundreds of recipes!

Many people post the ingredients and show you how to make delicious meals.

If you find a new recipe, why not try it, post it and tag the account that made the recipe? I’ve done it, and one tagged so vegan, and they responded!

It can also be a great way of connecting with new people.

Declutter

It is safe to say that its spring! So you know what that means, spring cleaning!

It’s time to get rid of things ( and maybe people) that no longer serve a purpose.

Once a month, I aim to declutter my room. I’m a tiny bit of a hoarder and I would love to have a minimulistic lifestyle, so I need to get rid of some stuff. It’s therapeutic. Shred things, take some weight of your shoulders.

Create boundaries that protect your wellbeing

Protect your wellbeing at all costs!

Having boundaries is essential as it demonstrates that people should interact with you in a way you need.

I am making a habit of protecting my energy. At times, that may mean saying no to people and no to doing things that you don’t want to do.

Your loved ones should understand and respect that you have boundaries to honour your needs and make you feel good. If you would like to know more, check out my video below.

Say Affirmations

Affirmations are statements that you can repeat to yourself. They are positive and should be uplifting. You can make affirmations for different areas you want to focus on.

For example, if you want to speak positively and optimistically about your finances, you can say, ‘I have a lot of money in the bank, and for that, I am grateful.’

‘Money is coming my way!’

Attract positivity in your life.

Perhaps you can focus on affirmations that you struggle with. I.e. I’m working on my confidence, so I say affirmations such as, ‘I am full of confidence. I am a confident person’.

According to Positive Psychology, “There is MRI evidence suggesting that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks (Cascio et al., 2016).”

Try it!

Get moving

Exercising is a great way to practice self-love, and it also has a ton of benefits for your physical and emotional wellbeing.

I find that exercising makes me feel so so good. This week, I was able to jog for a total of 6 minutes, 3 times, as part of a High-intensity interval training (HIIT).

I used to avoid jogging, especially as my areas are full of hills—a LOT OF THEM. But I challenged myself, and I did it.

Jogging is not easy at all!

I commend those of you that jog! I guess its a mental thing.

If jogging isn’t for you, you can workout in the comfort of your own home!

You don’t need heavy equipment.

You can use your body weight. Alternatively, if you like to have a good time, why not dance?

There are millions of tutorials on Youtube. Try it out for yourself and get moving!

Take away

As we go through life, we will experience both high and lows.

We must protect ourselves, honour ourselves and love ourselves unconditionally.

You deserve love. Practice self-love as often as you can.

Pour into yourself first and do so often.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

How do YOU practice self-love?

Let me know in the comments.

Take care.

XO

Tagged counselling, love, wellbeing