Learning to Love your Self

Nurturing your body seems simple, but for me it feels like an extreme act of self-love.— Danielle d'Entremont

There is a Whitney Houston song that goes something like “learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all’ and it’s true. Learning to love ourselves is what helps us to learn to love others. Self-love is appreciating yourself, its given attention to your own happiness and well-being. Our self-love can grow through the actions we take to support out spirit, our physical body, and psychological state. We deserve to fill our cups up and show ourselves appreciation. One way to grow that self-love is through self-care.

Self-care is about preserving your well-being. When we take care of ourselves we feel better inside and out. Use some of the below ideas to refuel and reenergize your mind and body.

o Exercise: Running, Swimming, Weight lifting, or Pilates

o Saying No: No further explanation, just no.

o Cooking: Make yourself a healthy meal, use a cookbook or websites to try new recipes

It might feel overwhelming at times to schedule or commit to self-care activities. There are simple and tiny practices called MICRO SELF-CARE that can be sprinkled throughout the day. These can be incorporated into your regular schedule or daily routine. These activities might be as simple as taking a deep breath, eating a quiet lunch, or drinking a bottle of water. Since they are simple we might take them for granted and then skip them. If we focus on small positive changes we can start work towards habits that will add up. Here are 3 micro self-care activities for you to start:

o Wake up, sit on the edge of your bed, and breathe deeply while counting down from 10.

o Dance in the mirror to your favorite song.

o Make your bed when you wake up in the morning.

Try implementing self-care a little each day, and you’ll find your love for yourself increasing. A little each day goes along away until next time….stay motivated.