As we approach Valentine’s Day, I felt called to write about self-love—the kind of love where you accept yourself as you are, the kind of love where you make good choices for your overall well being, and the kind of love that generously gives back to you in magical and mysterious ways.
Let’s start with acknowledging and celebrating yourself.
Use these prompts to encourage you:
I’m proud of…
I’m great at…
I’m awesome because…
I love my…
I am…
Self-love is worthy—and at times challenging—work! After all, it’s quite common to be self-critical and let harsh thoughts dictate how you feel about yourself. So, I want you to take a moment to think of an aspect of yourself that you pick on; maybe it’s physical or maybe it’s mental. What is it and why do you loathe it? Take a moment to dig deep here and be honest with yourself…
Now, if your hand is still at your heart’s center, move it to that place where you are especially critical of yourself, and allow the following prompts to guide you:
Offer that place some extra tender loving care and energy through your touch.
Flip the script and tell yourself what you appreciate about that aspect of your mind or body.
Be kind in your acknowledgment of what that part of your body does for you on a regular basis.
You are choosing to put the breaks on your inner critic and choose self-love. You are choosing to stop giving your time, energy and emotions to negative self-talk and instead give yourself the pep talk so the light and magic that is you shines brighter. That is called flipping the narrative.
To fuel self-love, it’s important to show yourself kindness—not just through words but through actions too. So, it’s time to grab a piece of paper and pen or open the notes page on your phone and jot down 5 kind things you can do for yourself today, tonight, or tomorrow. The action of doing can be active or passive; in that it can be to do something (like food prep) or to choose to not do something (take a midday nap).
When you love yourself, you care for yourself in beautiful ways. Think about a person, a pet, or a thing you just adore; how do you care for it, how much do you love it? You can treat yourself the same way.
When the power of self-love flows through you, you feel it, you use it, and it produces an overflow in which you are able to give to and share with others. So, go and fill up your cup until it runneth over.
Self-love is the path to knowing yourself and for serving others without feeling depleted or resentful; again, you are giving your overflow.
