7 Tips & strategies for practicing self-love
Everyone is unique in this world. You too… There is no other person in this world like you. God has created everyone as an exceptional person. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry has been born as a different package. There will never be absolutely anybody like you. There are few good things and few bad as well in every human being. You have your own exclusive gifts that no one other in this world will ever have. This makes you entitled to be loved by people around you. And, of course why not…? You must get the respect and love you deserve. Everyone needs love and I believe you also must be spreading love to people — be it friends, spouse, children or family. But do you know it’s equally important to love the most important person in your life — YOU. Yes, self-love is incredibly important for your mental and physical wellbeing. Your relationships, your career, your health – they all flourish when you start to love yourself.
Many people struggle a lot while practicing self-love, especially during challenging times. We will be sharing strategies on how to practice self-love in your day-to-day life, in this article.
What is self-love?
For some, the perception of self-love may conjure up images of over-indulgence, narcissism, egotism, vanity or selfishness. But, actually it does not mean being selfish or narcissist. It is also not about having freedom or doing whatever you fell like to do. It is more about self-care and self-discipline.
Self-love is the foundation of all loves. Self love means that you accept yourself fully; treat yourself with love, kindness and respect; and nurture your growth and wellbeing. It is when you fall in love with your mind, body and soul; when you get disciplined to do the things which are right for you in long term.
Benefits of Self Love
There are numerous benefits of loving yourself.
- Greater happiness
- Stronger resilience
- Develop healthy self-esteem
- Lesser stress and anxiety
- Increased motivation
- Higher level of satisfaction
- Better physical and mental health
Practicing self-love – Tips & strategies
Learning to love yourself is one of the most powerful and important things you can do in life. Oscar Wilde once said, “to love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance”. So, let’s begin the lifelong romance by practicing it by following strategies.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the first sign of Self-love. To forgive is the highest and the most beautiful form of love. When you forgive others, then only you have the inevitable ability to forgive and love yourself.
Self-forgiveness is more than just putting the past behind you and moving on. It is about accepting what has happened and showing compassion to yourself. Remind yourself that nobody’s perfect and that it’s impossible to change the past.
Forgiveness also leads to emotional healing, which is an important aspect for nurturing self-love.
Self-care
When you are in love with someone, you take care of that relationship or person in every aspect. It’s integral part of your love.
Self-love is your relationship with yourself. Like, you take care of other relationships in your life; you also need to take care of self. Self-care is the part of it that involves you taking care of yourself.
Get a sound sleep to feel rejuvenated; set a morning routine; attend a yoga class or go for a run; eat healthy balanced diet; drink plenty of water; and schedule in time for fun, adventure or relaxation. Love and value yourself enough to make self-care practices an integral part of your day-to-day life. It will improve your overall feeling of self-love.
Self-acceptance
Be aware about your weaknesses, inadequacies and imperfections. Have courage to recognize your flaws and take the steps needed to improve upon them. If, few things, which are out of your control and cannot be changed; learn to accept them (example physical appearance). Self-acceptance is accepting yourself for the way you are. Accept yourself despite your flaws, failures, and limitations.
Self-acceptance works wonders for developing self-love. It allows you to be more authentic to yourself.
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~ Buddha
Start a gratitude journal
Find something to be grateful for every day. According to positive psychology researches, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Every day, Just by writing down 10 things that you’re grateful for; you can train your brain to be more positive, treating yourself to an overall feeling of happiness. It is a key tool when it comes to practicing self-love because it helps us to step into an attitude of gratitude, love and abundance. When you deliberately notice the ways other people are good to you, you develop a stronger sense of your own value.
Stop comparing yourself
Don’t get caught in the comparison trap! Comparison is a destroyer to self-love. If you would have noticed, our brain more often triggers negative comparisons. We pick our greatest flaws and compare them to someone else’s greatest success. We aren’t usually comparing our positive aspects with others.
As I said right in the beginning of this article – There is no other person in this world like you. You have your own exclusive gifts that no one other in this world will ever have. So, stop comparing yourself with others and start loving yourself the way you are. Respect your uniqueness and allow your authenticity.
Use positive affirmations!
Affirmations are a powerful way of building self-love. Take notice of how you speak to yourself, and try to silent your inner critic. Learn to talk positively to yourself. Positive affirmations create a belief and work in your favor by coming to your mind when that belief is challenged.
Affirmations are an amazing tool to help you on your journey of self-love. When you feel lack of confidence, having low self-esteem, and have diminishing self-belief; use the affirmation or mantra, “Even though I (insert your problem), I deeply and completely love and accept myself”.
Committing to self-love
Be 100 percent committed to your journey to self-love. No excuses. Please remember that it is a process that requires time and commitment. The journey towards self-love can be a long journey, not something that just happens overnight. It may take a long time to disengage the bad habits you pick up along the way that cause you to be unkind to yourself.
Make self-love a most important priority in your life and give it a sufficient time Do not allow anything get in the way of you and your relationship with self.
“Self-love is an ocean and your heart is a vessel. Make it full, and any excess will spill over into the lives of the people you hold dear. But you must come first.” ~ Beau Taplin
That’s all from my side in this article. Thank you for reading this. Over to you now, please let us know your opinion on self love. Share them in the comment section, they are much appreciated.
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