So, this Valentine’s Day, let’s make a conscious effort to celebrate self-love. Here are a few ways to embrace and cultivate it:
Mind : Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional wellbeing is the ability to cope with life’s challenges and here are a few tips to improve your emotional well-being.
- Practice Self-Compassion: Be gentle with yourself. Acknowledge that you’re human and that it’s okay to make mistakes or have shortcomings. Treat yourself with the same kindness and understanding that you would offer to a dear friend in need.
- Engage in Self-Reflection: Take time to reflect on your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Journaling, meditation, or simply quiet contemplation can help you gain insight into yourself and deepen your connection with your innermost desires and aspirations.
- Pay attention to your surroundings (physical environment and connections). Our outer environment has a great influence over our internal feelings, so make sure to surround yourself with things that will uplift you.
- Create a beautiful space for yourself that fuels your soul. Declutter your home and treat yourself to some fresh flowers. Light some candles and play some soft, uplifting music.
- Self-love begins with nurturing a positive mindset. Challenge negative self-talk and replace it with affirmations and positive thoughts.
- Cultivate Positive Self-Talk: Pay attention to the way you speak to yourself. Replace negative self-talk with affirming and empowering statements. Remind yourself of your strengths, accomplishments, and inherent worthiness. You are enough, just as you are.
- Part of self-love is setting healthy boundaries and learning to say no when needed. Understand your limits and don’t be afraid to prioritize your own needs. By establishing boundaries, you create space for self-care, personal growth, and meaningful connections with others.
- Surround yourself with people who inspire you and lift you up, and distance yourself from toxic relationships.
- Eliminate (or reduce) time-consuming activities that don’t make you feel good, maybe reduce your time scrolling through social media but use it in a positive way to inspire and motivate you.
- Practice forgiveness (of others but also of yourself). Forgiving past mistakes and misjudgments in your past will help you cultivate an open heart and mind that is ready for new experiences.
- Write a list of of all the things you appreciate about yourself and keep it visible!
- If you don’t feel happy with your life at the current time, write down three to five simple actions you could take right now to make you feel better, such as go for a walk, call up a friend, declutter your closet ….
- And always remember to spoil yourself! Take time for yourself and indulge in things that create passion and excitement in your life. Whether it’s watching a movie on Netflix, reading a good book, doing a hobby you love, dancing, cooking a delicious meal, baking a cake, make sure to set aside some valuable time for yourself.
Body: Physical Wellbeing
It’s important to appreciate all the amazing things our body does for us all the time rather than focusing on what you consider to be your “flaws” and “imperfections”.
Body confidence doesn’t come from trying to achieve the perfect body. It comes from embracing the one you’ve already got!
One of the ways to improve our physical wellbeing is also to take care of our body and show it lots of self love. This could include:
- Focusing on nourishing your body with healthy and delicious foods.
- Dressing for the body shape you have now, rather than waiting to lose weight so you start to look good and feel good immediately.
- Looking after your skin and taking some time out for some pampering self-care, for example, booking a facial, having an ‘at-home’ spa or pampering day
- Making time to exercise.
- Establishing a nighttime routine for a healthy dose of sleep.
Soul : Spiritual Wellbeing
Spiritual wellbeing is all about finding peace and harmony in life, and some activities you might want to consider include :
- Embrace your unique path and celebrate your growth and progress. Recognize how far you’ve come and the resilience you’ve shown in overcoming challenges. Every step forward is a testament to your strength and courage.
- Practice Gratitude: Take stock of the things you appreciate about yourself and your life. Cultivate a mindset of gratitude, focusing on the blessings and opportunities that abound. Gratitude opens the heart to love, including self-love. Try keeping a gratitude journal, and writing 3 to 5 things you are grateful for each day.
- Spending time outside in nature.
- Practicing yoga
- Practicing affirmations and becoming mindful of your inner voice. Whenever you feel negativity rearing its ugly head, replace the negative thoughts with a positive affirmation, such as “I love and accept myself as I am”
- Helping someone else and doing something altruistic, such as shopping for an elderly neighbour, manning a phone line, reading to someone….
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help, if you need it— it could be as simple as starting a self-compassion meditation practice through to setting up an appointment for coaching or counselling.
Self love leads to greater levels of joy and happiness and also gives you increased confidence and success. The gift of self love is also the key to creating healthy and lasting relationships with others.
And most importantly to give yourself the gift of self love this Valentine’s Day, accept and embrace the person that you are today.
The greatest gift you can give yourself is to accept yourself as you are right now! This doesn’t mean we can’t also strive towards improving ourselves. It just means we are starting with a healthy appreciation of who and where we are right now!
That being said, we can embrace the joy of learning and commit to continuous self-improvement. For example, you could :
- Listen to an inspiring podcast
- Read a paper/article or a book on a topic that interests you
- Sign up for a new class or course – you can learn just about anything these days from flower arranging to car mechanics.
- Challenge your brain, by trying a crossword or a puzzle
- Do your usual walk the opposite way round!
A healthy sense of acceptance is actually one of the number one motivators in accomplishing our goals. It also affects how you let others treat you, how you treat yourself and how you react to stressful and difficult situations.
So, this Valentine’s Day, whether you are in a relationship or not, give yourself the gift of self love! Because the key to loving others and having healthy, fulfilling relationships is to love yourself first.
