Self-love is an experience we all cycle in and out of. It means loving all aspects of yourself, by accepting your flaws, your strengths, your weaknesses, and the things you don’t always like about yourself.
For many people, concepts of self-love can be new. After all, we are often taught that prioritizing yourself or your needs is selfish and that you should focus your energies on other people. But practicing self-love doesn’t make you selfish, or a narcissist, it just means that you won’t settle for less than you deserve, because you understand
and respect your own needs. Practicing self-love often just means extending the same respect and care you have for others to yourself.
Self-love comes with practice and with practice, self-love will become second nature. Adding loving thoughts and actions to your daily life will begin to crowd out some of your self-defeating thoughts and behaviors. Some actionable tools for increasing self-love are:
Recognizing and accepting your feelings as they are
Take time for yourself
Notice positive trails about yourself
Challenge the idea of having to be perfect to be "good enough"
Get enough sleep
Befriend your body (read quote above)
Practice positive self-talk
Challenging a negative story about yourself
Forgiving yourself
Understand that societal expectations offer unrealistic standards
Feel into the joy of a moment vs self-judgement
Practice gratitude
Limit toxic messaging from friends/social media/etc
What can you add to your daily lifestyle today?