Ten Ways to Love Yourself More

Do you Love yourself?

With Valentine’s coming up in a few days, I was thinking about the importance of love, particularly, self-love – it’s a simple idea, but not always easy to do.

What does it mean to love yourself? We are all familiar with romantic love, the main focus of Valentine’s Day, but what about loving ourselves? That is a difficult concept for many.

Cultivating love for your own beautiful self is the most important healing work you can do. All other healing modalities are built on this basic foundation. As a health and wellness coach, I work with woman who give and give to the point of depleting themselves. I know, from personal experience as well as working with my clients, that when we are depleted, we have nothing to give others. And from this foundation of depletion, the framework for disease is built.  The good news is doesn’t have to be this way. We can lay a foundation of self-love and build the framework for health, energy, and joy.

The airline safety folks have this figured out -- put the mask on yourself before you attempt to help someone else with theirs. If you’re not getting oxygen, you’re likely to pass out before you can help the person next to you. Similarly, when you are not loving yourself, you will have nothing to give those around you.

Many people have cultivated a belief system where selflessness is praised and self-love is condemned. I'm here to challenge that old belief system.  It’s time to practice new thoughts and create new beliefs that will focus on loving ourselves so that we can build a solid, loving foundation for our lives. When we heal ourselves, we create a ripple that touches all those around us. It’s a win-win.

Are you ready to cultivate self-love and build a solid foundation from which energy and joy will flow? Give these ideas a try and be patient with yourself as you exercise this new self-love muscle. It may take time and repetition, but the benefits you will reap from your efforts are so worth it! 

10 ways to love yourself more:

1. Promise to love yourself for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.
2. Look in the mirror every day, look deep into your eyes and say “I love you.”  Say it again. Say it ten times. Say it until you really see and feel that beautiful person looking back at you in the mirror.
3. Offer yourself the same emotional support, acceptance, empathy and compassion that you offer a dear friend.
4. Appreciate and love your body – it works tirelessly for you every second of every day.
5. Learn to set healthy boundaries. It’s OK to say “No.”
6. Ween yourself off of toxic people that drain you. Surround yourself with people that lift you up.
7. Celebrate the good stuff – big and small. Try keeping a gratitude/celebrations journal so you can look back and read about all the good stuff that’s happened (we tend to forget the good stuff).
8. Take yourself on a date -- just you -- doing something you love (go to a movie, enjoy a bubble bath, treat yourself to a mocha latte, go to a museum, take a quiet walk through the trees… the possibilities are many).
9. Write down compliments you receive. When you focus on the good stuff, you are creating new pathways in your brain that favor affirming thoughts.
10. BREATHE. When you feel stressed and are tending towards negativity, take three deep breaths. Focus on your breath as it fills your lungs and follow it all the way out.  Deep breathing calms the nervous system and it is much easier to focus on positive, loving thoughts when you are calm.

You are precious.

You are loved.

Happy Valentine’s Day to YOU.

(Re-posted from February 13, 2018)