Self-Love is when we intentionally create space in our lives to recenter, realign, and regroup with ourselves. Millennials are practicing self-love as a tool for pursuing balance and happiness while we navigate our always-on world.
If I had known 10 years ago when I was in my mid-twenties building up my career and company that I am worthy of love regardless of my income and material belongings, I would have lived in a completely different state — a much better state.
Everything that I thought needed to happen in order for me to be loveable didn’t need to happen at all. The only thing I needed to change was my level of love for myself. That’s when I learned that when you love yourself first, the rest will follow.
In this article, psychologist Leon F Seltzer writes, “As you succeed in accepting yourself more—in simply coming to appreciate who you are, and are not—the self-judgmental barriers that have prevented you from loving yourself other than conditionally begin gradually to fall away.” I can attest that a new sense of “awe” stands in the fallen barriers’ place.
The Peaks Resort in Telluride, Colorado
Here are some ways to incorporate self-love into your life now:
Start Feeling the Love
The best way to start feeling the love is to put yourself in places that heal you. A weekly or monthly massage, some time in the jacuzzi, steam, or sauna, and acupuncture all come with tremendous benefits for both your mind and body.
Find Love in Your Environment
Some environments just make it easier to feel love than others. So, put yourself in these environments often and you’ll feel that love. For me this means spending time at the yoga studio, taking personal growth workshops, visiting the spa, joining wellness and fitness clubs, and getting outside so that I can be immersed in nature.
Gratitude Rituals
Try writing down what you’re grateful for every morning and every night. Don’t worry if there’s repetition, that means you’ve got some pretty miraculous things going for you. Some of my got-to’s are to give gratitude for my breath, for the moment, for the day, for my health (no matter where it is it could be worse), the universe, nature, my path, and of course the higher power. When we are consciously grateful for what have in and around us self-love flows in. More on that here.
Treat Yourself to Love
You deserve to live love. Do you love traveling, watching a doc under a comfy blanket, eating a delicious meal, getting lost in a meaningful conversation, or maybe it’s something else? Great, do it. You deserve to! As you treat yourself to your personal version of self-love make sure to mindfully take a moment to register that what you’re doing is more than simply being in the action but that it stands for something even greater.
We’re all on this earth in order to spread light, spread love, and leave this world in a better state than how we found it. How ready and capable we are to spread this love with others and with ourselves first requires that we find it, feel it, and live it. Living it starts now; by introducing some or all of my self-love tips above you’ll notice more love in your life immediately. Like most things we choose to take on, the first step is mindfulness.
You got this.
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