If you're like me, loving yourself takes work. It seems that no matter my age or what's happening in my life, other things got in the way of loving myself. It wasn't until recently I learned that when I focused on loving myself I have more energy for myself and for others. Here's 5 way of self love that are effective for me, I hope you'll find a few that work for you, too.
1. Daily Journaling of Gratitude
Oprah turned me on to this idea. And at first I resisted, but then I decided to give it a try. I started out by listing three things I was grateful for. Then my writing morphed to full paragraphs and pages of gratitude. After doing it more than 3 years I can tell you with sincere honesty - it has been life changing. Here's how it works, by finding things to be grateful for, you begin to notice more and more that enriches your life. Today, for example, I was blown away by the color of the sky with the fall leaves of all hues of yellows, oranges and reds against that backdrop, it was awesome. I'm grateful to be alive and to be able to witness such beauty. This is how I show myself love.
2. Walk in nature
See number 1. In addition to appreciating nature's beauty, walks get my heart pumping, helps me feel better physically and mentally and since I also do it early in the morning it provides me all the energy I need for the day.
3. Meditate
I'd be much better at self love if I meditated more, but when I do take the time to clear my mind of thoughts, or at least get in tune with what's going through my mind without judgement or criticism I leave it feeling refreshed, calm and peaceful.
4. Do what you love
Maybe this should have been number 1. Many people don't know how to answer that question, however, for those that do what they love are practicing a high form of self love. I can honestly say I love the work I do as a life coach. When a client and I finish a session I am thrilled to have helped them, and that creates amazing positive energy.
5. Use your time and talents to help others
Helping others seems like the opposite of self love, but it's not. When you're using the gifts you've been given to help someone else, you are practicing self love. And that's because when you use your talents - those things that bring you joy and where you find yourself in "flow", you're getting more out of it than the person you're doing it for.
So give yourself some time to try out some of these ways of loving your self, then report back to me with how it's working for you. I can't wait to hear from you!
