10 Ways to Practice True Self Love
Self-love is the act of showing yourself love, compassion & respect without judgement, guilt or doubts. When you care for your health and well-being you are practicing self-love. If you have gratitude for your journey, how you are healing, learning and growing then you are again practicing self-love. In the moments that we can lean in to self-love we shift forward with grace and are able to be refuelled and reenergized for life.
There are many ways we can practice self-love, so today I am sharing 10 that I think are really important and practice regularly in my life.
Have boundaries
This is a BIG practice for self-love.
Saying no is allowed.
Actually it’s essential in life.
The moment you start saying no to things that do not serve you in life and you start creating these boundaries you will notice how much more energy and time you have for the things that do serve you.
If something is not worth your time and energy then you need to learn to say no and move on. This is not easy at first. You will lose people in your life, but do you really want people in your life that only take your energy and give nothing in return?
Having boundaries are the standards you keep for yourself in who you spend time with and what you spend time doing. If you start holding these standards for yourself then you will start to notice the other people around you treating you with this in mind. It is not because you go around telling everyone your standards, but it is because your boundaries keep people in your life that have similar standards.
Start creating boundaries that protect your heart and your energy.
2. Clear & cleanse yourself
This is a great practice because it helps in disconnecting from the stress, chaos, frustrations and dysfunction of life. Because yes that is a thing. We can get wrapped up in all the negativity that goes on around us and we need to break free from this in order to stay connected to our authentic selves and connect back to peace and joy.
There are many ways to clear and cleanse yourself, my favourite is using smoke medicine from sacred indigenous traditions that my mentor Asha Frost, Indigenous Healer, taught me. It is a beautiful practice that includes honouring yourself and honouring the plant that came from Mother Earth and it’s healing medicine.
Whenever I am practicing cleansing myself whether with smoke medicine, crystals, or through breathing I am visualizing the heaviness and darkness leaving me and welcoming in the light.
Cleansing yourself on a daily or weekly basis will help you to leave behind the stress of work, those lasting affects of a conflict or confrontation, any negative interactions you may have experienced, and the drama and gossip that has nothing to do with you.
3. Take up space
Allow yourself to be the amazing person that you are.
Don’t be afraid to show your true self and get after those dreams.
Taking up space is reminding yourself and the world that you have a purpose in this life and you have greatness within you. This practice is as easy as showing up, sharing your truth, and standing strong in your authenticity.
By taking up space you are reminding yourself that you are worthy, and you are honouring your path by pursuing your dreams, setting your intentions and creatively living your life.
4. Follow your passions fiercely
There are things in life that you are passionate about for a reason. Your passions fuel your inner fire, bring you happiness and joy, keep you motivated to continue to move forward in life and teach you what it feels like to love.
Following your passions is the act of creating a life that you enjoy living daily.
5. Always rest
In rest we are able to heal, learn and grow and this is not limited to mentally, this includes physically and spiritually.
When you give yourself time and space to rest you are honouring your ability to heal and grow through life.
Rest is a big self-love practice. Especially when you can recognize the moments in life that you require more rest than normal.
6. Honour & respect each phase
Understanding that there are different phases in life is so important. We can experience moments of abundance & support, moments of hurt & challenges, moments of rest & healing, moments of lessons & growth, moments of joy & love.
We have the phases through our childhood, through our education years, through our adult-hood, through our relationships & family, through our careers & retirement.
There are so many phases to life and we need to remember that as long as we are moving forward then we are continuing to evolve and become better versions of ourselves.
So honour each moment, honour each phase and your experience through it. Know that there are difficult times and successful times, but we need each phase in order to learn those life lessons that allow us to grow and step into the best person we can be.
By honouring and respecting each phase you have grace for yourself and your journey which reflects in self-love.
7. Listen to your intuition & follow through
Those initial gut feelings you get about a situation or person are there for a reason. Call them red flags, signs, messages, intuition - whatever you want - but they are there for a reason.
When we listen to our intuition and then follow through with it we strengthen that connection and ability to truly trust ourselves.
Building your trust with yourself is a beautiful way to practice self-love.
8. Have Gratitude
This practice is so important for self-love.
When we share our gratitude we create a loving environment for ourselves to grow in. Have gratitude for things in your life, but more importantly have gratitude for yourself, the characteristics you like about yourself, the way you think, and the way you handle life.
Your gratitude will bring more into your life to be grateful for.
9. Create balance
If you have experienced too much stress lately you need to balance life out for yourself and connect back to peace & joy.
There are always going to be challenges in life and we never know when they might come, so instead of sitting around and waiting why not go out and create some positive moments instead.
It’s time to recognize that we need to CREATE our own balance in life. That means chasing happiness by doing the activities that you love. Connecting to peace by giving yourself time and space to be.
By intentionally doing the things you love and going to the places that bring peace you are working at creating your own balance.
10. Understand your emotions
Emotions are so difficult and they can lead us astray from the positive environment we so wish to be part of. But don’t discredit your emotions, they are telling you something either about yourself, the situation or a specific person.
Your emotions matter and when you learn from them and understand them you can understand yourself better and make the necessary changes in order to move forward.
By understanding our emotions we are honouring ourselves, how we think and feel which is a form of self-love.
These self-love practices are not all things that will take time out of our day, but they are ways to create a mental conversation with ourselves surrounded by positivity and growth. Each practice I shared today will help you to shift forward in life surrounded by self-love.
As Buddha says “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
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