If you are visiting our website, or following us on social media, its probably because you are working to better yourself, working to make yourself more fit or healthy. But being and staying healthy is about more than working out and making good food choices, its about more than physical health; its about emotional health and well-being too.
So, we are here to help you show yourself some love this Valentine’s Day and everyday.
We hear the words self-love and self-care tossed around quite often, when you use a face mask or when you indulge in chocolatey treats, it is often referred to as self-care, but let’s take a second to break it down and really understand what exactly self-care is.
Self-care is a broad term that encompasses just about everything that you do to be good to yourself. It is the activities and practices that we engage in on a regular basis which contribute to the maintenance of well-being and personal health.
Sounds important right? It is.
Practising self-care can better your mood and energy levels. It can enhance your self-esteem and increase your self-knowledge. It can also provide you with the necessary ingredients to give more and love more. Self-love is intrinsic to your overall health and well-being.
Okay, now that you’re convinced about the importance of self-love, you’re probably asking, “What can I do to prioritize my psychological health?”
Below, we have highlighted 7 ways that you can practise self-love.
- Pay attention to emotional pain
Guy Winch, a licensed psychologist who focusses his work on the science of emotional health, argues the importance of recognizing your emotions. It is important to fully engage with your emotions, acknowledge them, accept them, work to treat them (if necessary), and then move on.
Some ways in which you can pay attention to your emotions are by keeping a daily journal and being totally honest about your feelings, writing down a list of feeling words to expand your emotional vocabulary, and letting yourself cry when you need to.
- Practise Positive Self Talk
It is a common practice to be extra hard on yourself, to doubt yourself and your abilities, to have a negative inner dialogue. However, one of the best ways to practice self-love is to replace these negative thoughts with positive self talk. For example, you could choose to acknowledge three physical and non-physical things that you love about yourself. Complete this practice every day for a week, choosing different factors each day, and you will be amazed by how it can change your mood and outlook.
- Find your Happy Place
Find a place where you feel calm, at ease, happy, or positive. Although, you may not always be able to physically go to this place when you are feeling stressed, it can be helpful to sit back, close your eyes and imagine that you are there. Be as descriptive in your imagination as possible. Think about what you would see, what you would smell, and how you would feel.
Taking this time to yourself and focussing your thoughts on your happy place can help you to regain a sense of calm and happiness.
- Practice gratefulness
David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk, believes that it is gratefulness that makes us happy. He reminds us to regard every moment as a gift that is full of opportunity and encourages us to be grateful for that opportunity.
Remind yourself of this when you are feeling down. In addition, it is a good practise to find something that you are grateful for everyday. Make a list, writing at least one thing down every day. When you need a reminder, you can pull out the list and read through all of the great things in your life.
- Set Boundaries
Practising self-love is not all about what you should do; sometimes its about what you should not do. Learn to say no to things that bring you down or are emotionally draining for you.
- Create a self-love ritual
This is where face masks and chocolate treats can come into play. Create a self-love ritual that you can complete daily or weekly in order to keep yourself feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
This will differ based on each individual person and what makes you happiest. It could be anything from reading a book, drinking a cup of tea, using a face mask, or dancing to your favourite song.
Completing activities that you thoroughly enjoy on a regular basis will ensure that you are feeling all the self-love.
- Make Healthy Habits
In order to thrive, it is important to treat your body right. This means nourishing your body with the right foods, consuming enough protein, watching your micronutrient intake, and finding ways to exercise that you enjoy.
When practised correctly, self-love has long-term benefits for your body and mind.
Head over to our Instagram, Facebook, or twitter and let us know how you practise self-love!