Self love is how you view yourself and how you treat yourself. It is not only a feeling but it is an action associated with that feeling. It’s being able to communicate with yourself without judging yourself.
In February we are focusing on Self Love, no better way to heal from anytime of injury or emotional event than with self love. February often brings thoughts and emotions of loneliness and can take a toll on our mental health. Recognizing how you are feeling is the first step to self love. We cannot shift these feelings until we are aware them. Sitting for a moment of meditation will allow us to acknowledge why we were sad, happy or angry. Further investigating those feelings is finding the actions that led to these feelings.
When we meditate for self love, it allows us to be silent with our feelings and be in an environment that helps us to acknowledge and release these feelings. There is nothing wrong with feelings these emotions, but it is important we recognize them. Once we acknowledge these feelings we cannot judge ourselves or punish ourselves for how we are feeling.
We often are being too hard on ourselves causing a lot of self criticism. How can we move away from this “perfectionism” mindset that chips away and your self worth and makes you less happy. We can begin by practicing self kindness with ourselves, by being mindful of our actions of criticism towards oneself can we begin to reverse these effects. We need to be kinder and more forgiving to ourselves, watch the type of language we use with ourselves. Studies have shown that practicing self love is associated with less anxiety, less stress, becoming more optimistic and adherence to healthy behavior with oneself. One way we are able to listen to ourselves and begin to acknowledge what we feel is with meditation and journaling. Once we know our feelings and what our behaviors are, then we can begin to reverse these.
